It was in physical education class when Laila Gutierrez  Vaping.

Like students across the country, Gutierrez got dragged between vape manufacturers, who used celebrity marketing and fruity flavors to hook kids on e-cigarettes, and educators, who鈥檝e turned to surveillance tools and discipline to crack down on the youngest users. Gutierrez was suspended for a week after she was nabbed vaping in a crowded school bathroom during her lunch hour. 

In my latest investigative deep dive, , I reveal how school districts across the country have spent millions to install vape-detecting sensors in school bathrooms 鈥� once considered a digital surveillance no-go. The devices prioritize punishment to combat student nicotine addiction.

My analysis of public records obtained from Minneapolis Public Schools reveals the sensors inundated administrators with alerts 鈥� about one per minute during a typical school day, on average. Their presence brought a spike in school discipline, records show, with and younger middle school students facing the harshest consequences. 

The sheer volume of alerts, more than  across four schools, raises questions about whether they鈥檙e an effective way to get kids to give up their vape pens. And some students voiced privacy concerns about the sensors, the most high tech of which can now reportedly detect keywords, how many young people are in the bathroom at one time and for how long. 

鈥淪urveillance is only a diagnosis,鈥� Texas student activist Cameron Samuels told me. 鈥淚t only recognizes symptoms of a failed system.鈥�  

In the news

Charlotte, North Carolina, school officials reported more than 30,000 students absent on Monday, two days after federal immigration agents arrested 130 people there in their latest sweep. That more recent data point underscores the 81,000 school days missed by more than 100,000 students in California鈥檚 Central Valley after immigration raids earlier this year, according to a newly peer reviewed Stanford University study. | 

• Los Angeles schools have lost thousands of immigrant students 鈥� from 157,619 in the 2018-19 school year to just 62,000 this year 鈥� because of the city鈥檚 rising prices and falling birth rates. Now, that trend has intensified after the 鈥渃hilling effect鈥� of recent federal immigration raids, district officials said. | 

• Student enrollment is dropping in school districts across the country amid President Donald Trump鈥檚 immigration crackdown. In Miami, for example, the number of new immigrant students has decreased by more than 10,000 compared to last year. | 

Ten Commandments: Siding with the families of students who argued they infringed on their religious freedom, a federal judge on Tuesday ordered some Texas public school districts to remove Ten Commandment displays from their classroom walls by next month. | 

• 28 Bills, Ten Commandments and 1 Source: A Christian Right 鈥楤ill Mill鈥�. | 

Online gaming platform Roblox announced it will block children from interacting with teens and adults in the wake of lawsuits alleging the platform has been used by predators to groom young people. | 

Furry and freaky: 鈥淜umma,鈥� a Chinese-made teddy bear with artificial intelligence capabilities and marketed toward children, is being pulled from shelves after researchers found it could teach its users how to light matches and about sexual kinks. | 

A teenage girl from New York reported to a police officer at school that her adoptive father had been raping her at home for years. The officer, who didn鈥檛 believe her, bungled the case 鈥� and she was abused again. | 

鈥楤razen cruelty鈥�: A federal judge has ordered the release of a 16-year-old Bronx high schooler who has spent nearly a month in federal immigration custody despite having a protective status reserved for immigrant youth who were abused, neglected or abandoned by a parent. | 

Civil rights groups have decried proposed federal changes to the Education Department鈥檚 data collection on racial disparities in special education that could make it more difficult to identify and address service gaps. | 

鈥楧ead-naming鈥� enforced: A Texas law now requires school employees to use names and pronouns that conform to students鈥� sex at birth. Several transgender students whose schools are complying say it has transformed school from a place of support to one that rejects who they are. | 

ICYMI @The74

Emotional Support

鈥淟et鈥檚 circle back in 2026.鈥�

-Taittinger, already

It was in physical education class when Laila Gutierrez swapped out self-harm for a new vice. 

The freshman from Phoenix had long struggled with depression and would cut her arms to feel something. Anything. The first drag from a friend鈥檚 vape several years ago offered the shy teenager a new way to escape. 

She quit cutting but got hooked on nicotine. Her sadness got harder to carry after her uncle died and she felt she couldn鈥檛 turn to her grieving parents for comfort. Bumming fruity vapes at school became part of her routine. 

鈥淚 would ask my friends who had them, 鈥業鈥檓 going through a lot, can I use it?鈥欌�� Gutierrez, now 18, told 社区黑料. 鈥淥r 鈥業 failed my test and I feel like smoking would be better than cutting my wrists.鈥�” 

It worked until she got caught. 

Like students across the country, Gutierrez got dragged into a nicotine-fueled war between vape manufacturers 鈥� including a company that leveraged online advertisements on the websites of Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network to hook kids on e-cigarettes 鈥� and educators, who鈥檝e turned to digital surveillance tools and discipline to crack down on the youngest users. Gutierrez was suspended for a week after she was nabbed vaping in a crowded school bathroom during her lunch hour.

An in-depth investigation by 社区黑料 reveals how nicotine-addicted teens, who often begin vaping under social pressure or, like Gutierrez, to cope with hardship, are routinely kicked out of school instead of receiving meaningful services that could steer them away from tobacco and help them break free of their vape pens. 

Candid interviews with a dozen high schoolers and recent graduates from across the country reveal how vaping has become ubiquitous in schools. The battery-powered nicotine sticks are more than an addiction: They define students鈥� social status, friend groups and coping strategies years before they鈥檙e 21 and legally old enough to buy them. 

鈥淎t my school, vaping starts because you want to be part of the popular crowd, you want to get invited to parties, you want to feel like you鈥檙e a part of a community,鈥� said Ayaan Moledina, a 16-year-old from Austin, Texas. 鈥淎nd you start doing those things because you鈥檙e pressured into doing it.鈥� Moledina says he doesn鈥檛 vape and has been excluded socially as a result.

Public records obtained by 社区黑料 from a vape detector pilot program at Minneapolis Public Schools presents a unique window into the severity of the problem and of educators鈥� efforts to contain it. The main battlefield in the fight is the school bathroom. As they have for generations, teens take cover in the bathroom to socialize and smoke, but because vapes allow them to consume nicotine more discreetly than traditional cigarettes, district leaders are also embracing technological advancements to police them. 

Purchasing records from schools across the country show that districts are spending millions to install sensors in student bathrooms 鈥� once considered a privacy no-go for electronic surveillance 鈥� to alert them of changes in air quality. 社区黑料鈥檚 analysis of the data from Minneapolis Public Schools reveals that the vape detectors brought a spike in school discipline, but they also produced a near-endless stream of alerts that could overwhelm district administrators. 

For University of Texas master鈥檚 student Cameron Samuels, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas when they were a freshman in college, all this means is that schools are spending money on invasive tech 鈥� the detectors, often equipped with microphones, are no less intrusive than security cameras, they argued 鈥� that could go to mentorship programs 鈥渨here teachers and educators can support students, meeting us where we鈥檙e at.鈥�

鈥淪urveillance is only a diagnosis,鈥� Samuels said of the decision to use sensors to counter student vaping. 鈥淚t only recognizes symptoms of a failed system without actually solving [them].”

Vaping is 鈥榚verywhere now鈥�

In Minneapolis, the $100,000 pilot program placed sensors in the bathrooms of two high schools and two middle schools with in 2022. The result, 社区黑料鈥檚 investigation reveals, was a marked increase in students being punished for vaping in the months that followed. 

Across the four campuses, a student was disciplined for vaping every 3.1 school days on average in the two years before the devices were activated and inundated administrators with tens of thousands of alerts. In a nine-month period after they were deployed in September 2024, a student was disciplined for the same offense every 1.4 days. 

The increase was particularly pronounced at Anwatin Middle School where, in the 2022-23 school year, there were 15 vape-related disciplinary incidents. During the 2024-25 school year, after the sensors were installed, disciplinary actions for vaping reached 67.

Across the four campuses, at least half of the vape-related disciplinary incidents occurred in school bathrooms. Nearly 81% led to suspensions. Just 7% led to a referral to an alcohol and drug abuse counselor, according to the discipline logs, and after the vape detectors were installed, the rate of treatment referrals declined compared to the average over the two years before.

While the number of alerts were far greater at the two high schools, it was the younger students at the two middle schools who were more likely to be removed from their classrooms.

The escalation in vape-related suspensions in Minneapolis comes as federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show teen nicotine use dropping since a 2019 high that reflected e-cigarettes’ growing hold on the market. In 2024, some 8.1% of middle and high school students reported using tobacco products within the last 30 days, according to the most recent results from the . Nearly reported vaping e-cigarettes.

Stanford Medicine pediatrician Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, who helped create a and curriculum that鈥檚 used in schools across the country, has found higher youth vaping rates than the CDC figures. And released in September about student vaping reports the behavior is 鈥渆verywhere now,鈥� especially at 鈥済round zero鈥�: the bathrooms.

The survey was published by The Truth Initiative, a national nonprofit that is focused on preventing nicotine addiction among youth and young adults and opposes school discipline as a means of combating it. Some students were brazen 鈥� vaping openly in school hallways 鈥� while others hid e-cigarettes in bathroom fixtures, ceiling tiles and tampon dispensers, the survey found. 

Educators who were polled voiced concern about students鈥� 鈥渄istracting preoccupation鈥� with vaping and how constant bathroom breaks interrupted learning, said Jennifer Kreslake, the senior vice president of Truth Initiative’s Schroeder Institute.

鈥淚t also takes away from the teacher鈥檚 ability to do their jobs,鈥� Kreslake said. 鈥淭heir primary jobs are not monitoring vapes around campus, and it鈥檚 taking them away from what they鈥檙e in the school to do.鈥� 

In Lancaster, South Carolina, county health workers spent more than $150,000 on about 70 that are scheduled to go live at local schools next month. Officials said they chose the Triton sensors, in particular, because they go beyond vape detection to identify 鈥渁ggression,鈥� 鈥渒eywords associated with vandalism鈥� and 鈥渓oitering.鈥�

School officials鈥� previous efforts with vape detection centered on student discipline, said Ashlie Harder, the prevention director at Counseling Services of Lancaster.

鈥淭he goal for them was punitive 鈥� they wanted to catch the students,鈥� Harder said. 鈥淭hey wanted the students to get whatever the disciplinary action was. That was the plan.鈥� 

Harder, who had already been working with the district to stop schools from sending kids home for vaping, hopes to change that. Her office, which serves as the county鈥檚 commission for drug and alcohol abuse, secured the new, high-tech Triton sensors earlier this year with the goal for school officials to 鈥渓eave it for us鈥� to do in-school tobacco prevention programming based on the Stanford toolkit with young people caught vaping by the devices.

Lancaster County School District officials said they hope the sensors will prevent vaping on campus while also providing a new layer of bathroom security. School-based police officers will have access to the alerts in an effort to prevent fights and to stop students from camping out in the restrooms and skipping class.

Lonnie Plyler, the district鈥檚 director of safety and transportation, said nicotine use isn鈥檛 the full extent of the problem 鈥� students have also been bringing marijuana vapes to school.

鈥淲e hope that it will deter these people from actually bringing it into the schools and using it, knowing that we鈥檙e actually monitoring it and can see it,鈥� Plyler said. The vape detectors help create a process, he said, where students are 鈥渂eing punished through the school and possibly law enforcement.鈥�

Gutierrez, the student from Phoenix, was suspended in September 2024 after a school security guard caught her vaping in a bathroom stall. It鈥檚 also common for schools to station monitors outside bathrooms to sniff out vaping and for some restrooms to be locked altogether as a blanket deterrent.

Getting kicked out of school didn’t make Gutierrez鈥檚  situation any easier. An online quiz she was required to take during those days depicted vaping as ruining her life, she said, offering no help for her depression and making her feel ashamed. 

鈥淲hen I went back to school, I felt the eyes of the security guards,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t made me feel like I was in a jail.鈥�

Seven months, 45,000 alerts

It was 2 p.m., in late January when Anwatin Middle School Assistant Principal Nate Lee logged a new disciplinary action against two of his 334 students.

Vaping. 

As part of the pilot program, Anwatin was supplied last year with HALO vape detection sensors. The plastic, ceiling-mounted discs are sold by a subsidiary of the communications giant Motorola and are designed to notify administrators of vapor, smoke and, with certain microphone-equipped models, gunshots. Officials installed the devices in two boys鈥� and two girls鈥� bathrooms.

Once all 29 sensors across the two middle schools and two high schools went live in September 2024, administrators began receiving real-time alerts notifying them of suspected vaping, smoking 鈥� and evidence of students masking vape plumes with like Axe Body Spray.

At Anwatin, administrators responded to vape sensor alerts with fervor, student disciplinary records show, often resulting in suspensions. In the January incident, a seventh and an eighth grader were suspended after 鈥渋nvestigative efforts鈥� found they were in the bathroom 鈥渁t a time when the vape detector monitoring system alerted staff to illicit activity.鈥�

鈥淪tudents denied involvement,鈥� disciplinary records note, 鈥渂ut were both found to be in the bathroom.鈥� 

社区黑料鈥檚 analysis of vape detection alerts suggest the sensors are accurate 鈥� or at least go off most when kids are likely to be in the building. Few alerts occurred outside normal school hours, according to the logs. 

Over a seven-month period between September 2024 and April 2025, the HALO sensors went off more than 45,000 times across the four Minneapolis campuses. On any given school day, the data reveal, Minneapolis educators at the four schools received an average of 412 alerts 鈥� roughly one every minute. On their most active day, the sensors alerted school officials to vaping 755 times.

The sheer number of alerts raises the question of whether school officials can reasonably respond to them and, if not, whether they鈥檙e an effective way to stop students from vaping at school 鈥� or curb their habit in general. 

Youth have existed in schools since the 1960s after a linked smoking to deleterious health consequences, including lung cancer and heart disease. Technological advancements in e-cigarettes were sold as healthier alternatives for adult cigarette smokers, but the vapes have been blamed for breeding a new generation of nicotine addicts. By the time the vape detectors emerged on the market, kids were already hooked.

Student interviews reveal the degree to which vaping culture has become fully ingrained in student life, with teens describing the allure of nicotine as so strong that addiction is nearly inevitable. For some teens who are sick of it, vaping has become a reason to avoid school bathrooms altogether. 

鈥淭hey do it at school, they do it in the bathrooms, they do it with their friends and they think it鈥檚 cool but they don鈥檛 understand the long-term impacts of it,鈥� said Moledina, the Austin teen and who is the federal policy director for Students Engaged in Advancing Texas. 

Over the summer, he and dozens of other students from across the country convened in a cafeteria at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, to discuss the of vape detection sensors and other digital surveillance tools increasingly employed in schools. 

Even here, where adults warned teens about vape sensors鈥� intrusiveness, students offered varying perspectives about the factors that lead to teen vaping 鈥� and the best strategies to prevent it. Nathan Wanna, a 14-year-old freshman from St. Paul, said he wished the sensors were installed in the bathrooms at his school. 

鈥淚 say it might be an invasion of privacy, but if it鈥檚 needed, it should be in there,鈥� Wanna said. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 see my friends tempted by peer pressure or the pain they go through to start doing that.鈥� 

Student-savvy workarounds

The four Minneapolis pilot schools saw a surge in vape alerts just before noon, suggesting students used the lull during lunch break to get their fix. Vaping was by far the most common trigger, the HALO logs show, accounting for 74% of alerts. Smoking cigarettes accounted for another 25%. In just 87 incidents, the sensors were triggered by tetrahydrocannabinol, the mind-shifting compound in cannabis, which can be consumed by vaping or other delivery methods.

The high schools were also overrepresented in the vape logs, even after accounting for their larger student populations, a finding that correlates with a higher percentage of tobacco users among older teens compared to those in middle school. Nearly 93% of vape alerts were registered on the sensors at Camden and Roosevelt high schools while just 7% were logged at Anwatin and Andersen United middle schools. Yet the middle schools accounted for 53% of all disciplinary write-ups for vaping. The disparity in the alert-to-discipline ratio suggests that high school administrators may have gotten buried by the noise. 

社区黑料 provided Minneapolis Public Schools with a list of key findings from its investigation but officials didn鈥檛 agree to an interview or provide a written statement. Plans for vape detection beyond the four-campus pilot program at the district are unclear. But a national network of advocates and researchers that convened the student gathering in St. Paul this summer, has called on the district to give it up. When Minneapolis students are caught by the sensors, 鈥渢hey鈥檙e just told to go home,鈥� said local activist Marika Pfefferkorn, a NOTICE Coalition founder. 

鈥淭eachers and administrators have said that with vaping and vape detection, that we鈥檙e treating some students as if it鈥檚 a mental health issue 鈥�  and then for other students, it鈥檚 a behavior issue,鈥� Pfefferkorn said. 

The analysis accounts for a blackout period from early December 2024 through the end of January when the logs provided by Minneapolis Public Schools show zero sensor alerts. The data may have been excluded in error because the student disciplinary records provided to 社区黑料 show some vape-related incidents during that same period, including several that cite the sensors.

While a single vaping session could trigger multiple alerts, records indicate such occurrences are rare. Fewer than 5% of alerts were within 10 seconds of another notification from the same device. Of the pings across the four schools, just over half occurred 60 seconds or more after another alert on the same device, meaning it鈥檚 likely the sensors were picking up separate vaping incidents. 

IPVM, a surveillance industry research firm that runs a 12,000-square-foot testing facility in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, has conducted audits on the HALO sensors, alongside similar devices, for several years and found they鈥檙e at their intended purpose: detecting plumes of vapor. 

But the sensors aren鈥檛 foolproof 鈥� they could be beaten by blowing the vapor into a bottle or a jacket sleeve 鈥� and there were other drawbacks, including alerts delayed by more than 20 seconds, the firm found. The detectors鈥� efficacy is highly dependent on where they鈥檙e installed, said Nikita Ermolaev, an IPVM senior research engineer.

In Minneapolis, the number of vape detections decreased over time, though it鈥檚 unclear if that鈥檚 because the sensors were a deterrent for students or if their placement was fine-tuned. 

鈥淗ow big is the school bathroom, how high are the ceilings?鈥� Ermolaev said. 鈥淗ow savvy are the students when it comes to workarounds? Are there windows in the bathroom that you can blow vape to?鈥�

After asking 社区黑料 for a list of detailed questions, Motorola did not provide answers in writing or otherwise and did not respond to follow-up requests for comment.

In its marketing efforts to schools, Motorola has highlighted as a resource districts could use to finance the HALO sensors, each of which cost about $1,000. The company has also from lawsuits against e-cigarette maker Juul. In 2022, Juul reportedly agreed to more than 5,000 lawsuits, including by school districts. Many alleged it knowingly and unlawfully advertised tobacco to minors.

School systems identified by Motorola as using Juul settlement money to buy the sensors include those in Stockton, California, and Fairfax, Virginia, from the tobacco company.  

Vape City

These days, Elijah Edminster works at Vape City, a chain with more than 250 locations in multiple states and ambitions to become 鈥渢he #1 vape shop in the USA.鈥� 

But a few years before he started selling vapes at the shop north of Austin 鈥� Edminster said he鈥檚 required to ID all his customers and none are underage 鈥� he was a high schooler who got sent to an alternative school as punishment for vaping. It all happened after he took a hit his junior year in the school鈥檚 main bathroom.

鈥淣one of our bathrooms have doors or anything so, you know, it鈥檚 all pretty open,鈥� said Edminster, now 21. He said he met up with a classmate in a stall to buy a THC vape pen, 鈥渢ested out the little thing,鈥� and got caught by school staff on his way out the door. 

The school official 鈥減ulls us off to the side and starts questioning us, basically talking about how it was suspicious that we were in there,鈥� said Edminster, who was 18 at the time. 鈥淎nd he was like, 鈥極h, I have this vape detector that goes off, yada yada, and it went off. So what does that mean?鈥欌�� 

Edminster said he confessed after school officials threatened to call the police. Under a new state law, he was assigned to an alternative program housed in an 鈥渋nactive, old elementary鈥� school for a month. 

Thirty days is a long time to be away from regular classes, and the impact of schools鈥� punitive vaping crackdown has been particularly pronounced in Texas. School districts in the state have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to deploy sensors across hundreds of campuses, district procurement records show.  In 2023, Texas state leaders passed a law requiring that students, like Edminster, be placed in an alternative school if caught vaping on campus. 

The number of kids removed from traditional classrooms after the law was enacted 鈥� so high that state lawmakers backtracked this spring and returned vape-related disciplinary decisions to local districts. 

Andrew Hairston, the director of the Education Justice Project at the nonprofit Texas Appleseed, said the state鈥檚 two-year, anti-vaping enforcement effort has become 鈥渙ne of the most pressing things that we鈥檙e working on.鈥� 

鈥淎 lot of parents are reaching out to us 鈥� or young people 鈥� and telling us that their entry into the school-to-prison pipeline is fueled by vaping,鈥� Hairston said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a really unfortunate reality, especially for so many working-class Black and brown families across the state who are disproportionately impacted by punitive vaping policies.鈥�

A year after his first offense, Edminster said school administrators used a detector to bust him again, this time for trying to mask a vape cloud with cologne. He was suspended for three days. 

鈥淚 still smoke, I still vape, you know what I mean?鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 trying to quit vaping, but ya, [getting suspended] didn鈥檛 really do too much. It definitely just made me try and stop at school 鈥� but not even that much.鈥� 

Students should not be suspended for vaping but instead made to attend tobacco cessation programs, said Halpern-Felsher, the pediatrics professor behind the widely used tobacco prevention toolkit and director of . And even if kids are sent home 鈥� where they’re likely to vape more, she points out 鈥� they should still be offered help quitting in school.

Halpern-Felsher’s own data suggests the CDC鈥檚 teen vaping numbers are an undercount and, based on her conversations with educators, she鈥檚 challenged the narrative that the country is 鈥済oing in the right direction.鈥� 

She worries the vape detectors in school bathrooms could be tripped up by both false positives and negatives. While something as simple as hairspray could trigger an alarm, she said, delayed alerts could give school administrators bad information that could lead to disciplinary action against the wrong student. 

Minnesota鈥檚 own state health department has to stop youth vaping, as have two leading tobacco prevention organizations, and the American Lung Association. Last year, American Lung Association president and CEO Harold Wimmer called out vape detectors in particular. 

鈥淪tudents need additional education about the health risks and to be provided with resources to help them quit for good,鈥� he said in a statement. 鈥淭eens should not be punished for being addicted to a product that was aggressively marketed to them on social media, through celebrities and with kid-friendly flavors.鈥�

鈥業 stopped, but it wasn鈥檛 a good stop鈥�

Garrison Parthemore observed the prevalence of vaping in his Pennsylvania high school and felt the bad habit was changing the lives of his peers for the worse. So he teamed up with his brother and a friend to do something about it. 

 鈥淓very time we鈥檇 walk into the school bathroom we were met with a cloud of smoke,鈥� Parthemore told 社区黑料 in an interview. 鈥淲e knew if there鈥檚 a problem at our school, it鈥檚 probably a problem everywhere.鈥� 

In 2020, the trio built a vape detector and entered their creation into a state STEM competition. The device came in third place and quickly found success after hitting the market in 2022. After undergoing a few upgrades, vape detectors became the flagship product of his company Triton Sensors, which claims it offers 鈥渢he most accurate sensor to detect Vape, THC, Loitering, Crowding, Keywords, Aggression, Gunshots and More.鈥� There are thousands of them in campus bathrooms across the country, including in the nation鈥檚 two largest school districts, New York City and Los Angeles. 

But don鈥檛 call Triton Sensors 鈥渧ape detectors鈥�: Pathemore said the label is 鈥渙ne of my pet peeves, honestly.鈥� They鈥檙e much more than that, he maintains. He called vape detection the company鈥檚 鈥渓ow-hanging fruit,鈥� as it pursues a more ambitious goal of promoting safety in public bathrooms and other private spaces where cameras are prohibited and authorities 鈥渉ave no idea of really what鈥檚 going on.鈥� 

He claimed Triton sensors allow school officials to know how many students are in the restrooms at any given time, even without a video feed. With sensors that pick up 20 different environmental factors 鈥� from air quality to gunshots 鈥擯arthemore said they鈥檙e able to capture 鈥渁bout 90% of what a camera can.鈥� 

鈥淚 can tell you where they鈥檙e at in the room, I can tell you how long they鈥檝e been there, so we can detect things like class cutting or overcrowding,鈥� he said. A keyword detection feature allows the sensors to notify officials of an emergency. 鈥淚f someone鈥檚 in trouble, they can yell 鈥榟elp me,鈥� or 鈥榮top it,鈥� or 鈥榚mergency.鈥欌�� 

Equipping the sensors with cameras, he said, is outside the equation and that the devices don鈥檛 collect 鈥渁ny personally identifiable information,鈥� so while they can zero in on how many students might be in a bathroom at any given time, they don鈥檛 attempt to pinpoint individual students. 

Yet as manufacturers like Triton and HALO branch out beyond flagging fragrant vape plumes, they raise additional privacy concerns. A massive vulnerability in the latest Motorola-owned HALO sensors, which include the microphones designed to alert school staff to fights, school shootings and 鈥渁ggression,鈥� . 

At a conference in Las Vegas, hackers revealed how the devices suffered from a flaw that allowed them to hijack the HALO sensors鈥� microphones. Once that weakness was exploited, the duo were able to eavesdrop remotely and create fake alerts. Motorola responded almost immediately, it was rolling out updates after the sensors suffered 鈥渃ritical vulnerabilities” that allowed hackers to take control of the sensors 鈥渢hrough brute-force attacks.鈥� 

It鈥檚 this creeping surveillance that gives some students pause, even those who told 社区黑料 they otherwise support vape detectors in bathrooms. The possibility of unknown capabilities with the sensors is 鈥渧ery scary to me鈥� said Moledina, the Austin teen, who worries about a future where bathrooms come with cameras.

鈥淛ust knowing that there is vape smoke in the bathroom doesn鈥檛 really help you because the administrators already know it鈥檚 happening and just by knowing that it鈥檚 there isn’t going to help them find out who is doing it,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o my concern is that, at the end of the day, we鈥檙e going to end up having cameras in bathrooms, which is definitely not what we want.鈥� 

Minneapolis educators have used surveillance cameras in conjunction with the sensors to identify students for vaping in the bathrooms, discipline logs show.  

In February, for example, a Roosevelt High School senior was suspended for a day based on accusations they hit a weed vape in the bathroom. Officials reviewed footage from a surveillance camera outside the bathroom and determined the student was 鈥渆ntering and exiting the bathroom during the timeframe that the detector went off.鈥� They were searched and administrators found 鈥渁 marijuana vape, an empty glass jar with a weed smell and a baggie with weed shake in it.鈥� 

That same month, educators referred a Camden High School student to a drug and alcohol counselor for 鈥渧aping in the single stall bathrooms.鈥� 

鈥淎fter I reviewed the camera it does show [a] student leaving out that same stall bathroom,鈥� campus officials reported. 

Gutierrez, the 18-year-old from Arizona, said she quit vaping after she was suspended and now copes with depression through positive means like painting. What she didn鈥檛 do, however, was quit because she received help at school for the mental health challenges that led her to vape in the first place.

She stopped vaping while she was suspended, she said, because she was away from her friends and lacked access. She was frightened into further compliance, Gutierrez recalled, by the online lessons depicting vaping as a gross, gooey purple monster that would poison her relationships. 

鈥淵es I stopped, but it wasn鈥檛 a good stop,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 get no support. I didn鈥檛 get no counseling. I stopped because I was scared.鈥�

Alabama schools are set to implement a new system to prevent vaping by public school students in the coming academic year.

, sponsored by Rep. Barbara Drummond D-Mobile, requires the Alabama State Board of Education to create a model policy for local boards of education to adopt by November.

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鈥淸Drummond] wanted an anti-vaping law, so we were able to work with her on something that鈥檚 not too overwhelming for the districts, but they are all going to have an anti-vaping policy,鈥� State Board of Education Superintendent Eric Mackey told members of the board in a meeting on Tuesday.

Under the proposed policy, students who are caught vaping once will have their parents contacted and students who are caught vaping twice will have to take a state approved vaping awareness, education and prevention class which includes a curriculum created in collaboration with the Drug Education Council.

The topics covered in the proposed curriculum presented to board members include health consequences, peer pressure, nicotine and addiction, resources to quit vaping and common misconceptions about vaping among others.

According to the , the media branch for the Children鈥檚 of Alabama hospital, nearly 20% of high school students in 2023 said they had vaped.

Some board members at Tuesday鈥檚 meeting questioned the need for the vaping law.

鈥淎s an educator, parent and grandparent, I don鈥檛 quite understand the focus on this and bifurcating or separating from the other common concerns in every discipline policy,鈥� said Wayne Reynolds, who represents District 8 on the board. 鈥淲hy would you separate what you鈥檙e doing to a child caught vaping and contacting the parents than any other child in the discipline policy?鈥�

District 1 Representative Jackie Zeigler raised concerns about children moving onto other drugs like Fentanyl and Xylazine or tranq and pushed for broader language in the law to prevent having to add resolutions to add other specific items such as marajuana into the law.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think by labeling it does any justice,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e need to make it broader so these things fit into it so we don鈥檛 have to come back and say, 鈥榥ow we have [THC] gummies, and now we have vaping.鈥欌��

Mackey agreed that the law is more specific than most Alabama Department of Education policies, but because it鈥檚 the law they have to follow it and said the board is 鈥渂eing no more restrictive than the law requires.鈥�

Beginning in the 1995 school year, Alabama schools were required to have a and the states every county and city school system must have drug abuse and education courses in their curriculum.

The Alabama State Board of Education will vote on the model policy for the law next month.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com.

Last week, I set out to write a quick news hit on the  鈥� a pilot program that will pump $200 million toward next-gen firewalls and other tools.

But that鈥檚 when things got weird. 

I came upon a new listing on a notorious dark web forum 鈥� the Amazon for stolen data, if you will 鈥� that offered millions of files purportedly stolen from the Los Angeles Unified School District for a thousand bucks.

LAUSD officials said they鈥檙e investigating the anonymous threat actor鈥檚 claims and a threat intelligence executive told me the district must carry out a full incident response to verify if the files are real.

Or new. 

It isn鈥檛 d茅j脿 vu: America鈥檚 second-largest school district fell victim to a massive ransomware attack in 2022. Thousands of students鈥� mental health records and other sensitive files found their way to the dark web. It鈥檚 possible that the LAUSD data got a facelift of its own, with the same data repackaged to make a quick buck. 

Read more about the latest LAUSD incident 鈥� and about the FCC鈥檚 new effort to thwart similar attacks nationally 鈥� here. 

In the news

Today in Florida, workers are set to demolish the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School building where a gunman killed 17 people in a 2018 rampage. |

Relatives of 17 children killed during the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, have sued state law enforcement officers who waited 77 minutes before confronting the gunman at Robb Elementary School. |

Special report: Through an unprecedented trove of dispatch call data for 852 California school addresses, reporters offer a rare look at 鈥渢he vast presence of police in schools.鈥� A third of calls 鈥渨ere about serious incidents that reasonably required a police presence.鈥� |

New York lawmakers approved landmark rules that ban social media companies from using 鈥渁ddictive鈥� algorithms to customize children鈥檚 feeds. Here鈥檚 a strong rundown on how the rules work. |

SWATted down: A Washington man has been sentenced to three years in prison for calling in hoax police reports in more than 20 states, including inciting false school shooting panic, leading to frantic lockdowns and massive police responses. |

First they came for the books. Next they came for the books about book bans. |

A new program in Illinois to help low-income families pay for the funeral costs of children killed by guns was designed to ease grief and financial burdens. After a year, just two families have been compensated. |

Prioritizing 鈥榩rofit over the wellbeing and safety of children鈥�: Residential treatment companies that provide behavioral health services have put children at risk of sexual abuse and dangerous physical restraints, a new Senate committee report argues. |

First comes marriage, then comes homeroom: Missouri lawmakers failed to pass legislation that sought to prevent anyone under 18 years old from getting married, keeping in place the state鈥檚 minimum age of 16. |

A Tennessee school district where officials failed to prevent rampant racist bullying against a Black student will overhaul its anti-harassment procedures after reaching a settlement agreement with the Justice Department. Federal investigators found the student鈥檚 classmates passed around a drawing of a Ku Klux Klansmen, added him to a bigoted group chat and sold him to white peers in a mock 鈥渟lave auction.鈥� |

New York City school bathrooms could soon have 鈥渧ape sensors鈥� following a court settlement with tobacco company Juul that鈥檒l direct $27 million to the city鈥檚 schools to combat youth vaping. |

Research & advocacy

鈥楴ew Jim Code鈥�: Federal officials have failed to deter the civil rights harms that artificial intelligence in schools poses to students of color, a new report argues. |

DACA recipients are more likely than migrants without deportation safeguards to ask the police for help, suggesting the program increases engagement with police and reduces fear among crime victims. |

DACA recipients are more likely than migrants without deportation safeguards to ask the police for help, suggesting the program increases engagement with police and reduces fear among crime victims. |

ICYMI @The74

• Report: Higher Rates of Depression, Anxiety for LGBTQ Teens Forcibly Outed
  
• LA Schools Chief Carvalho Warns Student Homelessness Across City Worse Than Data Shows
  
• Psychologist Peter Gray Sounds the Alarm About Excessive Adult Oversight & What It鈥檚 Doing to Kids鈥� Mental Health

Emotional support

I promised you a new pup. I bring you a new pup. 

Sinead, editor Kathy Moore鈥檚 new emotional support companion, surveys her domain. 

For more school safety news,聽subscribe to Mark’s School (in)Security newsletter below.

During that same period, about 11% of 12-grade students reported using a lesser-known product, delta-8-THC, a psychoactive substance typically derived from hemp. It can produce a fuzzy, euphoric high similar to 鈥斅燽ut typically milder than 鈥斅爐he THC effects delivered in cannabis.聽

Delta-8-THC is of particular interest because despite health risks, it鈥檚 still widely considered to be legal at the federal level after the 2018 farm bill from the list of controlled substances. It鈥檚 legal in 22 states and Washington, D.C. with limited regulation, and in a number of states 鈥� including Illinois and New Jersey 鈥� there are no age restrictions at all on purchasing it. Concerns are compounded by the fact that it can be found in kid-friendly products, like gummies and chocolates, and can be bought online or from easily accessible vendors, like gas stations.

The results on pot and delta-8-THC use came from the newly released , which annually surveys teens across the U.S. and is conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan. The study, which was the first to report the extent of delta-8-THC use, included 22,318 surveys given to students enrolled in 235 public and private schools across the country between February and June 2023. Questions about delta-8-THC were administered to a randomly selected one-third of 12th-grade students, or 2,186 seniors in 27 states.

鈥�(Eleven percent) is a lot of people 鈥� that鈥檚 at least one or two students in every average-sized high school class who may be using delta-8. We don鈥檛 know enough about these drugs, but we see that they are already extremely accessible to teens,鈥� National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow said in 鈥淐annabis use in general has been associated with negative impacts on the adolescent brain, so we must pay attention to the kinds of cannabis products teens are using, educate young people about potential risks, and ensure that treatment for cannabis use disorder and adequate mental health care is provided to those who need it.鈥� 

The latest study adds to the understanding of how young people are using cannabis and related products at a time when legalization is far reaching and overwhelmingly favored 鈥�  now live in a state where marijuana is legal for either recreational or medical use and for those two purposes, according to two Pew Research Center analyses released over the last month. 

Ryan Sultan, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University and a cannabis-use expert, said the current climate calls for a more nuanced approach to marijuana鈥檚 effects.

鈥淭he narrative of cannabis as a 鈥榬eefer madness鈥� and ruining everyone’s life 鈥� that one was a lie,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd the narrative that cannabis is a magical, natural, benign panacea for everything 鈥� that one is also not true.鈥�

At the same time, Sultan warns that young users remain particularly vulnerable. 

鈥淭he biggest consequence that we think about in the field of child development 鈥� is that using substances that are potentially psychoactive and addictive and have effects on development 鈥� the younger you are, the more problematic they might be,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd cannabis is included in that.鈥�

A number of teenagers believe that marijuana is helpful for anxiety and depression, which doesn鈥檛 appear to be true in the long term, Sultan said. 鈥淭he problem is that chronic use seems to not do that. Chronic use seems to actually result in a worsening of that symptomatology.鈥� 

Cannabis today is far more potent than it was decades ago, allowing it to bind to receptors in the brain more effectively. So when you stop using it, you end up with even worse symptoms, according to Sultan. 

Sultan published a last year showing that adolescents who recently used cannabis but did not meet the criteria for a marijuana use disorder had two to four times greater odds of major depression, suicidal ideation, difficulty concentrating, lower GPA and a number of other negative outcomes. These results reinforce those of earlier as well. 

Sultan analyzed responses from 68,263 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2015 and 2019.

He noted, though, that the study did not demonstrate causation: it鈥檚 not clear that the marijuana use directly led to these mental health issues and other outcomes.

鈥淚t鈥檚 more like a cycle,鈥� he said, in which people who are depressed and anxious are more likely to use cannabis in the first place to self-medicate their symptoms but this can end up 鈥渟pinning out of control.鈥�

鈥淪o rather than which came first, the chicken or the egg? They both came and they鈥檙e both happening and they鈥檙e both interacting with each other.鈥� 

Yet, most adolescents don鈥檛 think of weed as harmful: Over the past decade, the perceived risk of harm decreased by nearly half, while use for people 12 and over increased from about demonstrate that they think of edibles, in particular, as less harmful, failing to account for concerns around potency, regulation and delayed effects. 

A at UC Davis Health and the University of Washington, which surveyed teens over a six-month period, found that they get high for enjoyment and to cope. Those who used it to forget their problems typically experienced more negative consequences like difficulty concentrating. Lead author Nicole Schultz noted that understanding teens鈥� motivation for getting high is an important first step in developing strategies to intervene early. 

Post-pandemic, marijuana remains one of the three substances used by adolescents, along with alcohol and nicotine vaping. 

In 2022, the percentage of young adults 19 to 30 years old who reported marijuana use reached record highs, according to a National Institute of Health-funded : About 44% of those surveyed reported use in the past year 鈥� a significant increase from the 25% who reported the same in 2012. Young adults also reported a record-high use of marijuana vaping in 2022: 21% up from 12% in 2017, when the measure was first added to the study.

A published in 2020 found that adolescents and adults who vape nicotine were also more likely to also use alcohol and marijuana. In adolescents, the relationship was much stronger: those who vaped were 4.5 to six times as likely to report alcohol and marijuana use and were particularly likely to report binge drinking.

According to a , vaping has emerged as one of the two most popular methods for teens to get high, despite its unclear long-term health implications. In fact, it may actually be associated with greater risk than smoking for lung injuries, seizures and acute psychiatric symptoms. 

Vaping is also a more accessible and discreet way to consume marijuana, allowing teens to use it in more settings, including schools, without getting caught. New York City teachers and students have more and younger students are coming to school high and are smoking throughout the day, with hypothesizing that kids are using weed to blunt residual pain and anxiety from the pandemic. 

This harder-to-detect delivery method puts a lot of pressure on individuals to manage how often they鈥檙e using it, according to Sultan, which is particularly challenging for adolescents who may struggle with impulse control.聽

Ultimately, though, much of the research that exists on cannabis generally is outdated because it鈥檚 based on weaker strains of the substance from years ago, Sultan said: 鈥淲e are behind the eight ball on cannabis.鈥�

COLUMBIA 鈥� In Oconee County, dozens of illegal e-cigarettes are confiscated from students weekly, tallying to potentially thousands in the past three years, estimates school security director Evie Hughes.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe you can go into a bathroom in a middle or high school and not get a vape,鈥� Hughes told the SC Daily Gazette. 鈥淚t is an epidemic among kids.鈥�

sent Thursday to the Senate floor aims to cut down on the availability of vapes to children, who could be inhaling much more than nicotine.

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The fruity- or candy-flavored e-cigarettes that are by far the most popular among middle- and high schoolers are already illegal. Only e-cigarettes that taste like tobacco or menthol are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and they鈥檙e generally marketed as a way to help adults quit smoking.

The problem is that the colorful, disposable vapes made in China (and often disguised as something else) have since shortly before Chinese regulators banned selling the flavors there in 2022.

U.S. authorities can鈥檛 keep up. The FDA announced its first seizure of illegal e-cigarette shipments in December. The 1.4 million products seized at the Los Angeles airport 鈥� all from China 鈥� were worth $18 million, according to the .

South Carolina is among states acting on their own to try to stop the escalating flow to youth in their borders.

鈥淭his is about the children and their futures,鈥� said Senate President Thomas Alexander, R-Walhalla.

His bill, which received a rare unanimous vote by all 17 senators on the Medical Affairs Committee, would create a registry of vapes that are legal to sell in South Carolina. Products not on the registry, created and maintained by the attorney general鈥檚 office, could be seized from wholesalers and retailers.

Makers and distributors of vapes not on the approved list must remove them from stores statewide or face fines of $1,000 per day per product.

The sweet-smelling, brightly colored vapes senators are trying to get off shelves come in flavors like wild cherry, bubblegum and cotton candy. The packing can look like makeup brushes, highlighters and flash drives, making them easy to conceal in a student鈥檚 book bag or pockets, said Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg.

鈥淚t鈥檚 clear from the colors and shapes of these that these are being marketed to children,鈥� said Hutto, among 15 co-sponsors of the bill.

As a show-and-tell of the problem, Alexander brought dozens of e-cigarettes confiscated from Oconee County students over the past several weeks.

Hughes said 30 to 50 vapes are taken from students in the district鈥檚 18 schools each week.

In South Carolina, 47% of high school students reported vaping in 2020, . It could be higher now.

Nationwide, there鈥檚 been a 2,600% rocket-fueled-like surge since 2019 in high schoolers who vape choosing disposables, with fruity flavors being by far the most popular, followed by candy flavors, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention鈥檚 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey.

Since 2019, federal law has set 21 as the legal age for buying tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. But state law still allows sales to anyone 18 and older. According to the state鈥檚 2020 statistics, who used e-cigarettes bought them from a store themselves.

Like regular cigarettes, e-cigarettes contain nicotine. And disposable vapes generally have a high nicotine content. The addictive drug is particularly harmful to young people whose brains are still developing, as it can affect their attention spans, mood, impulse control and ability to learn, .

The vapor has also been linked to lung damage and seizures, .

And that鈥檚 what can happen with regulated vapes.

There鈥檚 no telling what鈥檚 in illegal, unregulated vapes coming from China, senators said.

Some have THC, the psychoactive drug found in marijuana. Senators said they worry many could be laced with highly deadly drugs like fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 100 times more potent than morphine that鈥檚 also pouring in from China. Fentanyl-laced vapes have already been reported in other states.

Under South Carolina鈥檚 bill, the registry would have to be in place by Sept. 1.

Four other states 鈥� Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin 鈥� already have similar registries. Virginia is expected to be the fifth with a bill passed by its Legislature this week.

Alexander鈥檚 bill has the backing of not only legislators of both parties but educators and law enforcement.

It would put the State Law Enforcement Division, the attorney general鈥檚 office and the Department of Revenue in charge of enforcement.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said his deputies are busy with murders, break-ins and other serious crimes. They don鈥檛 have time to check what products stores have on their shelves, he said.

鈥淲e could spend all our time going to stores,鈥� Lott said.

The registry would make it easier for the state to crack down on sales, said Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann, who spoke in support of the bill at a recent subcommittee meeting.

鈥淕etting enforcement into place is key,鈥� said Rickenmann, adding he鈥檚 heard from parents and teachers.

In Oconee County, students caught with vapes have to go through an eight-week course on the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

Instead of deterring students, though, the strict punishments have led to teens getting sneakier about hiding their vapes, Hughes said.

鈥淚t feels like we鈥檙e fighting a war, but right now we鈥檙e losing the battle,鈥� Hughes said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@scdailygazette.com. Follow SC Daily Gazette on and .

Kids and teens across El Paso have found that small cylindrical and flash drive-looking devices containing THC 鈥� the psychoactive component in marijuana that produces a high 鈥� are easily tucked away in pockets and under sleeves, allowing them to inconspicuously take a drag wherever they go.

As a result, the number of juveniles facing criminal charges for possession of THC concentrates 鈥� a felony in Texas 鈥� has skyrocketed in recent months.

With arrests continuing to mount, there have been some efforts in turning the tide.

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In the last of a four-part series about the rise of vaping THC among minors, El Paso Matters examined some of the emerging research on youth cannabis use prevention; how health organizations have tried to stop kids from using the drug before they can get in trouble; and the recent attempts to change the laws and penalties that come with possession of THC concentrates 鈥� which some experts say may be doing more harm than good.

鈥淥nce you have a kid involved in the criminal legal system, it stays with them forever,鈥� Andreea Matei, a policy associate with the Urban Institute鈥檚 Justice Policy Center told El Paso Matters. 鈥淚t impacts employment, it can impact access to funding and support during education and secondary education. It impacts their ability to find housing sometimes. So it really sets them up in a way for failure.鈥�

The is a Washington, D.C.鈥揵ased policy research think-tank that has conducted several studies on juvenile justice reform.

鈥淧unitive measures are not effective,鈥� added Dr. Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics. 鈥淭he best method is to support them into not using again. Support them in not becoming addicted and getting off of that cannabis. 鈥� So don’t bust them. Don’t put them in jail.鈥�

Studies on adolescent development have found that some of the strict methods used in the juvenile justice field for decades, such as probation or juvenile detention, have failed to stop minors from reoffending.

In response, Matei said there has been a call to change these methods to focus on treatment, education and behavior change 鈥渞ather than punitive measures for the sake of accountability鈥� through community resources and services.

In El Paso, local lawmakers have already made some efforts to reduce the punishments that come with marijuana and THC possession charges.

In May 2020, the El Paso City Council approved a cite-and-release program, which allows police officers to give a ticket instead of arresting someone who is caught with marijuana. The program does not apply to THC concentrates like those commonly found in vaping devices.

Then in late 2022, the El Paso County Commissioners Court also created a specialized diversion program for minors charged with possessing THC for the first time. The program connects juveniles with resources from local organizations, including , a local mental health and addiction treatment organization, and, a children鈥檚 health center.

It also allows them to get their records sealed after completing counseling sessions and passing a drug test.

Research shows that these types of programs may be successful in lowering recidivism rates among youth.

looking at the outcomes of 73 diversion programs in the U.S., Australia and Canada found that minors who took part in a diversion program were 24% less likely to get in trouble with the law again in the future.

In Florida, a statewide data analysis found that youth who were issued civil citations as part of a diversion program instead of being arrested had a 4% recidivism rate, while their peers who were arrested had a 9% recidivism rate.

Still, diversion programs can have varied methods and outcomes, and local drug-use prevention advocates say it is too early to tell if the program in El Paso will be successful in lowering THC-related arrests among minors.

Though these efforts have lessened some of the punishments that come with marijuana charges or THC possession in El Paso, some of the long-term consequences that come with a criminal record may remain. If left unsealed, a felony can affect a person鈥檚 ability to get certain jobs, qualify for financial aid and apply for housing. Sealed records can also be accessed in some rare cases if the person is charged with a serious crime again in the future.

It would be up to the state to change the law and lower the severity of the charges 鈥搒omething one state lawmaker attempted to do during the 2023 legislative session.

Texas state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, introduced , which would have reduced the penalties for possession of small amounts of THC concentrate from a felony to a Class C misdemeanor, among other changes. The bill would have also required law enforcement to issue citations instead of making arrests for marijuana possession, and allowed first offenders to have their charges expunged, essentially destroying any record it ever happened.

The bill passed through the House but was never scheduled for a hearing once it reached the Senate State Affairs Committee. Lawmakers will likely have to wait until the next legislative session in 2025 before another similar law can be introduced.

Legislators in New Mexico, where marijuana is legal for adults 21 and over, have already gone even further to limit penalties for minors caught with the drug.

In 2021, the governor of New Mexico signed a that eliminated fines for juvenile offenders convicted of marijuana possession, which lawmakers say hurt economically disadvantaged families. Now in New Mexico, if a minor is caught with a THC vape pen, they would only be required to complete community service.

鈥淭hese fees are disproportionately painful for lower-income families,鈥� said Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in a at the time of signing the bill. 鈥淣ickel-and-diming New Mexico families doesn鈥檛 solve anything. On the contrary, it can create a vicious cycle of fee collection and license revocation, all of which serves only to entrap too many New Mexicans in the criminal justice system. Instead, we need to be looking at ways to reduce the administrative burden on families and reduce the potential for recidivism.鈥�

Preventing THC Use: No Silver Bullet

As vaping has become one of the most popular ways for young people to consume marijuana, some local drug prevention organizations have been trying to stop them from using THC before they get a chance to get into legal trouble.

This includes groups like the Paso del Norte Health Foundation and the El Paso Advocates for Prevention Coalition, which consists of parents and representatives from various sectors like law enforcement and schools.

These groups have put on presentations and attended community events to reach out to parents, teachers and youth, with the primary focus on educating them about the harms of marijuana use and vaping.

While studies show that using factual information about cannabis use can help prevent cannabis use among minors, some experts have suggested that just focusing on just the negative side of marijuana use can be ineffective.

鈥淎dults are using cannabis to fall asleep, to be happy 鈥� they’re using it for some perceived benefit,鈥� Halpern-Felsher said. 鈥淚f you only talk to teens about the bad, teens don’t listen. 鈥� And the problem is you lose your audience, you lose your voice if you don’t give a balanced perspective.鈥�

Halpern-Felsher founded the in 2019 to provide resources for educators, parents and community organizations meant to prevent middle and high school students from using marijuana. The program was modeled on the nationally recognized and uses similar strategies while addressing some of the complexities around marijuana use as laws and research around the drug are constantly evolving.

In some cases, these types of prevention programs are being directed to minors who have already tried marijuana at least once and may not be as receptive as their peers.

鈥淲hen you’re teaching cannabis or tobacco or drug prevention in the classroom, you’re going to have anywhere from 10% to 40% of the class who have already used some form of drug,鈥� Halpern-Felsher said. 鈥淚f you tell teens, 鈥楴ever use it, it’s bad and if you do, this is what’s going to happen,鈥� students in the class who have used also shut down.鈥�

One Florida-based program, , has opted to focus on promoting a healthy lifestyle and educating young people on how marijuana and drug use can affect that.

鈥淭he program focuses on positive images,鈥� said the organization鈥檚 founder Dr. Chudley Werch. 鈥淲e set aspirational goals to get a little bit more physical activity or eat a piece of fruit or get another 30 minutes of sleep while also pledging to avoid substance use, which is counterproductive to a healthy lifestyle.鈥�

With all the complexities that come with marijuana, some said it may take a multifaceted approach to stopping kids from using it.

鈥淭here’s no silver bullet,鈥� Werch said. 鈥淥ur program will work for many youth but not all, and that goes with any kind of a prevention strategy.鈥�

Other organizations have begun trying to understand why young people use marijuana to develop new approaches on how to stop them from using it.

In one on adolescent cannabis use, researchers observed that some of the main reasons young people use marijuana are to bond with peers, deal with social isolation and cope with mental health issues 鈥� factors that were exacerbated by the pandemic.

鈥淪ome of our participants really did talk a lot about how the COVID-19 pandemic had just exacerbated challenges to their daily routines. It has increased feelings of isolation, and really they’ve seen a negative impact on themselves,鈥� said Shiloh Beckerley, vice president of research and evaluation for Rescue Agency, during a presentation on the study in 2022. 鈥淥ne tween stated to me, 鈥楨very day was literally the same. I couldn’t do anything. We were doing school on Zoom. I just stayed in my bed all day.鈥� So you can imagine that there could really increase that sense of social isolation.鈥�

The study, which involved interviews and focus groups with youth and parents, was conducted by a marketing company that creates public health campaigns, on behalf of the California Department of Public Health.

These researchers found that many teens who already used marijuana said they began using more during the pandemic and believed it helped them deal with anxiety and depression, though research suggests it may actually exacerbate it.

The study also examined young people’s receptiveness toward different types of cannabis prevention messages.

Youth told researchers they wanted to hear in-depth and scientific information about why cannabis impacts the brain from a credible and trustworthy source. Teens often identified peers with personal experience with cannabis as trustworthy sources, according to the study. Older teens also said they wanted to hear non颅judgmental information and were turned off by ads they felt were talking down on those who use marijuana.

Many also said they were concerned about potential changes to their brain and personality, and cited this as the main reason they have either never tried or want to stop using marijuana.

This is the last in a four-part series on THC vaping among minors. Find the first story , the second and the third .

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

After returning to school following the COVID-19 pandemic, students across El Paso have been caught vaping THC 鈥� the psychoactive component in marijuana that causes a 鈥渉igh鈥� 鈥�  in bathrooms, hallways and even in class.

鈥淪ome of these kids are just being blatant about using vapes,鈥� Socorro Independent School District Police Chief George Johnson said.

This led to a dramatic rise in minors, some as young as 10, facing felony charges for possession of THC concentrates.

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In the third of a four-part series on juvenile THC vaping, El Paso Matters explores how school districts are dealing with a growing number of disciplinary cases while figuring out how to stop students from vaping.

Many have installed special sensors that detect vaping and notify school staff; had drug-sniffing police dogs make searches; given presentations on the consequences of vaping THC, and implemented new measures on how to deal with those who have been caught.

Any student who possesses, uses, or is under the influence of marijuana on school property must be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program or juvenile justice alternative education program, which often requires expulsion from their current school, according to the . The code also states administrators must consider certain factors, like disability and disciplinary history, before sending a student to alternative school.

In June, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill meant to give schools more control over which students get sent to these schools, which is typically meant for students who commit violent crimes and pose a danger to their peers. House Bill 114 goes into effect in September.

With this vague guidance from the state, policies and disciplinary methods can sometimes vary from school to school within the same district.

Some have begun taking a restorative approach that aims to educate students on vaping THC while allowing the legal system to dole out punishment.

鈥淚f we remove students from the classroom for a suspension or expulsion, it has a negative impact on their education, a negative impact on likelihood young people will graduate or how likely they are to attend college,鈥� said Jeffrey Willett, the national vice president of integrated strategies for the American Heart Association during a presentation on vaping with El Paso school administrators in June.

The presentation was hosted by the Paso Del Norte Foundation as part of its

The rise of THC vaping cases caused at least one local alternative school to become overwhelmed with students during the 2022-23 school year.

鈥淚’ve worked at Cesar Chavez (Academy) and oh my god, there’s a lot of kids,鈥� said El Paso Police Officer Andres Rodriguez during a presentation with the El Paso Advocates for Prevention Coalition in July.

鈥淭hey鈥檒l all be coming down to Cesar Chavez because they get caught with a vape,鈥� Rodriguez said about the alternative school in the Ysleta Independent School District.

鈥淰ery few are coming in here for fighting or any of the other issues that they may be having. So the vast majority of our students here are for THC versus before where you had a decent mix of various reasons why they might be coming in,鈥� Ivan Martinez, a social studies teacher at Keys Academy, added.

Keys Academy, an alternative school with SISD, has been struggling with an overflow of students, with classes reaching capacity multiple times during the school year, emails obtained by El Paso Matters show.

鈥淲e are currently at capacity with KEYS placements, and we are asking that middle schools keep their current placements at eight students so we can accommodate all pending schools’ recommendations,鈥� stated an email sent to SISD administrators in February from KEYS Academy Assistant Principal Daniel Delgado.

Records show that both EPISD and SISD saw an increase in alternative education placements during this last school year. EPISD鈥檚 alternative school placements rose about 14% to about 1,700 during the 2022-23 school year over the previous year. SISD鈥檚 alternative school placements rose by 15% to 820 during that same time frame. These numbers include placement for all disciplinary offenses, not just those related to THC.

Martinez said he has also noticed that placing students at Keys Academy hasn鈥檛 been very successful in getting kids to stop vaping THC.

鈥淭he majority of the sentiment I hear from the students is that they want to be smarter about trying to hide it or just not bringing it to school, but probably still use at home,鈥� Martinez said. 鈥淣ow there are a few that do say it was a mistake and are just going to stay away from that and stay clean, but it鈥檚 not the majority.鈥�

Though school districts are required to track disciplinary violations and report them to the Texas Education Agency, administrators say it is still difficult to get a full scope of just how many students are getting caught vaping THC.

School districts can report a disciplinary incident involving THC vaping devices as either a standard controlled substance violation, which can include regular marijuana, or as a felony controlled substance violation that can include other controlled substances like cocaine or meth.

Still, disciplinary reports show that the number of drug-related violations has been on the rise since students returned to school from the pandemic, and administrators say it is mostly related to THC.

During the 2022-23 school year, the El Paso Independent School District reported 655 combined drug violations, SISD reported 568 and YISD reported 584. During the previous school year, EPISD reported roughly 400 of these cases, SISD reported 340 and the Ysleta Independent School District reported 490.

Records obtained by El Paso Matters show that about 880 鈥� or 60% 鈥� THC vaping-related arrests that were reported to the El Paso Juvenile Probation Department between April 2019 and April 2023 were conducted by school resource officers.

However, the number that took place in schools is likely higher since local law enforcement will assist school districts without their own police force. About 37% of these arrests were conducted by SISD police and over 21% were done by EPISD Police.

YISD, the third largest district in the county, does not have its own police force and works with the El Paso Police Department in cases when students are caught vaping THC. The department made roughly 26% of these arrests in the same period, including those that took place outside of YISD.

Still, this does not include arrests for students who were 17 or older and were charged as adults.

Johnson noted that one of the reasons so many charges come from SISD is because of its heightened police presence on its campuses.

鈥淚 believe the issue is nationwide, I don’t think it’s isolated just to us, but here in El Paso we have the largest school-based law enforcement agency locally,鈥� Johnson said.

Though EPISD and SISD have a similar population, with 50,000 and 48,000 students respectively, Johnson said SISD had more officers on staff and fewer schools for them to patrol. According to EPISD鈥檚 website, the district has 42 police officers who are tasked with monitoring the district鈥檚 roughly 80 schools. Johnson said SISD has about 70 officers on staff with only 53 schools to patrol.

A restorative approach

While expulsion to alternative schools is one of the most common consequences for students caught vaping THC in Texas, research shows that it can have negative long-term consequences.

One found that students involved in a school disciplinary system were more likely to be held back a grade and drop out of school.

Another also found that suspending and expelling students have lower college enrollment rates, lower graduation rates and are more likely to get involved in the criminal justice system in the future.

A number of health organizations, including the American Heart Association, are now advocating for schools to take a restorative approach that provides alternatives to exclusionary discipline by keeping kids in class and attempting to address the root cause of students vaping.

Willett, of the AHA, said this may include treating mental health issues.

A in 2020 found that students who vape THC, nicotine or both reported significantly higher levels of anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts than their peers who don鈥檛 vape.

鈥淲e don’t know the relationship in terms of causality, but we do know that many young people are using vaping products, both nicotine and cannabis, because they likely falsely perceive that it provides relief for anxiety and depression,鈥� Willett said.

Disciplinary measures that do not address some of those underlying issues may exacerbate them, Willett added.

In response to a growing number of students vaping, some schools began changing the way they deal with disciplinary cases.

During the 2022-23 school year, YISD implemented a new program for students who were caught vaping, either nicotine or THC, for the first time meant to keep them out of an alternative school setting.

鈥淲e started to see this uptick last year, so we went with the proactive approach and we established a vaping first offender program,鈥� Department of Student Services Director Diana Yadira Mooy said. 鈥淭he legal side still takes its course if it’s THC, but here in our district, our approach is more to emphasize the importance of educating the students on the potential health risk and consequences of THC.鈥�

YISD is also the only of El Paso鈥檚 three largest school districts to see a decline in alternative school placements. During the 2021-22 school year, the district had 706 students sent to alternative school. That number dropped to 645 in the 2022-23 school year.

As part of the program, students are required to complete a curriculum where they learn about the health consequences of vaping and marijuana use. Mooy said they have students talk to a counselor who checks for underlying issues such as addiction, anxiety or depression, and help refer them to treatment.

The students鈥� parents are also required to attend a meeting where they learn about the health and legal consequences of vaping THC.

鈥淧art of the parent meeting is not only to inform them of the heavy consequences, but also addressing the root cause and providing that support to hopefully reduce those incidents in the future,鈥� Mooy said.

Mooy said that over 550 students who were caught vaping either THC or nicotine had taken part in the program during its first year.

One school in SISD, Pebble Hills High School, also implemented a vaping first-offender program with some questionable methods.

During the nine-week program, students caught vaping are allowed to attend their regular classes and required to wear a uniform 鈥� something their peers don鈥檛 have to do.

The goal of the program is to reduce the number of students attending alternative schools and continue with their regular instruction, said Andrea Cruz, assistant superintendent of administrative services at SISD.

鈥淭he program allows students to continue with their classes and minimizes the learning and credit loss,鈥� Cruz said.

Cruz said the program is currently under review, and it is likely other schools in the district may implement something similar.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.