Letter: Get Information About Dangers of Youth Vaping

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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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Affordable Housing Solutions Easy — and Complex

By John TownesSpecial to iBerkshires
This four-part series looks at the challenges in building affordable housing, and in May, Deep Dive will look at some solutions in Berkshire County. Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
 
The overall effort to solve the national and local housing crisis is paradoxically as straightforward as a game of checkers, but as complex and baffling as a Rubik's Cube puzzle.
 
On a basic level, the issue is clear. It boils down to two fundamental problems: There is a shortage of housing in all categories and the costs of buying or renting a home have escalated beyond the incomes of many people.
 
But because there is no single cause or "silver bullet" solution, the array of initiatives to make housing more plentiful and affordable can seem like a baffling maze of agencies, priorities, policies, regulations, and complex mathematical formulas.
 
The issue can also cause controversies and misunderstandings.
 
And for those who are seeking to buy or rent a home, the shortage of affordable housing can be personally frustrating, confusing, and even frightening. For some, it can lead to homelessness.
 
Nevertheless, while individual affordable-housing policies and programs differ in specifics, most rely on a core of basic strategies to deal with the underlying causes.
 
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