Thanks for backing Tobacco 21

Thank you to Mayor Richard Irvin and the Aurora City Council for raising the age to purchase tobacco products to 21. The Tobacco 21 movement is gaining steam nationwide, and I'm thrilled to see Illinois' second-largest city adopt this lifesaving measure.

In my experience, as a Pulmonary Rehabilitation nurse, I'm all too familiar with the devastating effects of tobacco. Plain and simple, smoking kills, and I support any measure we can take to keep tobacco out of the hands of our children.

Ninety five percent of smokers say they started before age 21. If we can stop our children from taking up this habit before 21, we can save them from the deadly consequences of smoking: heart disease, cancer, respiratory problems and a lifelong addition to nicotine, to name a few.

I'm happy to see that this ordinance also stops the sale of vaping products to anyone under the age of 21. Vaping has become increasingly popular with Aurora's teenagers, and it's not the safer alternative to smoking it's made out to be. E-cigarette users are exposed to nicotine, metals and contaminants, and vapers pass those toxins on to others through secondhand smoke.

Thank you to Mayor Irvin and the City Council for putting the health of our children first. I encourage our state lawmakers to support Tobacco 21 at the state level - it's time we kicked this deadly habit once and for all.

Faith Nyong, Faith Community Nurse, Presence Mercy Medical Center

North Aurora