BY RILEY WILSON
Eudora is no exception to the growing national concern over vaping that Superintendent of Schools Steve Splichal thinks could reach the same level of seriousness as the opioid crisis.
Kansas experienced its first vaping-related death earlier this week, and President Donald Trump has come out in favor of a ban on most flavored e-cigarettes.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new warnings about a multi-state outbreak of lung disease associated with e-cigarette products with nearly 400 possible cases across 36 states and one U.S. territory.
The Eudora School District is also working to combat the issue of vaping, officials said.
Splichal said while they haven’t caught any students and haven’t confiscated any e-cigarettes devices this year, they are taking measures to educate students on the dangers of vaping.
One in three high school students in Kansas reported trying electronic vapor products in 2017 and 10.8 percent reported using them, according to the 2017 Kansas Youth Behavior Risk Survey.
Splichal recently attended a county superintendents meeting to discuss strategies for addressing the issue.
“Being together on the same page, sharing ideas, having a unified message that this isn’t a Baldwin issue, this isn’t a Eudora issue or a Lawrence issue, this is an “our” issue,” Splichal said. “To the extent that we can, we are going to try to educate folks, not just kids, but our staff and our parents.”
The Eudora School District began working with the Douglas County Prevention Team to provide information about the dangers of vaping to the whole community.
Additionally, the schools are discussing the topic in health class and through the drug abuse resistance education (DARE) curriculum to educate students.
“I think I would argue that probably a lot of that curriculum is in a development stage because we’re just now understanding the real medical impact, the science impact, of what these are having on our kids,” Splichal said. “I think as more of that comes to light, I think that curriculum is going to evolve, that approach is going to evolve over time.”
The Eudora School District also hopes parents will hear the anti-vaping message.
Splichal said he thinks parents buy e-cigarette devices for their children because they’re marketed as a safer option than actual cigarettes.
“This is not a safe alternative. This is not something that we should be condoning and providing for kids to be able to have access to,” Splichal said.
“Extremely alarmed”
While e-cigarettes are marketed as a better alternative to smoking actual cigarettes, they still pose health risks.
According to the CDC, e-cigarettes usually contain nicotine, a substance highly susceptible to addiction that can hinder brain development in adolescents. Additionally, aerosol used in the devices can contain heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, cancer-causing agents and a chemical linked to serious lung disease called diacetyl.
The death in Kansas this week brought the total to six people across the nation who have now died as a result of e-cigarette use, according to CDC data.
In Kansas, there have been six reports of cases of severe lung disease associated with e-cigarette use, according to the Health Department.
Three of these cases have been confirmed or considered probable thus far. The state did not provide further information as to the locations of these cases.
“I’m extremely alarmed for the health and safety of Kansans who are using vaping products and urge them to stop until we can determine the cause of vaping-related lung injuries and death,” said Lee Norman, Kansas secretary of health and environment, in a statement.
In response to the increased adolescent use of e-cigarettes, the Kansas State Board of Education requested the formation of an E-Cigarette/Vaping Task Force.
Mark Thompson, a task force member and education program consultant for health and physical education at the Kansas State Department of Education, updated the board Tuesday.
“One of the things we’re struggling with is, how much information do we try to get to schools and what information do they need?” Thompson said.
With all of the vaping information available on the internet, the task force is working to create a central hub where schools and communities can obtain information.
In an earlier interview, Thompson said the task force is working on how to relate to adolescents who may not want to hear their warnings.
“You have to tailor the message based on, in part, the age of the student,” Thompson said. “You can’t use the same information for a 6-year-old that you do for a 16-year-old.”
State school board member Michelle Dombrosky of Olathe reiterated the need for information from the task force to be relatable.
Dombrosky said peers who no longer use e-cigarette products are the best way to reach youth who use vaping products.
“They listen to other peers,” Dombrosky said. “It’s got to come from peers. It’s got to come from students.”
Additionally, with many e-cigarettes being highly discrete, many parents are wondering how to know if their child is vaping.
Dombrosky said it’s extremely difficult to know if a child is vaping.
“The only thing you can tell is if you find the mechanism or if you start seeing patterns,” Dombrosky said. “There’s a little bit of nervousness, agitation, because they’re not able to get it.”
Spreading the Safety Message
Jordan Roberts, youth prevention program specialist from the Kansas Health Department, works with the task force to provide information to distribute to local schools.
Roberts also updated the state board about improved signage that now includes vaping among tobacco products to avoid.
“We created a new sign that looks a lot more fun than the signage was before, and it also explicitly states “vaping”,” Roberts said.
Many people don’t think of vaping as tobacco use, Roberts said. To make the anti-vaping message clear, “e-cigarettes” was strategically changed to “vaping.”
These posters will be available for free to local communities and school districts, along with a vape free toolkit through the Health Department website.
As the issue of vaping becomes a growing concern across the nation, school officials at Eudora said they are working to put an end to underage e-cigarette use.
School District spokesman Mark Dodge said the district takes school safety seriously in all forms, and vaping is no exception.
"Anytime you have one, it’s more than what we want,” Dodge said.
CDC Information About Vaping
What is an e-cigarette?
Electronic cigarettes work by heating a liquid to produce an aerosol that users inhale into their lungs.
The liquid can contain: nicotine, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabinoid (CBD) oils, and other substances and additives.
E-cigarettes are also called vapes, e-hookahs, vape pens, tank systems, mods and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS).
What is vaping?
Using an e-cigarette is commonly called vaping.
What is causing this outbreak of lung disease?
All reported cases have a history of e-cigarette product use, or vaping.
The investigation has not identified any specific product or substance that is linked to all cases.
Reach reporter Riley Wilson at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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