MOBILE, Ala. — St. Luke’s Episcopal School gathered students and parents on the evening of Sept. 30, 2019, for a presentation called “Dangers of Vaping,” as concerns about teenage e-cigarette use swept across the Gulf Coast and the country.
Medical professionals from Pulmonary Associates led the discussion at the school’s upper campus at 1400 South University Boulevard. Attendance was required for all ninth- through 12th-graders, and parents of middle school students were encouraged to come along.
‘If they really understood, they would stop’
Seventh-grader Megan McDonough said one fact from the presentation stood out to her.
“I did not know that vapes exploded, and that scares me a lot,” she said. “If they really understood what could happen to them, they would stop.”
Among the parents in the room was Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich, who said she had no role in organizing the event but was glad it was happening. “If you don’t know what’s in it, it shouldn’t be ingested into your body,” Rich said.
Rich warned that vaping was reaching students far younger than high school. “We’re seeing as early as elementary and middle school young people beginning to vape,” she said, pointing to how easily the devices are obtained and how well they disguise themselves — “it looks just like an Apple Watch, and it is a vape.”
She also reminded families where the law stands in Alabama: it is illegal for anyone under 19 to possess a vape, and illegal for stores to sell to anyone under that age.