With the rise of the electronic cigarette industry in recent years, vaping -- or the act of inhaling and exhaling the vapor product produced by an electronic cigarette or a similar device (www.centeronaddiction.org) -- has increased for both middle school and high school students.
Again citing the Center on Addiction, the term “vaping” is used because you can’t “smoke” an e-cigarette, since there is no smoke, only vapor.
“People can do it very inconspicuously because the vapor dissipates,” said Pam Ciborowski, nursing and wellness coordinator for Barnstable Public Schools.
While e-cigarettes started as -- and remain -- a way to help people stop smoking cigarettes and while they do not have many of the harmful chemicals that are found in cigarettes (such as tar), there are other chemical hazards.
“The problem is that kids and a lot of parents think it’s harmless because there’s not smoke, but it makes vapors consisting of ultra-fine particles,” said Ciborowski. “The pods contain nicotine, and the flavors have propylene glycol and glycerin and can contain small amounts of carcinogens and heavy metals and other chemicals."
Vaping tools take many forms, from a basic e-cigarette (which looks generally like a cigarette) to devices that look like pens and thumb drives. The hottest new vaping product is the so-called Juul (the brand name), which comes in a neatly packed white box consisting of four sleek devices that resemble flash drives -- they can be plugged into one's computer to recharge. The brand name has become a verb -- when one is vaping off this device, they are “Juuling.”
Vaping store personnel assure that the devices are not meant to intentionally disguise as a pen or a thumb drive, and that the products are not marketed to kids. Everyone must show proper identification to purchase vaporizing products, and one store scans the IDs to make sure they’re real.
But the problem, say both store personnel and Ciborowski, is that in some cases parents (or an older sibling or friend) purchase these products for kids. Ciborowski thinks that even though Governor Charlie Baker signed a bill into law to raise the age for tobacco purchases to 21 across the board in Massachusetts in 2019 (vaping products are considered tobacco-related products), that the practice will simply continue. She said it is therefore important that people be made aware of the potential dangers.
For example, a Juul "pod" (this is what contains the oil or the ‘flavors’ to be vaped) has the nicotine of an entire pack of cigarettes.
“A kid could smoke the equivalent of an entire pack of cigarettes in 30 minutes,” said Ciborowski. “And nicotine is highly addicting."
Ciborowski also said that the effects of this are starting to be seen among students coming to the school nurse. “We’re starting to see some kids coming into health services complaining that their throat is sore or their voice is hoarse, and they’ll say, ‘I think it’s from vaping,'" she said.
Ciborowski said that training programs are in place to help faculty and staff deal with the problem, since vaping devices can be easily hidden, and a student could conceivably be vaping right in the back of the classroom.
What happens when someone is caught vaping? Barnstable Police Detective Reid Hall, a school resource officer, said that once a teacher reports an incident to one of the high school’s five housemasters, that housemaster will take away the device and investigate. Hall then generates a police report (though the infraction is considered non-criminal), and the device is kept at the station, where the student’s parent or guardian can retrieve it. A meeting between Reid, parents/guardians, and staff will ensue, and the student’s housemaster decides the consequences based on each individual situation.
BHS housemasters were not available for comment.
Consequences for athletes include not being able to participate in 25% of their games throughout the season, according to athletics administrative assistant Ashley Bishop. Bishop said that last year saw the highest number of vaping among athletes.
Barnstable High School principal Patrick Clark said that since there’s no smoke involved with vaping, there’s a false sense that it isn’t harmful. He said that vaping has grown in popularity and, with it, the need for education.
“Our largest responsibility is educating students about it,” Clark said.
For information for parents, and more photos of vaping products, visit the health services page of the school’s website: www.barnstable.k12.ma.us/Page/4238.
Marina Davalos is a freelance writer who lives in Cotuit. Follow her on Twitter at @Marina_Davalos1.