An email flyer sent to parents last week by Mr. Nelson confirmed what most students already know to be true: vaping and e-cigarette usage is starting to become a concern here at Liberty.

The flyer, titled “E-Cigarettes and Vaping, an LHS Health Update” is the first public response seen from the administration in regards to a number of recent incidents involving e-cigarettes here at school. The flyer addressed the fact that electronic cigarettes emit an almost odorless aerosol, making them easy to conceal, and hard to detect for staff.

Because electronic cigarettes often contain nicotine, a controlled substance, possession and/or use of an electronic cigarette falls under section 17 of the Student Misconduct and Disciplinary Consequences handbook, and punishment usually results in suspension.

In short, electronic cigarettes are not allowed at school, whether they are being used or not. Among the disciplinary consequences, vaping has health consequences as well.

“Popcorn lung is a side effect of vaping, as is the possibility of nicotine addiction. Nobody is immune to any of the side effects, no matter what age you are,” Nurse Thomason said.

She is a firm believer that although we know of these already bad side effects, electronic cigarettes have not been around long enough for the truly bad health effects to be uncovered through research.

“I’ve seen multiple kids for a drug assessment here in the nurse’s’ office who have admittedly used electronic cigarettes, and we’ve found that they may be leading kids to try more hardcore things than nicotine,” Nurse Thomason said.

As for where kids are using electronic cigarettes in school, its become a general consensus that most at-school usage is occurring in the bathrooms, where there is no teacher supervision.

“I’ve seen a couple kids [use an electronic cigarette] at school, especially in the bathroom where there’s no staff and they can be out of sight in the stalls,” said senior Tito Plaza.

Just because it seems easy to break these rules, it’s important that students remember them, and stay health conscious about vaping.