Mist opportunity
Ray Lozano has been giving 45-minute presentations to middle schoolers throughout North Idaho during the past two months for University of Idaho’s Millennium Project, which focuses on educating middle-school children on the dangers of using electronic devices to consume nicotine. LOREN BENOIT/Press
LOREN BENOIT/PressRichard Reardon, a University of Idaho professor involved with the Millennium Project, speaks with the Press about the use of electronic devices to consume nicotine or THC.
By KEITH COUSINS
Staff Writer
COEUR d'ALENE — Ray Lozano’s presentations have been compared to watching comedian George Lopez perform a stand-up routine.
But, unlike Lopez, Lozano uses humor to help keep kids away from drugs and alcohol.
“One of the problems a lot of speakers have is they bombard these kids with information and it bounces off,” Lozano said. “I attempt to get this humor because it’s a point where kids are listening and then I stick just one piece of information in there.”
Lozano has been giving his 45-minute presentations to middle schoolers throughout North Idaho over the past two months as part of the University of Idaho’s Millennium Project. The project, funded through the state Legislature’s allocation of $397,000 in national tobacco settlement monies, is focused on educating middle-school children on the dangers of using electronic devices to consume nicotine or THC.
“It’s the newest thing and people look at vaping as the solution to tobacco. They really look at it as the answer instead of the problem,” said Richard Reardon, a professor involved with the project. “It’s really stealthy that way, and of course the devices themselves are stealthy as well.”
Reardon added the project focuses on middle school students because that's the age where kids are at a decision point regarding whether they will use drugs or alcohol. According to Lozano, 11.5 is the average age in America when a child will first try alcohol.
Nicotine use, he added, begins at an average of 12 years old, and marijuana use is 13.
“Once a junior high kid hits high school, the world is going to change for them,” Lozano said. “So if we can instill it in them in junior high, and continue it on with other people reinforcing that in them, that’s where the effectiveness comes through.”
One of the biggest things Lozano examines when he goes into schools is the types of questions kids ask him. If a student asks something simple like “What is vaping?” Lozano said it’s a generic question and something stemming from curiosity.
But, if a student asks a more pointed question such as “Can you use THC in a vape for pain?” that indicates to Lozano that the students are aware and already having discussions on the topic among themselves.
“There are a lot of questions about marijuana and questions about vaping, but there are no questions about cigarettes,” Lozano said of his work in North Idaho schools. “So we’ve done a great job at tackling cigarettes and kids know they’re bad. But they think vaping is healthy for you because it tastes like watermelon.”
Lozano has also worked with area parents during the course of the program. He told The Press he still uses a lot of humor when he works with parents and focuses his discussions on parents being intentional with their children when it comes to their place in the home.
“The more you can instill in kids that they are not an island where everything revolves around them, the less likely they are to try drugs and alcohol,” Lozano added.