My name is Christeana Piancino and I am a sophomore at Pecos Cyber Academy. This will be my second year in Evolvement and my first year on the Leadership Team. Flavored nicotine products are harmful to our youth because companies like Big Tobacco are targeting them with flavors such as watermelon, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and ice cream, trying to get them addicted so that they will continue to buy their products. This may eventually cause lifelong health issues such as lung cancer and scarring of the lungs.

Back in April 2023, I participated in a health fair in Raton, New Mexico with the No Minor Sale campaign manager to advocate for a policy that would restrict flavors so that Big Tobacco cannot target youth anymore. We set up a booth, gave away swag items, educated the public about the effects of flavored tobacco and nicotine products on kids, and collected surveys, which show data on how New Mexico adults AND youth feel about this issue. According to the data from the surveys we collected, we were able to conclude that around 95% of adults surveyed are concerned that kids under the age of 21 are using flavored tobacco products, and around 85% of kids surveyed are concerned as well.

Seeing kids as young as kindergarten vape and smoke is very concerning because they don’t understand what they are doing to their bodies. All they know is that these products taste good, oblivious to the fact that they are causing real harm to themselves and slowly becoming addicted.

Working with No Minor Sale is important because it helps to protect our youth in New Mexico from the damaging effects of flavored tobacco and nicotine products such as e-cigarettes, vapes, chew, and other harmful substances. With No Minor Sale, we hope to protect youth from lifelong addiction and health complications.

My name is Billy Haskey Shone Jr. I'm 15 years old, and I live between Little Water and Table Mesa here in New Mexico. I'm a freshman at Newcomb High School and recently joined Evolvement because I wanted to be more involved with helping others. I also wanted to join because Evolvement is a place to say no to nicotine products and let New Mexico know that nicotine is bad for our people. 

Where I live on the Navajo Reservation, I know five people in my family who smoke cigarettes. I worry that nicotine addiction will hurt their health. I am also concerned about how nicotine products are taking over so many lives in New Mexico. So, I want to do what I can to educate people about the harmful effects of using these products.

I work with the No Minor Sale campaign to help people think about living their best nicotine free lives. I’m here to say “no to nicotine” and “yes to caring about our lives”. It is all about protecting our way of life and our families. I also want to help people who want to quit using nicotine products. With No Minor Sale we can help people make better choices.

One major concern is that Big Tobacco uses ad campaigns to target youth. They encourage youth to use nicotine products by advertising fun flavors. I hope to help educate people about how dangerous this is because we need kids to enjoy life and not be sick. I care about families in my community. Their children should have opportunities to live their best lives. When kids try nicotine products in their youth, they can become addicted for the rest of their lives. Too many people are already addicted to nicotine in the state. 

We have to eliminate nicotine products in New Mexico to fix this issue, and No Minor Sale advocates for policies that can help. With nicotine flavor restriction, we can protect youth and move closer to this goal. New Mexico should say “no to nicotine” and “yes to caring about our lives” to create a healthier future for our kids.

My name is Olivia Fowler and I am a senior at Portales High School. I have been in Evolvement for 3 years, and have been on the Leadership Team for 2 of those years. Advocacy has always been something I’m passionate about, whether that’s for better inclusion of the arts programs at school, stopping social injustices in our communities, or, in this case, advocating for better laws and policies for tobacco control in New Mexico. That’s what Evolvement aims to do, and one of the campaigns they partner with, No Minor Sale, helps them do that by advocating for the restriction of sales and distribution of flavored tobacco/nicotine products to minors. 

I’ve been a youth advocate with No Minor Sale for the past three years, and I’ve gotten to be a part of so many amazing experiences in that time. I’ve helped out with campaign events and tables at the Portales Peanut Valley Festival; and in February 2023, I was also able to speak on two radio stations in the Clovis area, 99.9 KTQM and 99.1 KCLV, with another Evolvement Leadership Team member, Katie Webb. We talked with the show host about the focus and goals of the No Minor Sale campaign, the dangers of flavored nicotine products, and the effects of starting vaping as early as middle school. In going on stations that many people listen to and attending community events, we are able to better reach the audiences we aim for, and educate them on the effects of these harmful products.

Vaping can be just as dangerous as smoking combustible cigarettes, and the fact that companies come up with fun flavors to entice the youth makes it even more of a threat. While this is a major problem within New Mexico, No Minor Sale is advocating for policy changes that will help to remedy this problem, such as flavor restriction. If we have a policy restricting flavored nicotine products, minors will hopefully see vaping as a less enticing activity and stop, or not start it in the first place. Since these youths are the future of New Mexico and the United States in general, the decisions they make with their health now can affect what happens to our country in the future. By educating the public about the dangers of these products early, we are advocating for a cleaner, healthier New Mexico.