Teens vaping is a growing concern for school officials

In December, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams released a detailed advisory to help combat what he is calling an epidemic of teens using e-cigarettes. This is only his fourth advisory in 10 years of being in office.

 Vaping is the act of inhaling and exhaling the vapor produced by e-cigarettes. This vapor most often contains nicotine, flavoring and other chemicals. Some e-cigarettes can also have cannabis based liquid used in them. 

 Teenagers tend to see vaping as cleaner than cigarettes since there isn’t smoke and unpleasant smells. This view on e-cigarettes can cause vaping to be seen as a more social activity, which leads to sharing of e-cigarettes.

 In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said around 16 percent of high school students smoked traditional cigarettes. 

 In 2017, that number dropped to around 8 percent. But with the decrease in traditional cigarette usage has come an alarming increase in e-cigarette use. 

 In the Surgeon General’s advisory, he states as many as 20.8 percent of high schoolers are vaping at least once a month. According to a 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey, more than 3.6 million middle school and high school students vape regularly. This breaks down to one in five high school students and one in 20 middle school students. 

 Part of the appeal of vaping is the flavoring used in e-cigarettes. One of the leading producers of e-cigarettes, Juul Labs, has halted sales of mango, fruit, crème and cucumber flavorings in more than 90,000 retail stores in what they say is an attempt to help reduce youth usage. 

 Juul Labs sells one of the most popular e-cigarettes, since it looks like an average USB drive. The ease of concealment makes it very popular with school-aged users. Other companies are following Juul’s lead of making their e-cigarettes difficult to spot. 

 One company, Vaprwear even sells clothing such as hoodies where the e-cigarette is connected into a concealed compartment, and the vapors are inhaled through the strings of the hood.

 The public is pushing back at companies for having advertising that is geared toward teenagers. In November, Juul Labs deleted their Facebook and Instagram accounts and suspended their Twitter promotional posts.

 Weiser High School Vice-Principal Drew Dickerson spoke on how companies are making a school’s job harder. 

 “There are companies that are targeting toward kids. Other companies are making products to specifically conceal their use at school settings. It’s very frustrating.”

 Dickerson recommends the website www.powertotheparent.org to help understand what is out there. Under their Be Aware tab, a parent can look at their Hidden in Plain Sight page. This shows a picture of a room that has a multitude of vaping paraphernalia in it. Power to the Parent is a great resource for parents to explore Dickerson feels.

 The high school has seen a few more cases of vaping and the associated items being confiscated from the property. According to page 15 of the student handbook, “Possession, use or distribution of tobacco in any form at school, at a school activity, or in school provided transportation is not allowed.” This rule does apply to students also over the age of 18. 

 Dickerson is concerned not only with vaping at school, but also of long term effects. He stated, “I don’t believe students know the long-term, damaging effects of vaping.”

 Doctor Benard Dreyer, 2016 president of American Academy of Pediatrics, has stated that nicotine is harmful to the developing brain regardless if it’s smoked through a cigarette or e-cigarette.

 Another concern that Dickerson has is that students don’t think of how their actions might affect their future plans. For an athlete, not only can vaping cause declines in their physical abilities, but being caught vaping and subsequent disciplinary actions can affect their playing eligibility. 

 He warns that colleges might even go onto their social media pages, and pass a student over if they have pictures of themselves engaging in illegal behavior.

 The middle school has not seen an increase in disciplinary needs in concerns to vaping and tobacco on campus. 

 Principal Tim Erhard said that they aren’t hearing kids talking about it, or seeing the associated paraphernalia