Prevention Works Inc. has reported that various middle schools and high schools across the country are seeing what agency officials term an alarming uptick in vaping-related issues.

“I’ve collected more than 268 vaping products from a variety of schools, which I’m sending off to Roswell for a full breakdown of what chemical products, other than nicotine, are in these devices,” said Lucy Price, a drug free community coordinator for Prevention Works Inc. “An alarming trend I noticed, at one high school, was that 100% of the vaping items that were confiscated were the exact same style, model and product, which leads me to believe that word of mouth quickly spread that (someone) is selling to underaged children and are not requiring their staff to identify buyers before selling them products.”

State law explicitly prohibits the use of or sale to minors under the age of 21. As of May 2020, state public health law prohibits the sale of flavored vapor products that do not have an FDA marketing order. This includes menthol-flavored products and allows only tobacco-flavored vaping products to be sold.

“The producers of these products tend to market to and target underage kids,” Price said.

Marketing tobacco and vape products to children is also against state law. As of July 1, 2020, public health law restricts the public display of tobacco and vaping product advertisements and the display of smoking paraphernalia within 500 feet of a school in New York City and within 1,500 feet of a school in the rest of the state.

“I’ve heard about a few issues where some kids have received a possible lung injury from vaping, but I haven’t confirmed it yet,” Price said. “I’m also being told by teachers, parents and students, themselves, that the preferred place to smoke/vape is at their individual schools, in the bathrooms, in-between classes or during ‘restroom breaks.’ However, one teacher also informed me that … kids will wear boots, not laced up or tied up, so they can pass the vapes in the classroom to one another.”

Lucy also alluded to the negative, scientifically proven residual results from minors vaping.

“There are so many harmful things that could happen to a child who is vaping,” she said. “Let’s start with the fact that the human brain isn’t fully developed until the age of 25.”

The brain keeps developing until about age 25, and according to the federal Centers for Disease Control using nicotine in adolescence can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control.

In October, the Jamestown Public Schools Board approved a settlement agreement in the amount of $22,481 as part of a now-settled lawsuit that accused Juul Labs Inc. of fueling a teen vaping epidemic.

In September 2021, Jamestown agreed to join the class action lawsuit. At that time, Dr. Kevin Whitaker, Jamestown schools superintendent, said Juul specifically advertised their products to young children and teens, creating flavors like grapefruit and watermelon so “students would become addicted to their product and then would end up with subsequent health issues.”

“Vaping has been a huge distraction, and it costs quite a bit of money for all sorts of school districts, and this is an attempt as a class to get some of that money returned to us as a result of their direct marketing to kids,” he continued.

Prevention Works officials say not only will they provide educational prevention programs and services, but individuals who are referred to them can receive one-on-one help as well.

“If a student is caught vaping or using alcohol, they can be referred to us for our Teen Intervene program for one-on-one education. The goal is to get them prior to needing treatment, for those mildly or moderately using substances,” said Laurie Reynolds, Prevention Works Inc. associate director. “This is kind of a first stop-shop and it’s completely free.”