MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — A county faculty superintendent is looking for a option to cut back youth vaping. He mentioned his colleagues in districts throughout the state have seen an issue – extra children utilizing e-cigarettes. The FDA says (https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/youth-and-tobacco/results-annual-national-youth-tobacco-survey#2022%20Findings) that 14 % of excessive schoolers vape. The superintendent informed Sean Moody the answer entails everybody.

As the college yr will get underway in Montgomery County, Superintendent Matthew Thompson has made an enchantment to the entire city.

“This is something that we’ve got to tackle community-wide,” Thompson mentioned.

Thompson says over the previous couple of years, an increasing number of college students have been utilizing e-cigarettes.

“We just see a steady, dangerous increase in the number of our students, underage youth, who are engaging in vaping. That’s vaping the nicotine pods, but then that leads into vaping other things,” he mentioned.

These days, Thompson mentioned, the district has seen extra college students vaping THC. Thompson famous that conventional, non-THC e-cigarettes might be dangerous to teenagers.

“They don’t understand how to help when they start going through withdrawal symptoms. Then, we see things like depression and anxiety increase dramatically, and they do it even more to get back to that feeling of, kind of, normal,” Thompson mentioned.

The CDC says (https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/Quick-Facts-on-the-Risks-of-E-cigarettes-for-Kids-Teens-and-Young-Adults.html#why-is-nicotine-unsafe) 99% of e-cigarettes include nicotine, which might hurt the elements of adolescent brains that management consideration, studying, temper, and impulse management. Thompson mentioned college students have informed them they will purchase e-cigarettes over-the-counter in some locations. Therefore, he and the Montgomery County Board of Training despatched out a letter (https://www.montgomery.kyschools.us/uploaded/Board/Vape-Vaping_Letter_0823.pdf?1693416910922&fbclid=IwAR2WEqT1Euuluu9ha_63VFR8EjEwExyv3ihUb00ZkJQPg5uxKCB-Fi0lMCE) to the neighborhood asking for assist retaining vaping merchandise out of colleges.

“Our open letter really asks for the level of awareness of those businesses to be increased, to make sure that they’re asking them to put those products behind the counter, out of sight of minors, to make sure that they train all their employees about the laws around selling those products to minors, and making sure they ensure that they’re not,” Thompson mentioned.

Thompson mentioned he needs to make sure children in Montgomery County hear the message, too.

“What I’d like to say to students is, it’s not in any way healthy for you. It’s going to be very difficult to stop once you start,” he mentioned.