DALLAS — Roughly 40 parents and several students gathered in the Dallas High School auditorium Monday to learn about the dangers of electronic cigarettes, commonly called vapes, and synthetic drugs.
Principal Jason Rushmer said he felt the urgency to hold theprogram due to the increase in illicit drug activity and the popularity of vape use.
“People like to prey on children,” said Rushmer, noting that the high school has 885 students and the middle school has 660. “That makes our community a target for these sorts of things.”
A panel of experts included Cammie Anderson and Kori Britton, representatives from Wyoming Valley Alcohol and DrugServices; Dr. Debra Miller of Kingston; Bonnie Kalish, high school nurse; Gina Kotowski, Dallas Township police officer and the high school’s student resource officer; home and school visitor Norbert Swithers; and Michael Putnam, Luzerne County Deputy Coroner.
Britton and Anderson provided information about drug and alcohol abuse and new substances that have proven to be dangerous and even lethal.
“In the last seven to eight years, synthetic marijuana, also known as “spice” has hit the area hard,” said Anderson. “It is 500 to 700 times more powerful than natural marijuana and it is extremely dangerous.”
Although e-cigarettes are not illegal, it is against school district policy to use them on school grounds or at any school sporting event or function regardless of where the event is held, said Rushmer.
“My concern is that this turns into ‘this is the cool thing to do’,” he said, pointing out that students who’ve been caught using vapes on school grounds have given him that very reason for using them.
Miller, a physician with a family practice in Kingston, said that nationwide, vape usage has tripled in middle and high schools this past year. After doing much research, Miller said, she found out that all brands of e-cigarettes contain nicotine.
“Some kids that would never try cigarettes are trying vaping,” she said, adding that the e-cigarettes come in a variety of youth-enticing flavors. “It does damage to the adolescent brain because they are still developing.”
Miller said spice isn’t illegal because the manufacturers change the chemical compound just enough to make it legal.
Sophomores Tyler Christian and Chase Wallace, both 15, said they learned a lot from the program and will pass the information on to their friends.
“A lot of people don’t know what’s going on,” said Christian. “I’m going to tell them that there’s a lot of stuff in vapes that they don’t know about. People are unaware of what they are putting in their bodies.”
Wallace agreed. “I learned that it’s just not worth it.”
