Nicotine possession ordinance goes countywide

By Editor | September 20, 2023 |

By Cory Davenport

A recent ordinance prohibiting the possession of nicotine and vaping paraphernalia for folks under 18 years of age has expanded from the City of Jerseyville to the entirety of Jersey County at the behest of the Jersey Community Unit School District.

The measure was passed with only two nay votes at the September 12, 2023 meeting of the Jersey County Board and would feature potential fines and ordinance violations for anyone under the age of 18 caught with an e-cigarette, vape, or other tobacco product in the county. Previously, under state law, no one under the age of 21 could purchase tobacco products, but there were no such laws for mere possession. This expansion would allow law enforcement to intervene if someone under the age of 18 even has the item in their possession.

Vice Chair of the Jersey County Board Mark Wagner spoke to the Jersey County Journal following the meeting on behalf of Jersey County Sheriff Nicholas Manns who was on vacation at the time. Wagner said law enforcement intervention would be at the discretion of the officer, adding it was mostly a tool for the schools to get these items away from their student body during learning hours.

Jersey County School District Superintendent Brad Tuttle stopped short of calling e-cigarette usage by students as an epidemic, but did say it was a growing issue of concern, adding it was the worst tobacco-related issue he has seen in his career in education. He could not give an accurate number of how many students were using the highly-addictive products, but said students as young as third and fourth grade have been caught using them in school.

“At that age, they are probably taking them from a family member,” Tuttle said. “There is a decent population of kids who are trying it or are already addicted to it.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), as many as 2.5 million children (anyone under the age of 18) use e-cigarette products, which includes 14.1 percent of high school students and 3.3 percent of middle school students as of 2022. These products may not have the combustion issues and full spectrum of chemicals as a regular cigarette, but they can contain much more of the addictive chemical in cigarettes – nicotine. Cigarette smoking has plummeted among youth from nearly 70 percent of high school students smoking in 1991 to 28.9 percent in 2017. Usage of nicotine at a young age, like many other active compounds in recreational drugs, can cause issues in brain growth from adolescence into adulthood as well as a strong addiction to the product. As many as 85 percent of the e-cigarette products used were flavored, according to the CDC.

“We have third and fourth graders using them because the have flavors out there like Watermelon Jolly Rancher and Bubblegum,” Tuttle said. He added he expected flavored products such as these to be banned, much like flavored cigarettes were outlawed during the Obama Administration. “It’s like when we had that synthetic stuff 10-15 years ago out there and kids were using it before the laws caught up with them. The laws finally caught up. We’re seeing a similar issue now. My guess is they will likely outlaw all the fruity stuff and other flavors being marketed to kids now.”

To combat usage in schools, Tuttle said sensors have been added to the restrooms, where students go to avoid the cameras. He also said restrooms have staff monitors, especially during high traffic times of the day to discourage the use of these products. This expansion of the Jerseyville ordinance to the rest of the county would aid the school in disciplining students – especially repeat offenders – in schools outside the city.

“We have a new alternative school for high school students in Delhi,” Tuttle said. “So, this will help us address any students there who are choosing to make bad decisions with these.”

Wagner cited that new alternative school as the main reason behind the ordinance’s need to expand further than Jerseyville City limits.

“It didn’t make sense that a kid could be punished for it in Jerseyville, but not down the road in Delhi,” he said.

Punishments for the ordinance violation could result in a fine as high as $100 and subsequent court costs. Jersey County Board Member Kenneth Grizzle said he voted against the measure in an effort to not “stack laws upon laws” for the people of the county. Fellow board member Jeremy Beasley said he voted against it because he did not find it necessary, adding kids would find a way to do whatever they wanted, anecdotally saying such things as drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol were pervasive when he was a student and he did not partake.

Tuttle said the district is working with the community at large to discuss how to curb usage of e-cigarettes among children, adding the district is also utilizing grants to help educate students on the dangers of drug usage, including nicotine in e-cigarettes. He also added not all “vapes” contain nicotine, saying some have cannabis and other recreational drugs. He also said many are not shaped as traditional e-cigarettes, saying many are shaped like USB thumb drives and pencils as an effort to camouflage it from prying eyes.