Colorful lights, flashing signs, glass windows, and catchy names are how many smoke shops decorate the interior and exterior of their buildings. 

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of smoke shops around Lawrence, especially concentrated on Massachusetts St. and 23rd St. These shops’ proximity to both KU and LHS is problematic and is contributing to underage student access to harmful substances. 

According to a report from Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health in May, there are more than 70 businesses selling tobacco in Lawrence. This means there is one retailer for every ​​1,314 people living in Lawrence. 

The eye-catching shops catch the attention of many passersby. For example, Puffing Bear Smoke shop, located on 23rd St, is decorated with neon lights and a bear as their mascot. Science teacher Zachary Casey feels bright decorations are direct advertisements for minors. 

“They have bears in the windows. They talk about cotton candy. I mean, the fact that they have candy flavored vapes tells you everything you need to know,” Casey said. “That’s not targeted towards adults.”

Many shops in Lawrence allow minors in their stores to buy products. This includes a LHS student who has been buying from smoke shops the past year, who asked to remain anonymous. This student agrees that the stores and products advertise to younger people. 

“It’s definitely become a very big thing,” the student said. “[It’s] a bubbling business;they’re more prominent downtown, especially because they don’t card and they get more business from it.” 

The student doesn’t think the businesses care about the audience they attract, because they refuse to recognize the harm of letting minors access these products.

Enrique Ortiz, Environmental Health Inspector with the Douglas County Public Department, believes that minors are vulnerable to peer pressure. He looks out for the emotional effects of substance use.

“The biggest side effect with vaping is the nicotine addiction and the side effects that can come with that,” Ortiz said. “There’s a pretty strong correlation between people who struggle with mental health and nicotine addiction.”

There has been a similar narrative between smoking and vaping. Vaping is now being advertised as healthier and a better alternative, similar to how smoking once was advertised.

“I think a lot of these tobacco retailers or vape retailers, they know they’re spreading false accusations in terms of,’ it’s healthier, it’s better, it’s more attractive than smoking a cigarette and things like that’,” Ortiz said. “But clearly they have the same side effects, addiction…I think they tried to make it more appealing but in reality it isn’t.”  

The Lawrence Health Department has a tobacco retail program. They send in an underage buyer twice a year, who attempts to buy a product from shops. This year the Health Department tested 80 retailers. Twelve of those businesses sold to the underage buyer. 

“If they receive more than three fines or sell more than three times to our buyer, they [the Lawrence Health Department] can suspend their license or even revoke it if necessary,” Ortiz said.

Vaping is commonly known to cause distraction in students. Ortiz thinks there is a correlation between this and poor grades. Casey, who often finds students vaping in the bathroom, agrees that this affects the students’ education.

 “They’re not in class and, if they’re spending 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes in the bathroom or wherever, they’re not here,” Casey said. “So that’s certainly not helping anything. And if you miss a quarter of your class period or half of your class period, that’s a quarter or half of the material you’re missing.” 

Casey has a kid who’s a freshman at LHS. The effects of vaping hit close to home for their family. 

“His grandpa got cancer because he smoked his whole life and when he stopped smoking he started vaping. It didn’t help anything…” Casey said. “So I can easily point to some examples in our personal life about people that have been seriously harmed by this… We’re prone to it. I think everybody’s prone to it if you smoke enough.” 

Casey looks out for LHS by offering advice to any students struggling with vaping and addiction. 

“They’re being manipulated by somebody,” Casey said. “Somebody is trying to make money off of them and that person doesn’t give a damn to that person if they are living or dying.”