I recently read about the proposed flavored-nicotine ban in Brunswick. I understand the proposition is meant to deter younger people from vaping, but I also believe it is every legal adult’s right to choose what they put in their body, and that you should be able to buy these products as long as you are 21.

Twenty years ago, students used cigarettes or chewing tobacco, so not much has changed. Most middle or high school students who are using flavored vapes will not just quit because flavors aren’t available. This ban will not simply turn teenagers off of vaping, but will likely redirect them to cigarettes instead. Teenagers using flavored vapes is not a justifiable reason to remove those products from the local market. If this ban is enacted, the people in Brunswick who want flavored nicotine products will likely order them online or go to another town to buy them. This will in turn hurt local businesses that sell these products.

This problem is not going to be solved by banning the sale of these products to everybody in general. It is not our problem that underage users are not being properly disciplined by their parents, school officials, or law enforcement. When I read the recent article from the Forecaster about this proposed ban, I noticed a quote from Kathy Wilson of the Brunswick Town Council. “It’s the adult’s responsibility to protect them. As far as adults who want to use it, quite frankly it’s not my issue or problem. I wish they’d quit too.” It is the parent’s and school employees’ responsibility to protect and educate those students, not mine. It angers me that you would say it’s “not your problem”. You are making it your problem when you take the right to purchase those products away from adults who have not done anything to warrant this overreaction.

The town council should consider the effect this ban would have on innocent adults in this community, as well as the small businesses that sell these products in Brunswick.

Shawn Rowe,
Brunswick