Letter: Get Information About Dangers of Youth Vaping

Letter to the Editor11:35AM / Sunday, October 31, 2021Print Story | Email Story

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.

Tags: childrens health, letters to the editor, vaping,

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'Into Light': Addressing Addiction One Portrait at a Time

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
08:13AM / Sunday, March 08, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The "Into Light" exhibit is sketching a new path toward transforming the conversation around addiction — one portrait and story at a time.

Since 2019, the nonprofit's founder Theresa Clower has put on close to 21 exhibitions around the country, sharing the stories of more than 600 people who have lost their lives to addiction.

Now, the installation will be on view at Hotel Downstreet from Friday, March 13, through June 30, featuring 10 portraits of local community members who died from addiction and 20 portraits from the eastern Massachusetts exhibit.

This collaborative effort combines municipal opioid settlement funds and lead sponsor Berkshire Health Systems, in collaboration with the Northern Berkshire Opioid Abatement Collaborative, HEAL Coalition, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, and North Adams Regional Hospital.

In addition to the installation, the team has developed programs and forums to be held throughout the three months to start a conversation and improve education on the disease.

"The core to our efforts around 'Into Light' is the community education, especially building on people's awareness of addiction as a disease and as a disease that is curable," said Andy Ottoson, BRPC senior public health planner.

Ottoson stressed the importance of treating substance use disorder like any other disease, reducing stigma, and normalizing open conversations around addiction and the resources out there to help recover.

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