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WATERSHED: Contemplates 10% levy increase PAGE 12
Reports of lung illness surge in Minnesota teen vaping rates
Fall comes falling down
BY ELIZABETH CALLEN STAFF WRITER
Once touted as a safer alternative to smoking, vaping has come under increased scrutiny, particularly as reports of lung illnesses potentially linked to the practice have surged throughout both the U.S. and Minnesota. E-cigarettes (and similar products, known as vapes, vape pens/sticks, dab pens and e-hookahs) are battery-powered devices that allow users to inhale the vapor of a heated liquid, which typically contains nicotine, fl avoring and other chemicals. Because vaping does not involve inhaling smoke from burned tobacco leaves, it has typically been assumed to be safer than smoking traditional cigarettes. But as the steady stream of recent reports of acute lung disease among regular vapers suggests, “safer” and “risk-free” are not synonymous. As of Oct. 1, the U.S. Centers for
SARA MARIE MOORE | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Leaves in a variety of colors carpet the ground in Island Lake County Park in late October.
SEE VAPING, PAGE 2
Looking at felonies from the eyes of the incarcerated BY SARA MARIE MOORE EDITOR
A felony conviction can affect the rest of your life. After serving their time, many people with felony convictions on their record have a hard time reestablishing their lives — driving, finding a job and a place to stay, and paying off court fees. Several ex-offenders discussed the difficulties of leaving their felony drug-related records behind at a criminal justice reform forum held at the Ramsey County Library – Shoreview this month. “When you are trying to reestablish a life out here, you have all these things chipping away at you,” said Marlin Meszaro, reentry coordinator at FreedomWorks, a nonprofit that helps ex-offenders reenter life after prison. Meszaro was formerly incarcerated himself; he said he doesn’t look like someone who has 13 felonies on his record. Even now, he is still working to get his driver’s li-
“There are so many things working against you when you are involved in the criminal justice system.” Gina Evans Community Outreach Director at Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge
cense back. He became involved in drugs at a young age and has been through long-term recovery. He now fights to give a voice to the formerly addicted. “We could probably be trusted to cast a ballot,” he explained. Meszaro is a board member on the Minnesota Second Chance Coalition, which advocates
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to the Legislature for fee reduction, shorter felony probation periods and voting restoration for those who have finished serving their time. “There are so many things working against you when you are involved in the criminal justice system,” added Gina Evans, a past president of the coalition and community outreach director at Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge. Evans, of Mounds View, said she became involved in drugs at age 15 and landed in prison at age 21. She said she was traumatized by incarceration. When she later went to the Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge recovery program, she was finally able to break her addiction. “I didn’t need restoration; I needed healing,” she remembered. “I just wish someone would have looked at me (at age 21) and realized I was at a place where I could be taught a new normal.”
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