Let’s start our RE@LBlog where we left off last time:
RE@L remains committed to an ancient Roman motto that’s still popular today: “Sans mens in sana corpore.” Translated it means a healthy mind requires a healthy body. And, vice-versa, translated means it works both ways!
It’s imperative that our students know what keeps a body healthy, and a mind able to learn. Both goals help us to be better learners. RE@L believes our new, interactive RE@L Learning Product™, currently named “Nicotine Mysteries,” will be a major helper to many youth, as they consider starting vaping or smoking.
Studies show many youth who use nicotine are considering quitting before greater damage is done to their health. RE@L is here to help!
We are pleased to see ABC-TV News shows exploring these many topics. Click on their graphic to the right for more information. Here are some additional ABC News links:
- Doctor “Tik Tok” Talks About Vaping,
- “New York bans flavored e-cigarettes.”
- California Crackdown on Sales to Minors, and
- More Vaping-related Lung Diseases.
RE@L was very pleased to see our Minnesota State Senator Matt Klein M.D.’s Letter to the Editor in a recent Star Tribune editorial. Click here to read the original StarTribune Editorial on vaping use. His letter addressed the need for more restrictive vaping laws for our teenagers, as great harm can come to them both sooner and later.
Headline: “As youth tobacco use increases, our prevention efforts must, too.”
As a physician and a state senator, I was grateful to see the Star Tribune’s editorial urging action to stop youth e-cigarette use in our state (“Act now to reduce risks from vaping,” Aug. 16). The recent severe lung injuries in Minnesota teenagers show youth vaping is not just an epidemic, it is a public health emergency. Earlier this year, my colleagues at the Legislature debated a number of proposals that would help stop youth nicotine addiction before it starts.
One movement that is gaining momentum locally and nationally is Tobacco 21. Raising the sales age for tobacco products (including e-cigarettes) to 21 can help reduce youth tobacco use and save lives. Tobacco 21 works by keeping 18-year-olds from being a nicotine pipeline into schools and introducing it to younger teenagers. This policy is badly needed given the prevalence of vaping in school classrooms and bathrooms.
We also must fund ongoing, evidence-based prevention work such as media campaigns educating about the harms of tobacco use. Minnesota has been a leader in this area, but there are major decreases in prevention funding just around the corner. We cannot stop our state’s prevention efforts just as youth tobacco rates have increased for the first time in a generation.
We can counter the efforts of the tobacco industry with bold policies, and these ideas have bipartisan legislative sponsors. I will be working to see them across the finish line next session, and I hope all Minnesotans will join me in protecting our young people.
Signed: MATT KLEIN, MENDOTA HEIGHTS
The writer is a Democratic senator in the Minnesota Legislature.”
=====
RE@L has been working closely with our state legislature and local media to secure more stringent anti-smoking, anti-vaping laws for those under 21. We hope to work together and encourage more mutually supportive efforts.
Join RE@L by supporting this critical student-nicotine issue: contact your local media and legislature; share your concerns on social media.
Take a stand!
Our promising RE@L-Moai anti-tobacco RE@L Learning Product™ will be released in early 2020 with a new name. So, stay tuned to our RE@LBlog.
There’s much more to come from RE@LBlog on this very real healthcare concern for our children and ourselves.