You may have heard students talk about dabbing, and thought they were referring to the popular dance. But, dabbing is a discreet way to ingest marijuana concentrates, that looks a lot like vaping and is growing more popular with students. Dabbing involves inhaling vapors of highly concentrated THC, the chemical in marijuana that makes users feel high and carries some major health risks for students.
The Dangers of Dabbing
The most dangerous part of dabbing, short-term, is that it can cause heart palpitations, anxiety, and panic attacks. Long-term use can cause addiction or dependency problems, along with issues surrounding learning and thinking.
Dabbing also exposes students to dangerous toxins – high levels of benzene, a known carcinogen, and methacrolein, a noxious irritant, in the vapor. But exposure to toxins isn’t the only risk, the amateur heating process, known as “blasting,” also comes with fire risks comparable to those of manufacturing methamphetamine.
For more information, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46wQzfIl0dw.
Read our recent blog post for ways to encourage students to put down the e-cigarettes.
How SafeSchools Can Help
The SafeSchools Online Training System includes a variety of expert-authored courses dedicated to helping you address the use of e-cigarettes, and other drugs, with your staff and students:
- Student Drug and Alcohol Abuse (Employee course)
- Alcohol, Marijuana, Vaping, and Other Drugs (Student course)
We also offer our SafeSchools Alert Tip Reporting System that allows students, staff, and parents to confidentially report safety concerns, including the use of alcohol, e-cigarettes, or other drugs, to your administration 24/7/365 via mobile app, text, phone, email, and website.
By now, most people are aware of the dangers of vape pens. But, did you know that a concerning number of teens are using vape pens to vape marijuana and marijuana concentrates? While the majority of teens are vaping nicotine, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that 12.4% of eighth-graders, 10.8% of tenth-graders, and 13.1% of twelfth-graders have vaped marijuana. Marijuana wax and concentrates can be hard to detect and carry very little odor so it can be hard to tell if a student is vaping marijuana, especially if they are using a high quality vape pen.
How can you tell what type of product is being used in a vape pen? Campus Safety Magazine suggests:
- First, open the pen. Inside the pen, the packed or used residue of the product will be inside one of these areas: a raised wick surrounded by a coil, a flat coil, or just a cylinder.
- Wax inside of a vape pen can generally be tested with law enforcement kits. If the pen has been smoked recently, there could be the odor of smoked marijuana coming from inside the pen.
- A closed pen with wax on the inside will produce very little to no smell. If you choose to open the pen, it is recommended to wear gloves as you don’t know what exactly is in the pen.
As vaping becomes more popular, it’s important to stay up-to-date on this dangerous trend and to make sure your students understand all the risks and consequences that increase when vaping or using an e-cigarette.
Read our recent blog post for ways to encourage students to put down the e-cigarettes.
How SafeSchools Can Help
The SafeSchools Online Training System includes a variety of expert-authored courses dedicated to helping you address the use of e-cigarettes, and other drugs, with your staff and students:
We also offer our SafeSchools Alert Tip Reporting System that allows students, staff, and parents to confidentially report safety concerns, including the use of alcohol, e-cigarettes, or other drugs, to your administration 24/7/365 via mobile app, text, phone, email, and website.
At Vector Solutions, we rely on thought leaders, professional organizations, and advisory school districts that provide us with ongoing insight into school safety needs. In addition to monitoring the legal environment to ensure we’re providing resources to help school administrators address their staff compliance training needs, we’re also focused on shifting cultural and societal norms, as well as the impact of technology and how all of these factors affect school communities. Whether it’s an increased sensitivity to survivors of sexual assault or recognizing the growing role of social media in sexual harassment or bullying, we’re evolving to meet our clients’ needs. One such area of need that has been growing at an alarmingly rapid rate is the youth vaping crisis.
New Vaping Resources for Students
In response to this urgent student health and safety issue and the valuable feedback we’ve received from our clients, we are releasing a new, powerful vaping prevention online training module available for students in Grades 9-12. This engaging resource, which is included as part of the SafeSchools Training Student Courses, provides information about the damaging health effects of vaping as well as offering tips and strategies to resist these pressures. Click here to preview the Vaping Course Module.
Often marketed as a “safer” alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes, the popularity of vaping among teens has risen dramatically in recent years due to the ease of concealed use and perceived harmlessness, especially in comparison to cigarette smoking. According to data compiled by the National Center for Health Research, the percentage of teens who have tried e-cigarettes has increased from 5% to 19% over the last four years. Additionally, one in four students in 12th grade and one in five students in 10th grade have vaped within the past month. Our new vaping prevention module seeks to dispel the myths about the safety of vaping and explains the risks and potential consequences of using electronic vaping products.
Preview the New Vaping Module
About SafeSchools Training Student Courses
The vaping module is included in the Alcohol, Marijuana & Other Drugs course, one of the five online courses available in the SafeSchools Training Student Courses for students in Grades 9-12. The module will also be available for middle school students when the new collection of student courses launches in early 2020 for students in Grades 6-8. Other course topics in both the Grades 9-12 and Grades 6-8 collections include: Bullying & Cyberbullying; Youth Suicide Awareness; Sexual Harassment; and Digital Citizenship. The Grades 9-12 course collection is available today, and the Grades 6-8 course collection is now available for pre-order. View the Student Course Library.
For more information or to schedule a demo, click here. You can also contact us at 1-800-434-0154 or [email protected].
It’s hard to miss the headlines about the recent outbreak of lung illness associated with the use of e-cigarette, or vaping, products. E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that heat up liquid nicotine to generate aerosol that users inhale. As recently as September 6, 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted this investigation notice: “CDC, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state and local health departments, and other clinical and public health partners are investigating a multistate outbreak of severe pulmonary disease associated with e-cigarette product (devices, liquids, refill pods, and/or cartridges) use.” In addition, the CDC recommends that during this ongoing investigation, individuals should consider not using e-cigarettes. This holds especially true for teens and young adults.
The Problems with E-cigarettes
Many school administrators around the country have reported that addressing the growing use of vaping by students is one of their top safety concerns for this school year. Recent studies showed more than 20 percent of high schoolers currently using electronic vaping products. The CDC is clear: “The use of e-cigarettes is unsafe for kids, teens, and young adults.” Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine. Nicotine is highly addictive and can harm adolescent brain development, which continues into the early to mid-20s. E-cigarettes can also contain other harmful substances besides nicotine.
The design, addictiveness, and student-friendly flavors make e-cigarettes increasingly popular. Not to mention, students are often misguided by peers, social media, and industry messaging that the act of vaping or the use of an e-cigarette is a healthy alternative to smoking – and in the opinion of health officials, it’s even worse!
The U.S. Office of the Surgeon General advises against use of e-cigarettes due to their high nicotine content and potentially harmful ingredients, including “ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs; flavorants such as diacetyl, a chemical linked to serious lung disease; volatile organic compounds; and heavy metals, such as nickel, tin, and lead.”
Six Facts to Encourage Students to Put Down the E-cigarettes
- E-cigarettes haven’t been around long enough to measure long-term abuse to users’ physical and mental health.
- The use of e-cigarettes heightens the likelihood of students abusing other tobacco products in their lifetimes.
- The chemicals in e-cigarettes are particularly harmful to students as brain development continues until age 25 and can lead to development issues with attention, impulse control, and behavior.
- Defective e-cigarettes can cause explosions and fires – a few have even caused significant injuries.
- Young adult users often don’t realize that e-cigarettes have nicotine – only 37% of young adult users knew they contained some amount of nicotine.
- E-cigarettes are often used with another form of tobacco, known as dual use, and can lead to increased levels of nicotine intake.
Officials are worried that the popularity with e-cigarettes among young adults will destroy the progress and effort made to reduce smoking across the country since the 1960s. Above all, it’s important to make sure your students understand all the risks and consequences that increase when vaping or using an e-cigarette. The enjoyment of vaping will never outweigh the consequences that follow.
How SafeSchools Can Help
The SafeSchools Online Training System includes a variety of expert-authored courses dedicated to helping you address the use of e-cigarettes, and other drugs, with your staff and students:
We also offer our SafeSchools Alert Tip Reporting System that allows students, staff, and parents to confidentially report safety concerns, including the use of alcohol, e-cigarettes, or other drugs, to your administration 24/7/365 via mobile app, text, phone, email, and website.
With preventative education, training, and preparedness, we hope that we can all work together to make this school year the safest on record.
