FORT MYERS, Fla. — A sixth death from a lung related disease has been reported due to vaping. This one in Kansas. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent out a warning telling people to stop vaping.
The growing dangers of e- cigarettes prompting the Lee County School District to address the issue head on. New research shows vaping among teens is not just a problem in Lee county, but across the country. "Our statistics from 2018 show out of middle school and high schoolers one third of them tried vaping at one point of their life," said Kathy Wynne, a prevention specialist."
According to the 2018 Florida Youth Substance abuse survey, the number of Lee County teens who reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days was more than 10 times the rate of those who used traditional cigarettes and 35 percent of high school and middle school students in Lee County say they have tried vaping . The goal of tonight's meeting was to reveal the harmful effects that vaping can have on students and provide a more detailed account of the chemicals in e- cigarettes. "When vaping first started it was the idea it was harmless water vaping or flavor vaping and its actually aerosol, so we want parents to know about the chemicals in vaping," said Wynne.
Robyn Locke who has a middle school student says recent news reports on the number of deaths linked to vaping has her on high alert.
"It's always been a concern and we're trying to look out for the youngest one, trying to prevent any addiction and know what the different things are," said Locke.
She says tonight's meeting was an alarming wake-up call on how e-cigarettes is a widespread epidemic and teens should avoid them.
"How out there it is, how it's happening and all the ways they can get their hands on it."
