Desert Mountain junior helps prompt Scottsdale to add vapes to smokefree ordinance

Desert Mountain High School junior Sid Gupta said he began working with Scottsdale officials after seeing widespread vaping among students on campus and identifying a gap in the citys smokefree rules that did not explicitly cover e-cigarettes. Gupta said he contacted school leaders and, through a district introduction, met city council members and public-health organizations to craft changes to local code.

Gupta described partnering with policy experts from the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association to draft ordinance language and then conducting community outreach events with the Boys & Girls Club, SUSD partners such as Blue Zones and Not My Kid, and the Scottsdale Mayors Youth Council. He said the group collected a petition of about 75 signatures and presented it to the Scottsdale City Council in May.

Gupta said council members raised practical questions during hearings about signage and costs, and he and partner organizations later met with council staff to refine the language and close potential loopholes. He said the council voted unanimously, 7-0, in September to amend the Scottsdale smokefree ordinance to include vaping devices and e-cigarettes.

Gupta described the process as taking roughly a year from initial city introductions to final passage and said his status as a student both complicated and strengthened his advocacy: officials occasionally questioned experience, but his perspective as someone affected by vaping gave the effort persuasive weight.

Gupta also discussed his other activities at Desert Mountain High School, including membership in the student advisory board, an award-winning robotics team coached in part by guidance counselor Miss Oaken, and participation in Rotarys Interact youth program, which he said focuses on international service such as fundraising for schistosomiasis eradication. He said he is taking multiple AP courses, preparing for college entrance tests and is considering a double major in public policy and computer science.

Gupta thanked Miss Oaken and Miss Murray for mentorship and credited district staff and community partners for helping bring the ordinance change to fruition.