Letter: New Paths to Youth Nicotine Addiction

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To the Editor:

As school begins again in Berkshire County, I want to remind parents in our area that the tobacco industry continues to produce new and varied nicotine delivery products, like e-cigarettes and vape pens that are sweet, cheap and easy for young people to get. These products are not regulated by the FDA so there is no way of knowing how much nicotine or other chemicals they contain. They come in candy and fruity flavors and have become trendy among young people; in fact their use is on the rise among high school students. In Massachusetts, high school students who have ever used e-cigarettes doubled from 5 percent in 2011 to 10.7 percent in 2013.

This is important because nicotine is highly addictive and it can produce chemical and structural changes in the developing adolescent brain that may lead to future alcohol and other drug addiction. Flavored tobacco products are considered "starter" products by the FDA, that aid in establishing patterns that can lead to long-term addiction, but what about flavored e-cigarette products? New data from the 2011-2013 National Youth Tobacco surveys of middle and high school students show that students who smoke e-cigarettes but have never smoked conventional cigarettes are almost twice as likely to have the intention to smoke conventional cigarettes in the next year.

The Berkshire Tobacco-Free Community Partnership encourages parents and teachers to look around to see what’s being sold in your community. Talk with kids about nicotine and products like vape pens, e-hookah and e-cigarettes and ask them what they see.



Many people think the tobacco problem is solved. It’s not. Many municipal Boards of Health have taken strong action to make these products less available to young people in their communities and we encourage concerned adults to support their local Board of Health in this work. With coordinated action between parents, teachers, students and governing bodies, the next generation could be tobacco free.

Joan Rubel
Director of Public Health Initiatives
Berkshire AHEC (Area Health Education Center)


 

 

 

 

 

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Macksey Updates on Eagle Street Demo and Myriad City Projects

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

The back of Moderne Studio in late January. The mayor said the city had begun planning for its removal if the owner could not address the problems. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Moderne Studio building is coming down brick by brick on Eagle Street on the city's dime. 
 
Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather. 
 
The city had been making plans for the demolition a month ago because of the deterioration of the building, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday. The project was accelerated after the back of the 150-year-old structure collapsed on March 5
 
Initial estimates for demolition had been $190,000 to $210,000 and included asbestos removal. Those concerns have since been set aside after testing and the mayor believes that the demolition will be lower because it is not a hazardous site.
 
"We also had a lot of contractors who came to look at it for us to not want to touch it because of the proximity to the next building," she said. "Unfortunately time ran out on that property and we did have the building failure. 
 
"And it's an unfortunate situation. I think most of us who have lived here our whole lives and had our pictures taken there and remember being in the window so, you know, we were really hoping the building could be safe."
 
Macksey said the city had tried working with the owner, who could not find a contractor to demolish the building, "so we found one for him."
 
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