Letter: Get Information About Dangers of Youth Vaping

To the Editor:

The start of the school year and new routines brings new worries about teen vaping. These concerns are important, especially now, because smoking and vaping may put people at higher risk of complications from COVID-19.

One in three Massachusetts teens vape and talking with young people about the dangers of vaping can make a difference. Learn more and watch videos at GetOutraged.org, part of a public information campaign from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Get Outraged! aims to spread the word that vaping products contain nicotine, can damage a teen's developing brain, and are addictive. The campaign also shares tips on talking with kids about vaping and resources to help them quit.

Get Outraged! complements "Facts. No Filters." a campaign with videos and information about vaping for youth at mass.gov/vaping by the Department of Public Health in collaboration with the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation.

In addition, handouts about vaping and quit resource cards for youth are available free of charge at the Massachusetts Health Promotion Clearinghouse.

For more information and to help you educate young people about vaping, contact Joyce Brewer at the Berkshire Tobacco-Free Community Partnership, jbrewer@berkshireahec.org
 

Joyce Brewer
Dalton, Mass.

Joyce Brewer is the program manager for the Berkshire Tobacco Free Community Partnership of Berkshire AHEC.

Eagle Street Shop Peddles in the Unique and the Utilitarian

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:45AM / Tuesday, May 12, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Kitchenware, historic prints, spiritual accessories, local makers, books, artwork and a range of tchochtkes from around the world.

 

Jared Shockcor's little shop on Eagle Street offers new and thrifted wares from the utilitarian to the unique. 

 

The software engineer's turned the former Hearts Pace Tea Lounge into Mastic, fulfilling a dream of doing something different.

 

"I've always liked retail, particularly like finding weird and unusual things. So last year I became gainfully unemployed and so I decided to try it," he said.

 

He chose to name his shop Mastic after tree resin, an old form of chewing gum. 

 

"It's a tree resin. It's used in cooking. It's a flavoring ingredient, and a lot of Greek cooking, or some Greek cooking particularly, and it's also used in esoterica as an incense. So it seems like a kind of, it was kind of crossing the things that I do," Shockcor said.

 

He felt the name fit because it bridges the two worlds he loves and stocks in the shop: kitchen items and unique items, so it reflects the blend of themes in his store.