Joliet Community Working Together to Address Vaping

The City of Joliet Police Department has been doing its part to address the issue of tobacco and vaping products being sold to underage children for years issuing tickets with little follow up and community support.

The City of Joliet Police Department has been doing its part to address the issue of tobacco and vaping products being sold to underage children for years issuing tickets with little follow up and community support.  Now that has changed thanks to a developing partnership between Joliet’s major school districts and the city’s liquor commissioner and Mayor Terry D’Arcy.

Since taking office, D’Arcy began holding license holders accountable for the sale of nicotine products to minors in the way of fines and suspension of licenses with increasing penalties for multiple violations. Attention to the problems associated with underage access to vaping materials came after the concern was raised at a Joliet Township High School Board of Education meeting.

“I received an email from Superintendent Karla Guseman who stated a concern was raised at the meeting about a particular business widely known for selling products to underage individuals.  She expressed serious concerns about the health issues related to our student’s use of vaping which is not allowed in our schools,” explained D’Arcy. “As liquor commissioner, I have the authority to oversee this, so I asked my deputy liquor commissioners to look into it and report back what they found,” added D’Arcy.

According to Joliet Police Chief Bill Evans, the mayor’s office began addressing complaints from residents and others in the community. “In addition to citywide checks which were previously conducted a few times a year we added additional checks in cooperation with the liquor commissioner’s office to investigate,” stated Evans. “The legal age to purchase tobacco in Illinois is 21and we found businesses violating that law, so we began holding license holders accountable for their employees selling to underage minors.” The citywide checks were funded by a state grant managed by the Joliet Police Department Special Projects Division.

The checks worked and the city finally had the attention of these tobacco owners like never before. “We wanted to send a message that the administration is not going to tolerate the businesses in our city selling these dangerous and addictive products to minors. We will enforce the state law and the ordinances of the city,” D’Arcy stated.
The penalties for selling to underage minors ranges from $1000 to $5000 depending on how many times the business has sold to minors in the last 12 months. Three violations in a year result in the revocation of the tobacco license that allows the establishment to legally sell tobacco and other nicotine products.

Since September of 2023, the city has issued a total of 47 violations including locations that have sold multiple times. One such business was shut down in late July and is the first business to have its license revoked. “But shutting down one business is not enough,” added D’Arcy.  “We need to partner with the schools to educate our students on the real dangers of vaping.”  So, D’Arcy enlisted the support of the leaders of the city’s two major school districts, Joliet Township High School District 204, and Joliet Public School District 86.

Joliet Township High School District 204 Superintendent Karla J. Guseman, Ed.D. and Board President Michelle Stiff understand the harmful effects vaping is having on the students in the district. “As both a mother and school board president, I am deeply concerned about the devastating health consequences associated with vaping and e-cigarettes among our youth whose lungs and brains are still developing, and the predators who are selling these to our children,” stated Stiff.  “The statistics are truly alarming, and unfortunately, this is a national issue impacting our youth right here in our very own community.”

Superintendent Guseman feels strongly that access to vaping devices and materials must be a concern for all of us. “Prevention begins with education, which includes educating our parents and the community.  Devices are hard to detect and designed to be undetected, therefore, we need to educate families and students of all ages,” added Guseman.

Concerned about the access to these dangerous substances, Stiff reached out to her state legislators for help. “The internet has made it very easy for kids to get vapes,” said State Senator Meg Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood). “Manufacturers are making e-cigarettes look like school supplies, making it difficult for teachers to decipher if it’s a vape or not. After hearing from local elected officials who were seeing an uptick in the usage of vapes in schools, it was clear we had to put guardrails in place to protect kids from the dangers of smoking.”

Loughran Cappel sponsored a bill in the Senate and Deputy Majority Leader and State Representative Natalie Manley (D-Joliet) was the House sponsor. Senate Bill 3098 was signed into law last Friday and goes into effect Jan. 1, 2025. The bill prohibits electronic cigarettes purchased by mail, online or through other remote sale methods from being shipped to anyone in the state other than a distributor or retailer. Loughran Cappel’s law came in response to students obtaining e-cigarettes that are designed to look like everyday objects, such as highlighters.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), E-cigarettes or vapes have been the most commonly used tobacco product among U.S. youth since 2014.  Youth e-cigarette use is a critical public health concern because approximately one-half of students ever using e-cigarettes reported using them currently, indicating that many young persons who try e-cigarettes remain e-cigarette users. In 2023, 10.0% of high school students and 4.6% of middle school students used e-cigarettes during the past 30 days.

“No tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, are safe,” said Dr. Kris McDonough, board-certified pulmonologist, and Co-Medical Director of the Midwest Institute for Lung at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox.  “Most vaping products contain nicotine, a highly addictive chemical that poses a health threat to anyone who vapes – and our youth in particular. Nicotine has been shown to harm brain development, which continues until about age 25. If nicotine is used regularly during adolescence, it can damage the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control,” added McDonough.  “What’s more, adolescents who use nicotine may be at increased risk for future addiction to other drugs, and youth who vape may turn to cigarettes in the future.”

D’Arcy reiterated the city’s firm stance on the matter reminding everyone that back-to-school season is the perfect time to make parents aware of this growing problem, while putting Joliet’s tobacco businesses on notice. “The city will enforce the rules and hold these businesses accountable for the wrongs they are doing that is harming our young people. It is now up to parents to become better educated on the topic and talk with their children and protect them from making bad choices.”

The city has instituted a tip hotline and email address for anyone interested in reporting suspected violations or activity to the Liquor Commissioner’s Office.  The Tip Line # is 815-486-1053 and the email address is: [email protected].

City of Joliet press release