Teen vaping is a continued concern in Connecticut with youth finding many ways to access nicotine, even though it is illegal to sell to those under 21.
The state does compliance checks at stores all over Connecticut year-round.
One of the most recent inspections happened in Southington, where six out of 12 stores were found to sell vapes to underage kids.
Nicotine can cause harm to brains, especially children’s. It can also impact lungs, your heart and more, according to health experts.
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"It's probably our biggest culprit of addiction in youth right now, and something we're really struggling to combat,” said Megan Albanese, the youth prevention coordinator at Southington’s Town-wide Effort to Promote Success, or ‘STEPS.’
Albanese works with schools and community organizations to reach teens and prevent them from vaping.
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"What we're seeing now is an increasing amount of stores not carding young people. So we're having people as young as 14 walk into Southington stores and purchase a vape, and that's just not acceptable,” Albanese said.
A recent inspection to Southington’s tobacco selling stores resulted in half not carding the teen.
"Oftentimes it is simply, as simple as a distracted employee, but other times it might be a training issue,” said Bryan Champagne with the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
Champagne is the supervising special investigator of the Tobacco Prevention and Enforcement Program, which runs compliance checks all over the state, year-round.
He says last year, roughly 86% of stores were compliant, a generally high rate that's tracking for this year, too.
"Most often, folks are doing a really good job in this state of rectifying whatever the situation was that allowed for the sale in the first place, whether that be training or brushing up on the laws that they have here in Connecticut,” Champagne said.
The state also says problems with vaping can start at home -- and prevention can begin with an open and honest conversation with your kids about what they're doing and what they're seeing at school.
