Hi John, 

Connor Lam here – Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids youth ambassador, board member and 2024 Barrie Fiske National Youth Advocate of the Year.

I just started my senior year of high school, and I want to let you know about the crazy new e-cigarettes I've seen since heading back to school. (TL;DR: Watch and share this video!)

For starters, a picture is worth a thousand words:

You can clearly see how kid-friendly they are and all their smart-phone features like built-in video games. But what you can't see is the insane amount of highly-addictive nicotine they contain – as much as 20 packs of cigarettes each – and all the fun candy flavors they come in, not to mention all the problems they're causing for youth learning, attention, and brain development.

Flavored e-cigarettes are easy to get at school, since they're available at vape shops and convenience stores across the country, not to mention online. You might be wondering how they're even legal. Well, that's the thing: They're NOT legal!

Actually, according to the Food and Drug Administration, almost all of the e-cigs being sold today are illegal. They've only authorized a small handful of e-cigs for sale, and most of those are tobacco-flavored. Yet the FDA and other federal agencies haven't done nearly enough to stop e-cig makers from flooding the market with thousands of wild products aimed at kids.

☝️ Can you spot the e-cigarette in this photo? 🤔

My fellow Tobacco-Free Kids youth ambassadors and I are sounding the alarm to our peers and fighting to get the government to do something before this gets even more out of hand. 

Here's how you can help right now:

• Sign our petition calling on federal agencies to protect kids and eliminate illegal e-cigarettes. Then, pass it on.
  
  
• Watch and share this video of me and other Tobacco-Free Kids youth advocates explaining the problem on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube:

• Check out our new back-to-school webpage to learn more and get resources to raise awareness in your community.
  
  
• Pitch in and become a monthly donor to support and sustain Tobacco-Free Kids' work. Every little bit helps.

Thanks for reading and for all you do for our movement!

– Connor