Story originally published in The Sylva Herald, April 6 edition
Tobacco, once a cash crop in the hills and hollers around Jackson County, is now the schools’ Public Enemy #1.
Last Tuesday the Jackson County Board of Education passed a resolution aimed at curbing the use of tobacco and e-cigarettes in schools.
The board approved the T21 resolution recommended by the JCPS School Health Advisory Council to stop tobacco use in county schools. The SHAC is a school system panel set to make a united effort in leading students to a healthy lifestyle.
School Nutrition Director Laura Cabe led the presentation at the meeting at Jackson County Early College, talking about the epidemic of tobacco products plaguing the schools.
Cabe urged the board to adopt the resolution to perhaps nudge state lawmakers to follow the federal lead on tobacco purchase.
In 2019, Congress raised the federal minimum age for tobacco products from 18 to 21 years. The legislation, known as Tobacco 21 or T21, became effective immediately, and it became illegal for a retailer to sell any tobacco product – including cigarettes, cigars and e-cigarettes – to anyone younger than 21 years. It applies to retailers in all states, D.C., all U.S. territories and on tribal lands. President Donald Trump signed the legislation.
Most states (41 as of September 2022) fell into line and increased their minimum tobacco sales age to 21 to match federal law.
The N.C. Department of Public Safety acknowledges that the federal law prohibits retailers from selling tobacco products and vape products to people under 21 years old. However, DPS says the Alcohol Law Enforcement division will continue to enforce North Carolina law, which prohibits the sale of tobacco products to anyone under 18 years old. ALE is the lead enforcement agency for the state’s alcoholic beverage control, lottery and tobacco laws.
Any sale of tobacco products to someone under 21 may be subject to federal authorities’ enforcement, DPS says on the web.
“In North Carolina, we do not follow federal law on the age restriction of e-cigarettes,” Cabe told the board last Tuesday. “What it is we’re trying to do with Resolution T21 is to get help and support from our community and that way we can present it to our state legislators.”
Four vape stores have sprung up within a mile of Smoky Mountain High School. Other retailers selling tobacco in the area include Ingles, Walmart and the Quality Plus station at the intersection of N.C. 107 and Jones Street, just two stones’ throws from the school.
According to the T21 resolution presented to and endorsed by the Jackson County Board of Education:
• 95 percent of tobacco users start before the age of 21.
• As of 2019, 27.3 percent of high school students in North Carolina report tobacco use.
• Nicotine is harmful to developing brains, and its use during adolescence can disrupt the formation of brain circuits that control attention, learning and susceptibility to addiction.
• Most North Carolina young people obtain tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, from retailers.
The resolution essentially says “ALE can regulate the age of alcohol sales, so why not tobacco, too?”
The resolution concludes:
“Now be it resolved that we, the members of the Jackson County Public Schools Board of Education strongly support that North Carolina must protect our kids from vaping and nicotine addiction by establishing a tobacco retailer permitting system, raising the minimum age of sales from 18 to 21, restoring local authority, and adopting other needed provisions of legal sales of tobacco products to match federal law.”
