Senior YLC Member Testifies to State Senate

Delivers compelling case for ending sale of flavored tobacco

March 4, 2025 – SALEM, OR

Last week, the Oregon Senate Committee On Early Childhood and Behavioral Health held a hearing on SB 702, a bill which would prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products. YLC has been advocating for the passage of this bill since the last legislative session, and during the hearing, Kasen Shi ‘25 brought YLC’s case directly to legislators. To prepare his testimony, Kasen “ask[ed] around to see what other people were going to say,” resolving to take a different angle on the subject. Rather than repeating “statistics and facts”, he “decided to tell a story.” 

Kasen was called to testify early in the hearing, which he described as “a bit scary, but exciting.” Kasen’s testimony centered on an encounter he had last year: while he was in the school bathroom, another person began vaping in the stall right next to him; later that day, he realized the person was his long-time friend, who had begun vaping without Kasen’s knowledge. Kasen emphasized that addiction can happen to anybody, and that, by passing SB 702, the lawmakers would “protect youth from exploitative industry tactics” and “break the cycle before it starts.” 

Kasen encourages other youth interested in advocacy to “say yes to every opportunity”-- doing so “opened a lot of doors for me and let me meet a lot of wonderful people in the space.” For more on YLC’s flavored tobacco advocacy work, see YLC’s What We’re Doing page here; for the current status of SB 702, see here.