- Developing strategies to increase awareness in students, their families and the community at large.
- Developing strategies to increase education, K-12 and beyond, about the realities and potential dangers of vaping.
- Working with law enforcement to develop coherent strategies to deal with the school-level and legal consequences of using vaping materials.
In the video, Schofield said possession of vaping materials on school grounds is not allowed, but that hasn't curbed the problem.
"It is against the code of conduct for students to be using vapes and it's against the law for students to have these [products] if they're under a certain age, so that is an issue in and of itself," Schofield said.
He pointed out that the Hall County School District had made great strides in quashing the use of tobacco on campus, but he said those gains have been nearly erased because of the popularity of e-cigarettes among teens.
Schofield said vaping has led to almost weekly medical emergencies on campuses across the county.
"The incredibly large amounts of nicotine in these vapes is one reason," Schofield said. "There are countries that have limits on the amount of nicotine allowed [in a vape] that are one-third of what is allowed in this country."
He said several students have had adverse reactions to the amount of nicotine, but there's a more serious issue,
"We have drug dealers that have figured out that it's very easy to put illegal substances into vapes," Schofield said.
He said many of the products are imported from other countries and they've been found to have harmful products that have not been tested in the United States.
Schofield said the bottom line is many students are becoming ill because of vaping and it's time for the school system to take the lead on putting a stop to the practice.
The first meeting of the district's ad hoc committee is set for Tuesday, Feb. 5.
