Officials: Local schools facing vaping ‘epidemic’

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  • These vapes and electronic cigarettes were confiscated from a single Putnam County school over the course of a month. A shot glass and a mini Fireball bottle were also found at a school.
    These vapes and electronic cigarettes were confiscated from a single Putnam County school over the course of a month. A shot glass and a mini Fireball bottle were also found at a school.
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Putnam County schools, as well as campuses nationwide, are contending with a massive vaping problem, local officials said.

There are many misconceptions about what vaping actually is, Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Allison Waters-Merritt said, and she encouraged parents to speak to their children about the problem. 

“It’s a countywide epidemic,” she said

Just last month, two vaping incidents with students on the junior campus of Interlachen Junior-Senior High School sent two students to hospitals. 

Vaping is when people smoke an electronic cigarette, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency said e-cigarettes are also known as “e-cigs,” “e-hookahs,” “mods,” “vape pens,” “vapes,” “tank systems” and “electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS).”

Most vapes contain nicotine, the addictive feature in cigarettes, the CDC stated. Vapes “heat a liquid and produce an aerosol, or mix of small particles in the air,” Waters-Merritt said. While some people think the aerosol is harmless water vapor, she added, that is not the case. 

“Student use of vaping products is something our school administrators have been dealing with at an increasing rate over the past few years,” Superintendent Rick Surrency said in a statement Friday. “We are always concerned with student activity that is harmful to themselves and others.”

One of the vaping Interlachen students was 13, and on April 21, the assistant principal found her conscious, but not alert, on a school bathroom floor, the sheriff’s office stated. The girl was taken to a Gainesville hospital. 

“Another student told administrators that the patient and several other girls were vaping in the bathroom prior to the incident,” the law enforcement agency stated on social media. 

That same day, another female student, who was reportedly in the bathroom during the first incident, told a school employee she felt she was going to pass out after vaping. Emergency responders transported her to a hospital as well. 

“We will continue to use the PCSD Student Code of Conduct to discipline students who are found with these devices,” Surrency stated. 

Popular vape brands include ELFBAR, Vuse and Lost Mary. The vapes, or e-cigarettes, often come in colorful packaging and feature flavors such as lemon mint, cranberry grape, red mojito and gummy bear, among others.

While people must be at least 21 to purchase a vape, online sites only ask the buyer for a birthdate or sometimes to simply click a button verifying they are of age. 

“Vaping is a product, which has grown in popularity in the recent decade,” stated Amy Dobberfuhl, a nurse practitioner at Kids’ Care Pediatrics in Palatka. “Companies have geared it towards preteens and teens with various colors, flavors and packaging. There are many substances which can be vaped, like nicotine, marijuana and other various chemicals.”

Not only is the packaging colorful and the flavors fruity, but Waters-Merritt said the company slogans also drive teenagers and preteens to want to try vapes. 

Despite the warning that the products contain nicotine, ELFBAR also advertises on its website that ELFBAR vape “is not just a product, but an innovative lifestyle that brings joy, inspiration and empowerment.”

While people cannot purchase products directly from the website, ELFBAR invites people to join its community on Discord, a “voice, video, and text chat app that's used by tens of millions of people ages 13+ to talk and hang out with their communities and friends,” the Discord website states. Discord is commonly used for video gamers. 

Lost Mary’s story, per the company’s website, reads: “Most things we love and do may be changed because time never stops. As a result, we could occasionally become disoriented and depleted and unable to discern our purpose in life. Despite the fact we cannot escape, life is nevertheless lovely and joyous. Grab a LOST MARY and calm down. The good times are just around the corner.”

Surrency and Dobberfuhl are advising parents to start talking to their children about the dangers of vaping. Surrency said youth resources deputies continue to share the information with students but parents should also check their students’ backpacks before they leave in the morning to make sure they are not taking vapes to school. 

Discuss the effects of nicotine on the brain, Dobberfuhl suggested, and tell students nicotine is addicting and can be costly. 

“Begin talking to your kids about what they know of vaping, if they know of anyone who vapes, and do this without being accusatory,” Dobberfuhl said. “Kids may not care about the long-term effects at this time, so stick to educating them about short-term consequences. … Inform them of the risk of unknown substances being vaped and how they can be laced with more deadly substances.”