The Governor’s office says that their T21 bill is all in an effort to prevent teen addiction. In support of this legislation, the Director of the Ohio Department of Health says she personally believes vaping is a public health crisis.
In response to this legislation, the Ohio Vapor Trade Association (OHVTA) is opposing this proposed agenda by the Governor’s Office.
The Columbus Local News Reports
The President of OHVTA, James Jarvis, and the owner of Vapor Station was interviewed by NBC4 News and explained to the reporters that vape products are “made by adults for adults to solve a problem that started when they were underage — to eliminate the 18 to 20-year-old group from being able to use this product, to get off of tobacco, we are actually doing public health harm.”
The governor of Ohio is calling vaping a public health emergency. He claims that this legislation is a critical step for protecting children’s health.
In addition, another Columbus, Ohio News Channel ABC6 ran the story as well. Coincidentally, they also stopped by one of James Jarvis’s shops for comments about the Governor’s proposal.
Interviewing Jarvis at Vapor Station, he clarified the big picture to the ABC6 reporters, by stating, “The main point for us (vape shops) is to get people off of combustible tobacco — which we know contributes to several hundred thousand deaths a year.”
This is a valid point made by Jarvis since many people do not immediately have the capability to see the major differences between smoking and vaping.
During the ABC6 interview Mr. Jarvis takes time to point out all of the signs posted in his shop — signs that display how presenting identification is required to purchase any products. Jarvis was clearly attempting to inform the public that this industry is very serious about not selling to underage consumers.
The Governor’s Argument
Gov. DeWine views vaping as a gateway to addiction — which is rather absurd to come to this conclusion since there is no data to back up this claim. However, without evidence to maintain this stance, it still remains to be a major claim made by the opposition of the vaping industry.
In other video footage being shown, we clearly see how the Governor of Ohio is aggressively adamant about this agenda. Gov. Mike DeWine can literally be seen holding up infographic signs at press conferences that show images of fruit and candy flavored eliquid labels — while simultaneously pounding his fist on the podium he was speaking from.
Basically, Governor DeWine is claiming that this situation is the same exact marketing strategy used by the big tobacco industry that we’ve seen in the past in order to hook younger generations on tobacco cigarettes.
Fair and Balanced
One of the main takeaways from this story that people may not realize is that we are witnessing local news channels finally giving the small business owners of vape shops a fair chance to be represented accurately — allowing a balanced perspective to be heard.
By allowing these small business owners the opportunity to have their voices heard, without editing footage in a misleading way, it provides a platform for the vape community to be seen as what they truly are — ordinary citizens.
Not to mention, after watching the local news, the general public then can also consider both sides of the argument without as much bias involved.
Once again, we are witnessing a balanced approach rather than a biased agenda by the local news channels. When comparing this scenario to past broadcasts, where these small business owners have been entirely taken out of context, this is literally groundbreaking to see the vape community being represented in an accurate and positive light.
Regardless, it is safe to say that James Jarvis helped paint a better picture of the entire vape community, by articulating his speech with a professional and sincere tone — where ordinary people can understand the benefit of having these products available for smokers to transition to a healthier alternative.
After reaching out to Mr. James Jarvis, he explained further, “Our concern is for the 18 – 20 year old adults who will no longer be able to use a product that is 95% Less Harmful than tobacco and twice as successful with getting people to stop smoking that vapor can provide them. What will happen to those adults?”
