My name is Sage Coker. I go to Adair High School. I am with YAHL (Youth Action for Health Leadership), advocating for CounterAct Tobacco. An example of some advocacy work I have done for CounterAct Tobacco was when my peers, Layla, Kenely, Abi and I collected surveys during the Christmas in the Country Festival. Christmas in the Country is an event where everyone sets up little shops in our local park during Christmas time. We had the opportunity to set up our own table and collect surveys from members in the community to gather their opinions on tobacco policies in our community.

With the collection of CounterAct Tobacco surveys, we have data from our community to bring to legislators and other key decision makers to show them the opinions of members in the community about tobacco policies and preemption. Preemption prevents local communities from passing their own tobacco policies. If we cannot pass our own tobacco policies, it will continue to not be mandatory to have a license to sell vapes, e-cigarettes and nicotine-only products. This lack of licensing makes it so minors are able to get these products easier. If we can remove preemption and allow communities to pass their own tobacco policies, we can make sure retailers have to have a license to sell these products. This would also make it so that minors will not be able to get a hold of these vapor products as easily as they are now.

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By: Sage Coker, Adair High School