June 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 50

YOUTH VAPING EPIDEMIC

high school students believe vape
products are harmful, while 60 percent said, if they wanted to, they
could obtain these products easily
or very easily.
She adds that those findings
made this a community-wide issue
and " was a key reason I was interested in doing education in our
community. " Thus, Mesa County
Public Health - with the assistance of a state-funded grant program called Communities That
Care - collaborated with a number of local agencies to address
this growing problem and to dis-

" We know that 90 percent of
people start smoking before the
age of 18, before the legal age,
and 99 percent start before the
age of 25. So, all those people are
starting before their brains stop
developing and that's also when
you're more likely to become
addicted to that substance. "
cuss how to educate parents and
youth about the harmful effects of
vaping and smoking. One of those
agencies included the city of Fruita
(Colorado) Parks & Recreation.
" [Mesa County Public Health] approached us and we agreed to be a
partner with them, and we've been
working through the Communities
That Care process, " says Ture Nycum, parks and recreation director,
city of Fruita. Communities That
Care is a program, funded by marijuana tax dollars, that brings together
community members to thwart problem behaviors and adverse health
outcomes, such as substance misuse,
among youth grades six through 12.
Nycum notes that his agency's
partnership with the Communi48

Parks & Recreation

ties That Care program led to the
Fruita Youth Initiative in the city.
" Part of that is to really look at
our environment and look at some
of our ordinances and the laws we
have on the books, as well as just
looking at what's happening in our
community regarding substance use
around youth, " he explains. " When
we were looking at that, we noticed
we didn't really have anything that
addressed smoking as well as vaping use within our park system. So,
that's when we looked at updating
our smoking ordinance [through]
the Fruita Youth Initiative. "
In December 2018, The Daily
Sentinel reported the Fruita City
Council voted 5-1 to ban smoking
of any substance - which includes
using vaporizers or electronic cigarettes - in any city-owned park,
recreational facility or open space.
Nycum admits that his agency
hasn't witnessed a high rate of vaping
among youth in his parks, however,
he contends: " We figure if we can address it community-wide, that'll definitely help reduce it within the park
system and in public spaces. "
And since Fruita was updating
its park policy around smoking and
vaping, Fife says: " We wanted to
provide some information to the
community members on the 'why,'
particularly...because...vaping is so
new to people and very much a hot
topic now. So, we wanted to back up
their policy with some education. "

Presenting the Facts
On January 30, 2019, Mesa County Public Health, Fruita Parks &
Recreation and other partners, including local law enforcement and
school district personnel, hosted a
Teen Vaping Prevention event for
the community. The event drew
about 75 people that included parents and some older youth.

| J U N E 2 0 1 9 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

During the evening, Fife made
a presentation encompassing four
elements: (1) introduce the numbers, (2) set the scene for how we
got here, (3) address the marketing
tactics and (4) discuss the local and
state policies surrounding vaping/e-cigarette products.
She also discussed the basic components of the e-cigarette and vaping culture, including the different
types of products on the market
and the language that people might
be using to talk about it, " because
people who haven't done it may not
understand it, " notes Fife.
Some community members in
attendance spoke about how e-cigarettes and vaping directly impacted their own families. Nycum says,
" I talked to a few parents who said
that they've found their kids' vape
pens...and some of them were definitely trying to figure out how to
address it with their kids. "
Bringing awareness about the
marketing tactics of these e-cigarette brands was another component of Fruita's Teen Vaping Prevention presentation on January
30. " We know that 90 percent of
people start smoking before the age
of 18, before the legal age, " says
Fife, " and 99 percent start before
the age of 25. So, all those people
are starting before their brains stop
developing and that's also when
you're more likely to become addicted to that substance. "
Fife says some of the questions
they fielded from those in attendance included:
* How are young kids getting a
hold of vape products?
* Why start vaping?
* What is the data around connection to vaping and increased
use of other illegal drugs?
The event proved to be quite informative and helpful to those in

June 2019 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2019 - Parks & Recreation