It’s dirty and potentially dangerous, yet kids do it, even at school. Vaping may be called “the safer choice to smoking,” but some professionals say it can be just as bad.
The sleek devices, some looking like USBs, are marketed to attract and catch the eye of young people, Lower Gwynedd Township Police School Resource Officer Beth Sanborn said.
E-cigarettes have grown into a $4 billion industry in the U.S. despite little research on their long-term effects, including whether they are helpful in helping smokers quit cigarettes.
The rechargeable devices let you suck in flavored glycerin oil, called juice. Some is laced with tobacco.
"The odors are very pungent… strong and very fruity flavored, things like raspberry, watermelon and vanilla, and when they emanate from a bathroom, that’s when you grow suspicious,” Sanborn said.
Schools across the country have banned USB devices because it’s too hard to tell the difference between a real one and a Juul, a popular vaping device. One Juul pod contains the same amount of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes.
San Francisco-based Juul said in a statement it agrees with the FDA that underage use of its products is "unacceptable."
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"We already have in place programs to identify and act upon these violations at retail and online marketplaces, and we will have more aggressive plans to announce in the coming days," the statement read.
Officer Sanborn recently put vaping devices on display at Wissahickon High School in Montgomery County hoping to make parents a little wiser. Some parents appreciated the extra education.
