(Salt Lake City, UT)— “Come and get it!” As food trucks
clamor for your lunch money, someone else is getting your kids’ lunch money –
and it’s not your ordinary street cart vendor. On December 13th from 4:30 to
6:30 p.m., there will be a ‘Stuff’ Cart at the south end of the Gateway Mall
(below the movie theaters) offering ambiguous “stuff” and delivering an
important message about e-cigarettes.
The Stuff Cart is sponsored by Outrage!, a statewide
youth coalition dedicated to telling Utahns about the dangers of tobacco and
e-cigarettes. Just like the stuff displayed at their cart, e-cigarettes and
nicotine vaporizers are sold in youth-appealing flavors, marketed in areas with
youth traffic, and have no ingredient labels.
“Through our ‘See Through the Vapor’ statewide campaign,
we are calling for concern over the increasing popularity and easy access of
e-cigarettes among teens,” said Reagan Rees, local teen and Outrage! member.
Despite having no legal access to e-cigarettes, recent
data released by the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) show that Utah youth are
three times more likely to use e-cigarettes than adults. The devices are often
marketed as cessation devices, although 31.7% of students that reported ever
using e-cigarettes say they have never tried conventional cigarettes, raising
fears that electronic cigarettes are the preferred nicotine product of choice
for youth.
“With the ingredients and dangers unknown, tempting
candy-like flavors, celebrity endorsed marketing campaigns, and trends toward
increasing use, monitoring youth access to these devices is a public health
priority,” said Adam Bramwell, Marketing Manager, UDOH Tobacco Prevention and
Control Program.
This launch event will be followed by similar localized
‘Stuff’ Cart events by Outrage! youth across the state through the month of
January.
A sneak peek at the ‘Stuff’ Cart can be seen at http://youtu.be/LXk-IlPRLTM online.
Media Contact:
Adam Bramwell
Marketing Manager
(o) 801.538.6917 (m) 801.380.0780
