Smoke Shop On Every Block

Since there is a smoke shop on what feels like every other block in my town, I decided to do an impromptu visit to one yesterday.

I can not imagine being a teen or young adult walking into one of these places.

Instead of a very short selection of cigarettes sold behind the pharmacy or grocery counter like when we were kids....

There are thousands and thousands of ways to consume nicotine and tobacco available to kids in these hell holes, wrapped in toy store like packaging and flavored with candy flavors we grew up with.

The amount of vapes, zyn, kraton, hookah, cigars, and paraphernalia to get these harmful, addictive products into young bodies was overwhelming.

The young man, 25, working the shop was open and willing to answer all of my questions. I had many.

Here were the short answers:

Q: Are these products addictive?

A: Extremely.

Q: Why are there so many different types of say, just vapes, available?

A: Huge demand, high profit margins, and mass production.

Q: Do they sell marijuana and it's various forms"

A: Not in this store, but plenty of shops do - there are ways around it with few regulations and many loopholes.

Q: How old you have to be to purchase these products?

A: 21. He cards every person, even if they are like 40 years old.

Q: Then how do so many teens vape? They have fake IDs, they ask someone in the parking lot to get it for them, or THEIR PARENTS BUY IT FOR THEM.

Q: Do teens ever come into these smoke shops with their parents? Yes, absolutely.

Q: Why? Why does he think parents would do that?

A: Because they do it too. Or they want to be their friend.

I told him that I went into one other smoke shop recently and asked only one question:

Q: What’s the saddest thing about working in a place like this?

The young man said, “That parents come into the smoke shops with them and buy it for them”.

This 25-year old agreed and said his parents would never take him to a place like this.

Yes, teens will be teens. Yes, kids may experiment. Yes, kids are going to make mistakes.

Does that mean we facilitate harmful habits and dangerous behaviors “because they are going to do it anyway?”

Does that mean we roll over and go with the tide of the culture that has normalized behavior that is detrimental to our kids’ mental and physical health?

Next post: Weed nation - the legalization and normalization of marijuana and it's affect on our kids.

#sacredstewardship #parenting #protectourkids #enoughisenough