Every so often, you catch a quick whiff of a fruity scent while walking down the school hallway. Or maybe you walk into the bathroom and are greeted by a small cloud of white smoke. It might have been introduced to you by a friend who offers you a flash drive-looking object in the parking lot during lunch. “What is this?” you ask. They take a big breath, holding it in their mouth. When they answer you, smoke rolls out. “It’s called vaping.”

The popularity of vaping has recently risen among the students at Powell High School.

“I first started at the beginning of this year, and I [discovered it] because juuls were becoming a popular thing and everyone was doing it and I wanted to see what it was all about,” senior Cameron Lamb, age 18, said.

For different people, the reasons to continue vaping differ. Lamb sees it as a better alternative.

“I feel like juuling is safer than chewing, which I did for a long time, and so I feel like it’s a better way to get nicotine, because nobody can just wean themselves off of nicotine instantly,” Lamb said. “I feel like it’s a process to come down.”

Vaping isn’t just common at Powell High School, either. It’s a growing trend all over the country.

“Vaping is the newest idea that the big tobacco company’s created to get the youth addicted again,” Powell’s School Resource Officer Mr. Trevor Carpenter said. “As of right now, I think it is a popular trend but eventually, I do think it will lose popularity over time.

Students have been caught vaping on school property. Sometimes, it’s only once a week someone is caught and sometimes a group of students doing it together get caught, which means giving out a handful of suspensions.

“We’ve had some students, especially it seems in the past few weeks, that have faced some suspension and trouble with the law for vaping on school property,” PHS Principal Mr. James Kuhn said.

As of Nov. 27, 150 people responded to the PHS Prowl online poll question, “What’s your view about vaping?” The results are as follows:

• 32 percent (48 people) voted for “I literally don’t care.”
• 30 percent (45 people) voted for “Don’t do it. It’s illegal if you’re not of age.”
• 27 percent (41 people) voted for “Vape away. It’s your life, man.”
• 11 percent (16 people) voted for “It could be a gateway to cigarettes.”

Vaping comes with possible health consequences, just like juuling, e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes.

“It doesn’t have the other nasty substances in regular cigarettes such as tar,” Officer Carpenter said. “However, Vape pens contain a higher percentage of nicotine than regular cigarettes and nicotine is the addictive substance.”

Vaping and using other tobacco can affect someone’s entire life.

“It scares me, right now, it really does, because whatever you’re breathing into your body can have a pretty profound effect on your body,” Mr. Kuhn said. “We don’t know what the long-term effects are on this, how much damage it can do and how quickly it can do it.

“So that’s for me the scary part, wondering what could happen three years from now, five years from now, fifteen years from now. I’ve got people I grew up with that are the same age I am, 64 years old that are on oxygen bottles; that have died from lung cancer. I’ve got a friend that died when he was 37 because of chewing tobacco and snuff. He got cancer in his mouth and it spread and they kept cutting pieces of his face, his jaw away, but they couldn’t get ahead of the cancer. And it killed him, and he was a young man. So that’s the part that scares me.”

Mr. Kuhn hosted an assembly Nov. 30 for each grade level to address the vaping/juule issue.

The FDA released a new Public Service Announcement about vaping that tells of some of the side effects of vaping: “There’s an epidemic spreading. Scientists say it can change your brain. It can release dangerous chemicals like formaldehyde into your bloodstream. It can expose your lungs to acrolein which can do irreversible damage. It’s not a parasite, not a virus, not an infection. It’s vaping.”

Possible health issues aren’t the only consequence that could come from vaping, which is illegal for anyone under 18. And, regardless of age, vaping on school grounds can result in both out-of-school suspension and in-school-suspension.

“Nicotine is the illegal substance that you have to be 18 or older to consume and possess all across the U.S.A.” Officer Carpenter said. “In the city of Powell, we have a city ordinance (law) that makes it illegal for minors to possess any type of vape pen in general, even if it doesn’t have nicotine in it.

“This includes regular vape pens to juule pens. So if someone is under 18 with a vape pen (nicotine or not) in the city of Powell it is illegal. I would also like to address the students that are 18 and can legally have a vape pen. Vape pens and any other tobacco products can’t be on school grounds, and they can still get in trouble for school consequences.”

According to the school district policy, vaping is not allowed on school grounds. The first offense will result in a conference with the student’s parents or guardians, one day of OSS, one day of ISS and additional days of ISS until they have completed the assignments they missed during OSS. Any assignments given during the OSS won’t get a grade higher than 59 percent. If the student is younger than 18, law enforcement will be notified. The student must also successfully complete the district’s intervention program. If they don’t participate or pass they will be recommended to the superintendent for suspension for up to 10school days. The student will not be allowed to participate in any extra-curricular activities for 15 calendar days. On the second and third offenses, there are similar punishments put in place for a longer amount of time.

“Getting caught with vape pens and having consequences for it can put stress on a student’s education,” Officer Carpenter said. “ISS or OSS can affect you from getting the best grade possible.”