Every time a student vapes a cartridge from an electronic cigarette, they intake the nicotine content of a pack of cigarettes.
That information was part of a community presentation at Center Grove High School on Tuesday, as people gathered to learn about the dangers of electronic cigarettes, commonly known as e-cigarettes, and nicotine vaporizers, commonly known as vapes. Students can use those vapes to inhale tobacco, alcohol or marijuana.
About 20 vaporizers were on display, all confiscated from students at Johnson County schools. As the number of students caught with vaporizers at Center Grove High School rose, administrators increased consequences for students last year. Students who are caught with vapes now face a first-time consequence of a three-day in-school suspension, with a requirement to take an online nicotine educational course, said Jeff Harkin, the high school’s dean of students.
A second offense results in a five-day out-of-school suspension, with the third resulting in a 10-day suspension and recommendation for expulsion. The increase in consequences has worked for the school, which logged 34 vaping offenses during the first nine weeks of the 2018-19 school year, immediately before the new rules were implemented. During the first nine weeks of this year, there were 15, Harkin said.
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In December, the U.S. Surgeon General declared e-cigarette use an epidemic among youth. Nationwide, almost 21 percent of students said they used vapes, according to Center Grove school officials.
Community events such as the one on Tuesday, which showed parents the different type of vaporizers, their nicotine content and the symptoms of use, including continual headaches and nausea, are one of the most effective ways of combating that epidemic, said Amy Norman, health services coordinator for Center Grove schools.
“There isn’t a safe alternative to smoking,” Norman said. “None of this is safer, it’s not even less harmful. In young growing kids these are serious issues they can delve into, it can turn into addiction for a lifetime. The key is the education component, getting parents involved and noticing if kids suddenly have attention span issues and that’s something they’ve never had before.”
Much of the allure in e-cigarettes lies in how they’re marketed. In convenience stores, the products are located next to fidget spinners, candy and other items directed towards children, said Nancy Voris, coordinator of Tobacco Free Johnson County.
“There are Frozen (movie) ads next to swisher sweets, with Bob Marley in the middle, next to empty cigarillos to put pot in,” Voris said, pointing at photos. “On the counter there is advertising, candy, s’mores and right behind, carnival colors. Look at all the vape juice catching the eye of kids.”
Preventing students from vaping before they take their first hit is the biggest key to success, said Mindy Ison, a parent of students at the high school and Middle School North.
Ison also deals with people struggling with substance abuse as Greenwood’s adult probation officer.
“Prevention is the biggest thing. A lot of parents are naïve, myself included,” Ison said. “I didn’t realize that a pack of cigarettes is equal to one (vape) pod and you can vape alcohol.”
Learning what the devices look like, which can be disguised as pens or flash drives, is useful for parents so they can know if their children are vaping, said Shelley Pierce, the parent of a child at the high school.
“(I learned) what all the devices are, what is actually in those devices and how easily obtainable they are,” Pierce said. “I’ll talk to other parents for sure, especially (my son’s) friends’ parents that he’s with the majority of the time and I’ll keep an eye out. We work as a team. It takes a city to raise one child.”
