Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Vaping 'Is Our Demon': Where E-Cigarettes Help Adults Kick A Habit, Students Are Getting Hooked
The student had been caught vaping in school three times before he sat in the vice principal鈥檚 office at Cape Elizabeth High School in Maine this winter and shamefacedly admitted what by then was obvious. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 stop,鈥 he told the vice principal, Nate Carpenter. So Mr. Carpenter asked the school nurse about getting the teenager nicotine gum or a patch, to help him get through the school day without violating the rules prohibiting vaping. (Zernike, 4/2)
At Northern High School in Dillsburg, Pa., Principal Steve Lehman鈥檚 locked safe, which once contained the occasional pack of confiscated cigarettes, is now filled with around 40 devices that look like flash drives. The device is called a Juul and it is a type of e-cigarette that delivers a powerful dose of nicotine, derived from tobacco, in a patented salt solution that smokers say closely mimics the feeling of inhaling cigarettes. It has become a coveted teen status symbol and a growing problem in high schools and middle schools, spreading with a speed that has taken teachers, parents and school administrators by surprise. (Chaker, 4/2)