Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen's role in student vaping, substance abuse at Elk Grove Schools

During a public comment on non-agenda items on Tuesday, May 6, at the Elk Grove Unified School Board of Trustees meeting, students from a district high school shared their results on substance abuse polling.

Among their findings was that tobacco use and vaping were out of control at Sheldon High School. Of no small coincidence, Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen has accepted substantial cash contributions from Big Tobacco companies.

Ironically, Singh-Allen was an EGUSD Trustee for eight years before she was elected mayor in 2020. As mayor, Singh-Allen has repeatedly promoted Elk Grove's reputed healthy lifestyle with its focus on being family-friendly.Four students from Sheldon High presented their findings of two polls conducted this school year of students and faculty. In the video below, two of the students presented the following information from their polling:

• Tobacco and vaping are the most commonly used substances 
• How often do you see on-campus substance abuse - Almost every student has seen substance abuse 
• How adequate is drug-related health education? Most students said it was adequate.
• One finding from students - take away the vapes: "It is getting to a point where it looks like the school is providing it."
• "I see substance abuse every day when I try to go to the bathroom."
• "Another growing concern we have is the tremendous amount of fire alarms that go off during the school year. Mainly, it is from people lighting trash cans on fire, but it is also from people vaping."
• Social media influence and advertisement as a significant role in the use
• Bathrooms are the most common space for tobacco use
• "When asked about the accessibility of tobacco products within the school, and the surrounding community... 30 percent said it was very easy to access these products."
• "About 56 percent believe that the school should take stronger actions to address vaping."

 While students and staff struggle with on-campus tobacco and vaping use, not to mention substance abuse, what does Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen do? She takes cash from death merchants like R. J. Reynolds and Philip Morris to fund her campaign and travel expenses.

It should be noted that the Centers for Disease Control (pre-Trump administration) reports, "Using nicotine in adolescence may also increase risk for future addiction to other drugs."

Given Big Tobacco's dependence on creating new customers and markets for its deadly products, having politicians in their back pocket is equally essential. Singh-Allen is facilitating Big Tobacco while educators and parents are trying their hardest to direct children to healthy life choices.

So, as Mayor Singh-Allen strikes her smiling poses with other politicians and local celebrities in Washington DC for social media consumption, away from the camera, she might as well be heating a spoonful of smack to be injected into the veins of Elk Grove and American youth.