New York schools struggle to contain teen vaping – Times Union

ALBANY Almost a fourth of high schoolers in New York are vaping inhaling nicotine or the marijuana component THC through an electronic cigarette a sea change from two decades ago when a quarter of students smoked traditional tobacco cigarettes.

Schools across the state are being forced to invent ways to stop the growing trend, which is easier to hide because the smell and look of tobacco smoke is gone, while trying to get students to understand that nicotine is still addictive no matter how it's ingested.

While the mode of inhaling is different, school officials are up against what feels like the same enemy: marketing that suggests vaping is cool, delicious (with dessert and fruit flavors) and totally safe.

The electronic cigarette, which is commonly called a vape, vape pen or mod,can be smaller than a lighter. Some look like aUSB charger or pen. Theyre so tiny that administrators report some students will take a hit during class and then try to hide their device.

Avape pen works by having a battery inside that heats up liquid and turns it into a mist. While there is a visible smoke from exhalingvape, it tends to dissipate faster than traditional cigarette smoke. It does, however, have an odor depending on what kindof vape it is.

(School administrators can search a student if they have reasonable cause, such as a sudden mist cloud appearing over the students desk.)

One in 10 middle and high school students nationwide say they vape regularly, according to the annual youth tobacco survey run by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But it's worse in New York, where 22 percent of high school students said they usevapes, according to a 2020 survey.

Vaping has nearly replaced cigarettes. Traditional smoking among teens is at an all-time low in the state. In New York's last survey, only two percent of high school students said they smoke cigarettes regularly a 91 percent decline in the youth smoking rate since 2000, when 27 percent of high school students said they were regular smokers.

Catching students with vapes is so difficult to stop that schools have reverted to what they used to do to crack down on smokers: Theyre locking bathrooms.

InScotia-Glenville, a rotating selection of bathrooms are opened at the high school each day. A hall monitor is posted outside the unlockedbathrooms andthe rest are locked. At Shenendehowa, a parent reported that her high school son was patted down by a monitor before he could enter the bathroom, to make sure he wasnt bringing in a vape.

InBallston Spa, administrators installed vape detectors in February. The detectors, placed in the bathrooms, look like smoke detectors. They send an email alert to administrators when they detect nicotine vapor, marijuana vapor or loud noises that sound like destruction. Then the administrators plays back the video from a camera outside the bathroom to determine the possible culprit.

Customers must be 21 to buy avape in New York, and the state banned the sale of flavored vapes in 2020. But administrators say they are still commonly confiscating fruit-flavoredvapes in schools. Online, they can still be bought on Amazon and other websites, many of which do not require buyers to prove their age.

Its a nightmare for administrators who see a new technology repeating the marketing that cigarette companies used for decades to get customers addicted.

One of the really distressing things is theyre so clearly marketed to kids, saidScotia-Glenville High School Principal Peter Bednarek, referring to the fruit, candy and dessert flavors.

Nearly allvape liquid has nicotine, except for some of the THC liquids, according to tests cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. THC is a main component in marijuana. But when the CDC asked adolescents about a popular vape brand, two-thirds of them didnt know the brands liquid had nicotine.

Vapes with THC are now sold legally to those 21 and older in New York. But unlike nicotine vapes, which are sold in gas stations and corner stores, obtaining cannabis vapes from a dispensary requires a person to have their license scanned.

Bednarek can remember when he had to stop underage cigarette smokers, who often believed smoking wasn't that bad. Now its happening again, he said.

This generation of teenagers, in my opinion, is fairly health conscious. They view this as a healthy alternative, he said. They would not have so universally switched over from smoking cigarettes if they did not see it as somehow lesser of a problem. I think many of them think it is not addictive.

Vaping can lead to lung injuries, with symptoms like coughing and shortness of breath, similar to the effects of smoking, according to the CDC.

The vapor is also not harmless. It often contains heavy metals and a chemical that is known to cause lung cancer, according to theCDC.

InWatervliet, school administrators are trying to get that message across when they catch a student vaping. On the first offense, the student can be assigned to do a research project about the health effects of vaping. The project must be presented to their parents, teachers and administrators.

Ballston Spa has tried that, too.

Education is key, said SuperintendentGianleo Duca. But someone who unfortunately is addicted to it, its not going to help.

They try to get those students into cessation programs.

Vaping marijuana has also become popular, he said.

Were now seeing more THC, and its such a high concentration of THC, he said.

InScotia-Glenville High School, the school resource officer will help test vapes, Bednarek said, adding that many of the vapes he confiscates have THC.

Students atScotia-Glenville who get caught with a nicotine vape are usually suspended for a couple days; if the vape has marijuana, the suspension starts at five days.

But testingvapes has led, somewhat predictably, to another problem.

They get flushed down the toilet,Duca said. They clog it, cause all kinds of maintenance, its a huge nuisance.

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New York schools struggle to contain teen vaping - Times Union