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Published December 28. 2020 7:42PM
The Norwich Police Department has announced that over the next several months it plans to collaborate with the Norwich Prevention Council and youth volunteers to conduct nicotine-related compliance checks at licensed establishments in the city.
The goal of this initiative is to prevent the sale of tobacco, vaping devices and other nicotine delivery systems to youth under age 21. Compliance checks work in conjunction with the Norwich Prevention Council’s other strategies, which include education, targeted messaging, and advocacy for appropriate regulations and local policy.
The coalition is recruiting community members and leaders for community level prevention projects. Anyone interested in getting involved with the coalition, can contact Rayallen Bergman via email rbergman@cityofnorwich.org.
With the nation seeing a declining number of underage smokers and tobacco users, the Norwich Police Department has teamed up with the Norwich Prevention Council to keep their community on the right path.
Over the next several months, they plan to conduct compliance checks at licensed establishments within Norwich to make sure retailers aren t selling to underage students.
The 2019 Norwich School Survey showed that 5% of students between the 7th and 12th grade experimented with vaping devices to consume nicotine, 2.1% of which happened in the last month. Similarly, less than 3.5% of students experimented with cigarettes, with 2.4% in the last month. This number is drastically lower than the national average of underage smokers, which sits at 23.6% in the CDC s most recent survey. E-cigarettes and vaping make up most of this percentage, with about one in every five students using such devices in the past 30 days.