Statewide Iowa — Before the holiday break, state officials distributed new resources to help Iowa schools respond to the “vaping” epidemic. The latest data shows 29 percent of Iowa 11th graders admit they use an electronic cigarette DAILY and experts say adults often do not know what the devices look like.
That’s Melissa Walker of the Iowa Department of Education who works with school nurses throughout the state. Walker’s agency and the Iowa Department of Public Health have developed a webinar for teachers and school nurses. It outlines the illnesses students who vape tend to have and the various devices that are used to vape. Some look like watches, with a time and date display. Others are fashioned to resemble flash drives or highlighters.
Posters are also being distributed to Iowa schools — to show students that one vaping pod can have as much nicotine as 20 cigarettes.
