Juul regret addiction to e-cigs

Williston Park, L.I.: Re “Chuck goes after e-cigs” (Oct. 16): Sen. Schumer focuses on one product called Juul. As a Syracuse University student studying public health, I can verify its prevalence among teenagers. I’ve noticed students charge their Juuls during class and get away with it because of the product’s simple design, which resembles a flash drive. Juuls also come in a variety of flavors, which entice teens to try the product.

Students are habitually using the product to the point where some are finishing an entire pod in just one day. Some impulsively smoke them in bathrooms, while walking to class, in their dorm rooms and even in the school library. This is alarming because one Juul pod contains the amount of nicotine equivalent to an entire pack of cigarettes. The urgency to smoke and consumption of large sums of nicotine by Juul users are grounds for an addiction and calls for intervention.

Although the long-term health impacts of vapes won’t be known for another decade or so, the damage of nicotine on the developing adolescent brain has been proven. Intervention programs educating teachers, parents and students can start on the basis of what we know right now. Education can also occur during annual physical exams. Instead of asking patients if they smoke in general, doctors should be instructed to specifically ask about vaping, and then use this moment as a time to educate their patient on the risks of nicotine consumption.

Meaghan Linhart

A promise kept

Manchester, N.J.: Reading in Voice of the People about stopping the sale of tobacco products, so people can quit smoking, reminded me of 1994, when my Uncle John was on his deathbed, dying of lung cancer. We were about 18 people in his room, and he pointed to me, to come closer to his bed. He held my hand and said: “Please promise me you will quit smoking. You can see what happened to me.” I said, “Yeah, OK.” He squeezed my hand so hard, I thought he’d break my fingers, and said: “I’m not kidding. Promise me.” I raised my voice, before he made my fingers useless: “Yes, Uncle John, I really promise.” My uncle John died that night. He was 72. You see, every man in my family died at age 75 or younger. I’m 85 now and I still thank my Uncle John for these extra years I’ve had.

John S. Giacchi

Retire, senator

Peckville, Pa.: The way most Americans talk about Sen. John McCain, you would believe he was the only ex-serviceman to ever be wounded or held prisoner. It’s time for this over-exposed senator to say goodbye and retire. McCain didn’t help Republicans in the last election and is nothing more than a hanger-on now. How sick could McCain have been if he could get out of bed and leave the hospital so he can hurt Americans and President Trump. I say this loud and clear: To hell with the Dumb-o-crats and OB care. I know Trump and have interviewed him. The Republican Senate and House should back up Trump. Eighty is too old to be in the Senate. Sen. McCain, as a vet I say go home to Arizona.

Sal Algieri

Secret success

Brooklyn: To Voicer William A. Pauwels Sr.: It’s gratifying to know Wall Street is doing so well with a $5.4 trillion increase in wealth. I polled my middle-class and poverty-level friends and asked them how much more wealth they have accumulated this past year. The answer was always the same: $0. So I guess we have to all be happy that the rich are doing so well. I can’t wait for trickle-down economics to make me well off. I’ve been waiting since the 80s for it and I’m sure it's coming real soon now. Greg Ahl

Some expert

Rockaway Park: To Christine Todd Whitman: Hopefully you know more about hurricanes and superstorms than you knew about toxic dust after 9/11 (“Hunkering down for future storms,” Oct. 29). You were head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and told the men and women who were on the toxic pile that the air was fair to breathe. Didn’t really work out for the people who died or now are sick. Thomas McKeon

Eye for an eye

Brooklyn: The way to deal with cowardly terrorists who kill innocent people is, when they’re caught, to torture them every day for one year. Then what’s left of them, drop in the deepest part of the ocean. We must terrorize the terrorist. James Coffee

Meet halfway

Linden, N.J.: The mutually acceptable way to get things done is for both sides to get something. For example, the way to compromise on abortion is not to ban it entirely, but not to permit it entirely, either. Ban it after a certain period of fetal development, say 20 weeks. As Ross Douthat has noted in the New York Times, a majority of Americans favor such a ban. Ron Jackowski

Photo finish

Manhattan: I was very pleased with the Daily News articles and photos on the New York City Marathon. But it would have been wonderful to see the three male winners and the three female winners in a photo together. And also include their nations’ flags. All three men and women deserve recognition and praise.

Anna C. Grabarits New City, N.Y.: Definition of tax: A burden, load, weight, encumbrance, strain, pressure, stress, drain, sap, punish. There are sales taxes (e.g., soap, toilet paper); hidden taxes (e.g., those included on sports events and movie tickets); taxes paid unwittingly on real estate you never owned; elimination of itemized deductions like medical bills; and golden fleecing, like the elimination of the inheritance tax that only the wealthy benefit from. This is truly taxation without representation, since 99% of us are not getting any honest representation with the Republicans. The United States of America is swiftly turning into a Fourth World country. We need our representatives to eliminate foreign aid, seize offshore accounts, end tax loopholes, bring back jobs, lower high credit card interest, punish politicians like ordinary citizens and invest in America’s infrastructure.

Elsa Aday

What a coincidence

Brooklyn: No American newspaper has asked President Trump why, of all the countries in the world, he asked Russia to find Hillary Clinton’s emails. He says he has nothing to do with Russia. If he asked Russia to look into Clinton’s emails, what is to stop them from looking into anyone else’s emails if they have President Trump’s permission.

Joseph M. Sellers

Stop selling death

Bayville, N.J.: It’s not going to be easy, but it can be done. We’re talking about gun control that’s way out of control. Step one: Let’s challenge the gun manufacturers to stop production of all guns, except for military use. Just stop making any type of gun, especially assault rifles, available to the general public. There already are enough weapons out there on the streets to fill up Giants Stadium 50 times. But due to greed it just is not going to happen. Kevin Lees

Right side of the law

Staten Island: Wow! I can’t believe it! I just read the July 5 editorial “Turnstile justice,” which further highlights the insanity of our city’s progressive policy of fostering a lawless city through, among other measures, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance’s program of non-enforcement of fare-beating. It appears that the Daily News disapproves of the program and warns of a “bumpy ride” ahead. For a newspaper that does not really support law enforcement, you made a complete 360 on this one.

Anthony Juliano

Far from home

Manhattan: Someone out there has to hear us and help. By “us” I mean seniors who are kept on a NYCHA waiting list for years, just so that we can get a one-bedroom decent place to live. I am 68 years old and living with my daughter, grandchildren and even a newborn great-grandchild, all of us crowded like sardines in a threebedroom apartment. Just because my daughter lives in public housing they think it’s OK for me to live doubled up with her and her family. They don’t understand how unhealthy this is for me. Our dear mayor should look into this NYCHA problem and do something about it. I need my peace and quiet for my sanity and well-being. Help us who need our own space. Mirtha Baez

Spit it out

JUUL LABS Colonia, N.J.: Voicer Richard Martin said it right. My husband is an avid Yankees fan, but when I sit down to watch the game, I get up within three minutes in disgust. Constant spitting, chewing; I hope it’s gum, not tobacco. It’s disgusting. Is there a rule saying they have to chew and spit?

Estelle Saltzman