Melfort Youth Evolution delegates with Health Minister Paul Merriman (Submitted photo/Kathryn Carswell)

By Ben Tompkins

Protect Saskatchewan Kids

Melfort Youth Evolution in the fight against teenage vaping

Jun 1, 2023 | 3:00 PM

Six kids from Melfort Youth Evolution recently travelled to the legislative building in Regina to speak up against vaping laws.

Alongside their three adult allies, they joined roughly 60 other youths from across the province as part of Youth4Change.

They encouraged the government to protect Saskatchewan kids from commercial tobacco and vaping products.

According to the students, multiple strategies are needed to address the ‘crisis’ and they provided eight recommendations for the government.

1. Ban all vape flavours (except tobacco flavour).

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2. Increase the age of purchase from 18 to 19.

3. Ban online sales of vape products.

4. Tobacco retailer licensing.

5. Supports for quitting smoking.

6. Taxation.

7. Provincially funded strategy.

8. Ban vaping in outdoor public places.

Saskatchewan youth smoking and vaping rates are amongst the highest in the country, as 30 per cent of Saskatchewan youth in grades 7-12 reported vaping in the last 30 days of 2019, according to Lung Saskatchewan.

The use of commercial tobacco is also the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the world resulting in eight million deaths worldwide, 48,000 Canadians and over 1,600 Saskatchewan residents each year.

Youth who vape are also reportedly three times more likely to start smoking, as vaping and smoking share the same fundamental health hazard: nicotine addiction, they just have a different delivery system.

This was yet another problem the group from Melfort wanted to address, as they told northeastNOW they felt it was very important to get involved.

“It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come around often, so we had to take it,” said Mikayla Kaminski. “It was an interesting experience and we got to see a lot of fun stuff,” added Josey Hovdestad. “We got to meet people who are also interested in being in something proactive, so I made some new friends too and that’s always good,” explained Abi Wiseman.

Saskatchewan is currently the only province that has a younger minimum purchase age for tobacco and vaping products (18 years) than the purchase age for alcohol and cannabis (19 years).

Melfort Youth Evolution said this makes accessibility much easier for kids their age, which is why they’re seeing it so much around them.

“I liked being with other people who thought the same thing that I did, vaping is bad for you. A lot of people in my grade vape, so to be with people that are a similar age to me that don’t vape, it’s just better,” said Wiseman. “It’s tough to find people that have the same opinion as you because, at MUCC, it’s kind of vaping madness. There are a lot of people that go around vaping and it’s tough finding friends that kind of get what you’re saying,” added Kaminski.

The group will continue to push the agenda forward, as they know change won’t happen overnight, and laws take time to pass.

With the effort they’ve put into trying to protect their friends from vaping and being ‘lab rats’, one of their adult allies, Kathryn Carswell spoke very highly of the group.

“I am so incredibly proud of these youth who spent the time to research, create displays and present to the government the dangers of vaping and why it shouldn’t be targeted at youth,” she mentioned. “It was an opportunity that they won’t forget.”

Additional youth members from Melfort Youth Evolution included Addison Nicholls, Gail Michaliew and Cayla Snider. The two other adult allies were Greg Wiseman and Nancy Duns.

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On Twitter @BenTompkins_8