Advocating for Change at the Capitol

Hello, my name is Mario Torres-Soto. I am a sophomore at Arrowhead Park Early College High School, and I’ve been with Evolvement for 2 years. Evolvement works with No Minor Sale, which is a campaign focusing on the dangers of flavored nicotine and tobacco products to teens and minors. This year, I’ve had the opportunity to be part of Day at the Capitol. This is a big opportunity because this is when we can make the biggest change with our campaign by educating and advocating to state legislators.

Speaking to the legislators really made me confident in the answer of why flavored nicotine restrictions are important because of the dangers it can cause and how it can force teens to have a higher dependency on nicotine. For example, speaking to Representative Jenifer Jones, who is a registered nurse, really opened my eyes to the power we as a campaign have to create change, and also how our NM government is with us every step of the way supporting us.

The experience meeting these legislators was amazing. I truly feel that we were able to talk to them about our goals and impact, and I believe most of them support our campaigns. This might benefit No Minor Sale by providing a better budget for the campaign and more support from the government. Hopefully, they pass policies to help our youth protect their developing minds from the predatory tobacco industry.

Abogando por el Cambio en el Capitolio

Hola, mi nombre es Mario Torres-Soto y estoy hoy escribiendo sobre una de las campañas de Evolvement, siendo la de No Minor Sale. Esta es una campaña diseñada para proteger la comunidad, específicamente a los adolescentes y menores de edad, del consumo de nicotina de sabor. Hoy tuve la oportunidad de estar con esta campaña en el día conocido como Day at the Capitol, en donde podemos hablar y presentar nuestra campaña a los legisladores en NM.

Este día tuve la oportunidad de hablarle a la representante del distrito 32, Jenifer Jones. En nuestra presentación hablamos sobre nuestra preocupación hacia la comunidad de los daños que el consumo de nicotina de sabor tiene hacia nuestros niños y adolescentes. Hablando con ella y muchos más legisladores, no tengo la menor duda de que ellos nos van a apoyar en esta campaña. Y teniendo el gobierno de Nuevo México a nuestro lado podemos lograr muchas más cosas para lo que queda de este año.

Mi experiencia este día fue inimaginable y fue una oportunidad que gracias a Evolvement pude lograr. Creo que esto que hicimos hoy beneficiará nuestra campaña porque podríamos tener mejor apoyo, sea económico o solo apoyo formal, podrá llegar muy lejos. Para apoyarnos, los legisladores o la comunidad podrían dar su apoyo a NUPAC para lograr conectar con más escuelas y adolescentes en NM.

My name is Rhys, and I am a sophomore at Los Lunas High School. I have been part of Evolvement for two years, and on the leadership team for one. No Minor Sale is a campaign where we educate community members about the dangers of flavored nicotine products. I am writing about Day at the Capitol, which is the day where we go to the State Capitol and educate legislators about Evolvement and the campaigns, in hopes of getting support from them.

During the day, we met with legislators in their offices and even in the hallway. I was able to speak to Representatives Ferrary and Martinez. I shared about No Minor Sale by showing them our slideshow and presenting information about our campaign. The legislators responded well and were all very interested. It is important to educate legislators about flavored nicotine restriction because they are the policymakers in New Mexico, and having their support would make a big difference. If they understand how important it is to reduce the sale of nicotine products to minors, it can influence their decisions.

It is important to get involved in something like this because it builds great public speaking skills, leadership experience, and of course, it is for a great cause. It creates positive change because it is good for the community, especially if we continue to get more and more support.

My experience was fun. We were running around looking for and meeting with legislators which was a lot easier than I had anticipated. They were all very nice, interested, and easygoing. This supports and benefits No Minor Sale because we are able to educate more people and get our message out to policymakers in New Mexico. From attending these meetings, I learned to be flexible and just go with the flow, because legislators aren’t always able to meet with us.

I attended Day at the Capitol with a hope to reduce the sale of nicotine products to minors, especially flavored ones. It is important to support policies that protect youth because we are the future of the world, and we need to be healthy and safe. With every person helping, from members of Evolvement to the legislators allowing us to present to them, it makes a difference!

Hi! My name is Paiuma, and I attend Arrowhead Park Early College High School, where I am currently a senior. I’ve been involved with Evolvement for three years and have been on the leadership team for two years. Evolvement focuses on two main campaigns, No Minor Sale and 24/7, but today I will be talking about No Minor Sale and Day at the Capitol.

No Minor Sale focuses on reducing the sale of nicotine and tobacco products to minors. Many nicotine products come in appealing flavors that can easily attract our youth and can lead to addiction, and our goal is to eliminate these flavored products to protect our youth. During Day at the Capitol, our leadership team traveled to Santa Fe to meet with state legislators and other leaders to educate them about our work and advocate for stronger protections for youth. During this event, I partnered with another Evolvement member, Christiana, and together we met with several leaders, including Senator Natalie Figueroa, Lieutenant Governor Howie Morales, Senator Brantley, Senator Gabriel Ramos, and Senator Carrie Hamblen. We talked about how flavored nicotine products can be addictive and why it is important to prevent youth access to these products. We also advocated for more funding so that we can present to middle and elementary schools and teach younger students early about the harmful effects they can have on one's body.

At the Capitol, I really enjoyed speaking with all the leaders, and I especially enjoyed meeting with Senator Natalie Figueroa because she was very supportive and genuinely engaged in our work. I was also very inspired by Senator Carrie Hamblen, who encouraged Christiana and me to consider being involved in politics because our voices matter as women, and we are just as capable of creating change as a man would be.

During my time at the Capitol, the biggest thing I took away from this experience is that youth advocacy can truly make a difference; being young gives us the opportunity to make legislators actually listen to what we have to say, and having support from lawmakers can help expand our program, increase awareness, and reach more youth with education about the dangers of nicotine and tobacco products. After meeting with the state legislators, I realized how fast-paced and challenging their work can be, which gave me more respect for the process. Overall, this experience means a lot to me because I care deeply about my community and want to spread awareness to the younger generation!