Town employees deserve praise for tobacco control efforts
By Canton CitizenDear Editor:
On June 16, the Canton Citizen published an excellent article by Jay Turner, who did a well written and thorough job at covering a public hearing being conducted by the Canton Board of Health to discuss the results of a tobacco sale compliance check with a number of local businesses. Of 22 stores checked, eight were found to have sold cigarettes to buyers under the age of 21 in violation of the board’s “Prohibition of the Sale of Tobacco Products to Minors Regulation.”
The Board of Health occasionally conducts these compliance checks to determine if local stores are selling cigarettes to underage buyers, and enforces the regulation for the purpose of keeping tobacco and nicotine products out of the hands of susceptible and impressionable young people in order to reduce the likelihood of their consuming and becoming addicted to these dangerous nicotine-containing products. It is a thankless job, but an important one that helps Canton maintain its lower-than-average (both federally and statewide) tobacco and nicotine addiction rate.
The town employees who devote their time and effort to do this job with little or no recognition are far too often unappreciated for the work they do. Accordingly, I would like to take this opportunity to give recognition and thanks to Public Health Nurse Jane Pratt, whose hard work and dedication keeps Canton’s tobacco control program running smoothly and successfully. In addition, the tobacco compliance program would not be possible without the invaluable assistance of Lt. Charles Rae of the Canton Police Department, who generously spent hours during the compliance check as a witness to ensure the (anonymous) underage volunteers are able to safely conduct their “sting” operations, and to conduct the necessary follow-up at the Board of Health’s public hearing.
It is thanks to these two dedicated people that it is more difficult for Canton’s underage youth to obtain such disease-causing products as tobacco and nicotine. The overall health of Canton’s youth is safer because of them.
Sincerely,
John L. Ciccotelli, R.S., C.H.O.
Director of Public Health
Canton Board of Health
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=33726
Posted by Canton Citizen
on Jul 1 2016. Filed under From One Citizen to Another, Opinion.
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