Confiscated vape pens are lined up on Officer Creaghe's desk in an effort to show the increased use of the device.
Photo by Joe Moraja
EHS Photojournalism students took a deep dive into the issue of vaping and the change in rules around the electric cigarette. The hope is to educate students and keep them out of the school-to-court pipeline. Englewood Police officer & SRO Matt Creaghe spoke to the students about the issue.
In 2021, most youth who reported using e-cigarettes used flavored varieties (84.7%). Among middle and high school students who currently used any type of flavored e-cigarette in 2021, the most commonly used flavors were fruit (71.6%), candy, desserts, or other sweets (34.1%), mint (30.2%), and menthol (28.8%).
Photo by: Aaron Gerber
"This is under a semester. I would say I would average it more like a week. And so there would be what we have like 52 weeks in a year. This is less than a semester and there are almost 60. I think you're looking at three to four a week in the school year. So almost one a day," said Creaghe.
According to the CDC, E-cigarettes are also known as electronic devices. When inhaled, the liquid is heated and it produces smoke.
E-cigarettes are known by many different names. They are sometimes called “e-cigs,” “e-hookahs,” “mods,” “vape pens,” “vapes,” “tank systems,” and “electronic nicotine delivery systems or ENDS.”
Source: www.cdc.gov
Photo by: Aaron Gerber
It has been found that most e-cigarettes contain the same addictive drug found in cigarettes, nicotine.
The CDC found nicotine is very harmful to the developing teen brain because the brain keeps developing until about age 25.
Source: www.cdc.gov
Photo by: Elowyn Fahnestock
WHAT RESTRICTIONS ARE IN PLACE FOR RETAIL OR YOUTH ACCESS?
Sale and distribution of nicotine products to persons under age 21 prohibited.
Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 18-13-121(1)(a); 25-14-301(2)(a); 44-7-103(1) (2021)
Source: https://www.publichealthlawcenter.org/resources/us-e-cigarette-regulations-50-state-review/co
In previous years, EHS students caught with a vape pen would be issued a criminal summons, be processed through the criminal justice system, issued a fine, and given probation. The police department and the school collectively agreed to change this process and turn the encounter into an educational moment. This change took effect in the fall of 2021.
"So typically, what we would do is you'd be issuing someone with a ticket to court and then they would just be going through the criminal justice system. Meeting with a judge having a fine imposed possible probation, things like that. That isn't to say that those things might not still happen. But right now, what we're really just trying to do is to educate kids on just making the most informed decisions and not falling down this little pathway at this young of an age," said Officer Creaghe.
There are a few things students should be aware of including whether a criminal summons stays on your record.
"It can. If a person is to go on to commit certain crimes, it'll stay on their permanent record. This instance (confiscating a vape) is a one-time sort of incident, one moment that does not define who the person is. That can then be expunged from the record after a certain number of months or years," Officer Creaghe.
According to research by the CDC;
E-cigarette aerosol is NOT harmless “water vapor.”
The e-cigarette aerosol that users breathe from the device and exhale can contain harmful and potentially harmful substances, including:
Nicotine
Ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs
Flavorings such as diacetyl, a chemical linked to a serious lung disease
Volatile organic compounds
Cancer-causing chemicals
Heavy metals such as nickel, tin, and lead
Among teens who currently used e-cigarettes, 43.6% of high school students and 17.2% of middle school students reported using e-cigarettes for 20 or more of the past 30 days. Also among current users, more than 1 in 4 (27.6%) high school students and about 1 in 12 (8.3%) middle school students who used e-cigarettes used them daily.
For teens who currently used e-cigarettes, the most commonly used e-cigarette device type was disposables (53.7%), followed by prefilled or refillable pods or cartridges (28.7%), and tanks or mod systems (9.0%).
Source:
"Oftentimes, this is a great tool for people that are trying to get people into smoking THC, marijuana, things of that sort, and we're able to correlate those two very, very easily. So whereas kids may not make that jump from smoking cigarettes to marijuana, we are finding oftentimes, kids that have vapes also have got weed on them and things like that. So obviously what we want to try and break that pattern," said Officer Creaghe.
According to the CDC, many teens smoke cigarettes as well as vape. In addition, there is some evidence that teens who start early and use e-cigarettes may be more likely to smoke cigarettes in the future.
A study released in September of 2021 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that more than 2 million U.S. middle and high school students reported currently using e-cigarettes in 2021, with more than 8 in 10 of those youth using flavored e-cigarettes.
Source: www.cdc.gov
"It is important that parents take the time to speak to their kids about staying away from vaping and other drugs. Oftentimes parents are unaware of how accessible vapes and drugs are to today's youth," said Creaghe.
Get the "Talk With Your Teen About E-cigarettes" tip sheet for parents. The CDC encourages all guardians to start the conversation early with children about why e-cigarettes are harmful to them.
In 2018, the FDA expanded its successful youth tobacco prevention campaign, “The Real Cost,” to reach the more than 10 million youth aged 12–17 who have used e-cigarettes or are open to trying them. The campaign educates youth about the potential risks of using e-cigarettes.
Click on the link above to learn more about programs to keep students from using vape products.
"I would say that for the most part, our school here is great. The kids are very, very respectful. I am yet to have had a negative encounter with a kid about this. Most of the time, kids are smart enough to realize that they shouldn't have these items on them. There isn't any type of a fight or an argument over it. The only thing that I think that I really care about is just moving forward positively from it. I just tried to convey to them the ultimate messages which are your health, your well-being, and things like that," said Officer Creaghe.