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Vaping focus of high school meeting

FILE - In this April 11, 2018, file photo, a high school student uses a vaping device near a school campus in Cambridge, Mass. With the Food and Drug Administration recently calling e-cigarettes an epidemic among teenagers, Arizona is stepping up efforts to keep youths from vaping. Arizona health officials are launching an anti-vape campaign in December and pursuing e-cigarette businesses aimed at minors. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

By CHRISTIE BLECK

Journal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Marquette Area Public Schools staff and community officials “cleared the air” during a special informational meeting held Thursday at Marquette Senior High School.

“Clearing the Air” was geared toward educating parents of students about the hazards of the practice that involves the use of e-cigarettes, which operate by heating a liquid to an inhalable aerosol.

MSHS Assistant Principal Chris Messano acknowledged his expertise about vaping comes from students.

“When I have a student that comes to me because they’ve been doing this in school, I ask them a lot of questions, and that’s how I gain most of my knowledge,” Messano said.

Unfortunately, too many students for school officials’ liking have been caught vaping at school.

Messano said that during the 2017-18 school year at MSHS, there were 21 incidences of vaping and only three that involved tobacco. Already this year, there have been 19 vaping incidences and no tobacco-related ones.

“Our students are not choosing tobacco,” Messano said. “They’re choosing vaping.”

E-cigarettes were developed as an alternative to regular smoking, but he pointed out that MSHS students never saw it that way. Instead, creating “really fat clouds” and performing tricks through vaping devices was the big thing, even if some devices didn’t contain nicotine.

“It’s much larger than what you would see from someone who’s smoking a cigarette on a sidewalk, and that, I think, was part of the appeal,” Messano said.

However, that quickly switched into the addictive phase, with students now using much smaller devices.

“That’s because they’ve now become addicted to this and they’re trying to conceal that addiction,” Messano said.

So, while it was all about the cloud before, now it’s about the buzz.

Messano said a vaping device called a suorin comes in two shapes, both small enough to fit in a wallet, which is where one student’s device was confiscated. A juul has two main parts: the battery stick and the pod that plugs into it.

The vape juice, he noted, is targeted toward the younger kids, with packaging that resembles Life Savers candy and Fanta soda.

Messano said the tips teachers receive about vaping can be applied to parents as well.

“If you walk into a room and it smells like fruit — overwhelming, way-too- concentrated smell of fruit, or cotton candy or something like that — somebody probably just vaped,” Messano said. “That’s what our bathrooms smell like a lot of times. When you go into a bathroom, it should not smell that way, but ours are the best-smelling bathrooms in all of Marquette.”

Parents also should be on the lookout for small parts such a discarded cap from a juul, he said.

Local preventative medicine physician Kevin Piggott said it is unknown what risks vaping poses since it’s a new technology, although vaping products can’t be sold to minors under age 18.

“It doesn’t mean that it’s safe,” Piggott said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean there there’s been any quality control over the product.”

What is known is that nicotine causes physical addiction.

The developing brains of youth are being exposed to nicotine, which can impair cognitive growth, among other functions, he said.

Although not all vaping devices have nicotine, Piggott noted there are other substances such as metals, propylene glycol and trace amount of carcinogens.

He also pointed out the Food and Drug Administration has not approved vaping for smoking cessation.

“I just simply ask: Think hard,” Piggott said. “Why would we choose it?”

Messano said students who violate the high school’s policy on vaping and banned substances will receive out-of-school suspensions.

The first offense carries a three-day OSS, while second and third offenses carry five- and 10-day OSSs, respectively. The fourth offense is referred to Superintendent Bill Saunders.

For athletes, in addition to the suspensions, a first offense leads to a loss of 25 percent of the season’s participation. A second offense results in the loss of 365 calendar days of playing time, while a third offense results in permanent loss of athletic participation.

Another local physician and internal medicine specialist, Kaitlyn Joyce, recommended parents get their teens’ perspective while addressing the issue with them.

“Open it up with a question like: What do you think about vaping?” said Joyce, who added parents also should share their concerns in a non-preaching manner.

The last step is reinforcing limits.

“Your teens are out there,” Joyce said. “They are going to make the decisions and you do not ultimately have 100 percent control over them. So, you have to recognize that in yourself.”

She suggested parents state their preferences to their children, stressing they can make rules and noting there are consequences to their actions.

Messano noticed at least one good trend: Students are starting to bring vaping incidences to administration’s attention.

“That’s a positive thing to us,” Messano said.

Christie Bleck can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.

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