When 13-year-old Scarlett Williams presented her research on the effects of a lack of cessation services for youth struggling with nicotine addiction to a group of Utah legislators, she said she could have never known the impact she would make.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox visited Cache Valley's Bear River Health Center on Saturday to perform a ceremonial signing of House Bill 128, which took effect on May 1. Williams and other youth from the Bear River Governing Youth Council successfully advocated for the bill passed this year that allows minors to take part in tobacco and nicotine cessation services without parental consent.
“It was just like a really great experience to just help people, even if it's not that many, or even if it was a lot,” Williams said. “I'm still changing people's lives, and that just makes me glad.”
The Bear River Governing Youth Council involves youth across Cache and Box Elder Counties in substance misuse prevention. In recent years, the group’s focus has been on tobacco and nicotine products, as these products are heavily misused by youth today.
Williams, who has been part of the council for two years, had a goal to remove the parental consent requirement for tobacco cessation services, as she had seen many of her peers not seeking adequate help because of this requirement.
“At my school, you go into the bathroom and there’s people vaping or smoking or doing drugs, and it really just breaks my heart that these youth are going through that and that they choose to do that,” Williams said.
She said she could not see much being done at her school, and she wanted to create change.
“I knew that it was addictive because I have personal connections to my dad who was addicted to vaping, he got off for his family,” she said. “It’s hard to but you can. So, we just wanted to have a safe place that students could go to get help to quit.”
What she learned from the experience is that her voice can be heard.
“The fact that it went somewhere just made me really, really excited,” Williams said.
Utah Representative Thomas Peterson, who drafted the bill, spoke to the group at the bill signing. He said data shows more than 300 youth a year call the helpline and hang up because of the age requirements.
"The idea that you had could help 316 kids get help and get rid of this terrible addiction that affects so many people in our community,” Peterson said.
Cox said when Peterson called him and asked if he could come to Logan and do a ceremonial bill signing, he could not wait to do it.
“It took some amazing young people to help us understand that we should have thought about this before,” Cox said. “We’re so proud of you and what you were able to do.”
Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson also spoke to the youth.
“We don’t know what we don’t know in state government, and we rely on people like you to help us understand what those problems are and how we can go about solving them,” she said.
Olivia Kenworthy, Hannah Fullmer, and Zander Rennemeyer, who are also part of the youth group, all said they felt inspired after visiting with the governor.
“It feels so awesome,” Kenworthy said. “It feels like our voices were really heard.”
“If you speak out, your voice will be heard, and you have the power to change things,” Fullmer said.
“Be the change you want to see in the world,” Rennemeyer said. “You can advocate for things, and it doesn’t matter what it is, you could do it.”
For those seeking help, the youth tobacco quit line, "My Life, My Quit," is now available. Minors can sign up at mylifemyquit.org, and adults 18 years and older can also access cessation services free of charge.
