My name is Saim Iqbal, and I’m a senior at Arrowhead Park Early College High School. I have been part of Evolvement for a while, and this year I'm on the leadership team. I help with the No Minor Sale Campaign, which aims to stop young people from using flavored nicotine products by raising awareness and advocating for better policies. In this blog post, I’ll share my experience of helping new members learn about the No Minor Sale Campaign during our recent training.

In the course of the Evolvement training, I was involved in a presentation on No Minor Sale and the mission of this campaign. The training session was held at my school, and I presented to potential new members. I discussed our contributions to the community through partner presentations, city council meetings, and local events. We also led an activity in which new members chose one No Minor Sale opportunity that they would like to participate in. I feel a sense of pride that I was able to help guide them in understanding how they can contribute.

In my community, I’ve noticed that more young people are using flavored nicotine products, which they often get from older friends or stores that don’t check IDs. This is why I decided to join the No Minor Sale group. I care about this because flavored nicotine can harm teens and cause addiction. We need to protect kids from these products so they can grow up healthy and safe.

One way to address this problem is by having laws that limit flavored nicotine products. These rules can make it harder for young people to access these products and make them less tempting. I believe these rules are important because they can help stop addiction, improve health in our community, and ease parents' worries about their kids. If more people support these rules, we can really help reduce how much nicotine young people use.

Helping with the training was really important to me. I felt like I helped encourage new members to get involved in the No Minor Sale Campaign. I encourage everyone to support rules that protect kids and to help spread the word. Even small efforts can make a big difference, and together we can create a healthier community.

    Hello, my name is Diego Romero. I am a student at New Mexico State University and have been an adult volunteer with No Minor Sale for two years. Before No Minor Sale, I was a youth advocate on the leadership team with Evolvement for four years. No Minor Sale is a campaign working to reduce the illegal sale of nicotine products to minors. We do this through advocacy and education about how flavored nicotine products impact our community and the future of our world.

    One of the major things we are working toward is nicotine flavor restriction. Many people start using these products because they come in flavors that appeal to them. On October 28, I had the opportunity to speak with local officials at the Town of Mesilla Board of Trustees meeting to discuss this issue.

    During the meeting, I shared who we are, what we are doing, and what local elected officials can do to help us with our mission. Mesilla is a smaller town that cares deeply about its youth population, and the board members – Mayor Hernandez, Trustee Merrick, Trustee Nevarez, and Trustee Cadena – seemed to genuinely support our work. They asked whether we planned on speaking with legislators during the upcoming legislative session. We let them know that we attend Day at the Capitol every year to advocate for positive change in our state, and that we will do the same this year.

    We must continue speaking with our state legislators to encourage them to make changes and pass policies that protect youth. This is especially important to me because, as someone who has grown up around Mesilla and Las Cruces, I want my peers to have a healthy future. Our youth are the most important people we have. They are the ones who will carry forward everything we’ve learned, build on our progress, and create new ideas, innovations, and opportunities. But they can only do that if we protect them from the things that take those opportunities away.

    This town meeting is just one of many ways to get involved and help protect my community. I hope this experience encourages others to join No Minor Sale as volunteers, spread awareness, or partner with the campaign.

Hello! My name is Christeana Piancino, and I am a senior at Raton High School. This is my fourth year with Evolvement and my third year on the Leadership Team. With Evolvement, I have been working with No Minor Sale, which aims to restrict flavored vapes and tobacco products (including chew) from stores.

On the last weekend of August 2025, I helped out at our town’s annual Gate City Music Festival with my mother. On Friday, we helped a couple of people run a foam machine for the kids, and on Saturday, we sold Raton-opoly games (“Monopoly,” but based on our town of Raton, New Mexico). I was doing this for National Honor Society hours, and I also wanted a booth for No Minor Sale since most of the town would be there. I wasn’t feeling the best that weekend, but was still determined to get at least a couple of support cards. After this experience, I feel more confident about helping get vapes out of my school, and educating people I don’t know.

At the event, I ran into one of my middle school teachers, who once told me that even 4th and 5th graders use vapes! Without flavors, kids wouldn’t be getting addicted to vapes and could live happier, healthier lives. Back in the 1950s and ’60s, smoking was seen as cool and was even said to “open up your lungs” during the Vietnam War, and we’re seeing the effects of that now. Since I am currently the only Evolvement member in Raton, I’ve been working on my own with the generous help of my mom and the Evolvement team and I couldn’t be more grateful for each and every one of them. With their support – and the support of every Evolvement member – we’re getting one step closer to a brighter and healthier future for our world.