ACWORTH
POLICE DEPARTMENT
Learn and Discuss Vaping Risks With Teens BY WAYNE DENNARD
with their Joe Camel character. Ultimately, they settled One of the problems facing our nation is drug and out of court and paid millions of dollars. alcohol addiction. As police officers, we see this on a Juul, an e-cigarette brand popular with teens, has daily basis. Often, we come in contact with people who been criticized by the FDA for marketing to teens. As a are plagued with drug or alcohol addiction, and, as a result of government pressure, the company invested $30 result, they engage in behaviors that lead them down million in an effort to prevent teen vaping. This is a good the pathway to arrest and incarceration. start, but campaigns to prevent teens from engaging in As a department, we spend a great deal of time risky behaviors are seldom as effective as the thousands reaching out to the youth of our community. I am of social media posts (often made by teens), which concerned about teens who are engaged in risky glorify these products. behavior, especially with drugs and alcohol. Most So, what can we do to protect the children in our addicts are first exposed to addictive substances as community? First, we must educate teenagers, and a large percentage start out ourselves about the risks our children by smoking cigarettes. Most addicts are accessing. We must be involved and Thankfully, fewer teens are using traditional cigarettes, but many are are first exposed investigate. As parents, we must be more concerned with protecting our children’s replacing them with vaping, which to addictive futures than we are with protecting their comes with many risks. Teens who use privacy in our homes. We must know what e-cigarettes are more likely to use tobacco substances as the different types of e-cigarettes look products, and students who use tobacco teenagers ... like, and confront our children if we find products are more likely to use other anything suspicious. We must know where substances, such as drugs and alcohol. our children spend their time and with whom. We must Since the adolescent brain is not fully developed, know how our children spend their money, and we must individuals who use drugs and alcohol in their teens are know where our children spend their time online. As more likely to develop addictions to these substances. law enforcement officers, we must commit ourselves to This becomes more concerning when we realize that identifying when teens are utilizing substances such as e-cigarettes can be used to vaporize THC oil (the active e-cigarettes and to intervene when we observe this risky ingredient in marijuana). behavior. Finally, as members of the community, we must While e-cigarettes do not utilize tobacco, research be aware of the danger that vaping poses to our youth. reveals that the heating coils in e-cigarettes release toxic It is my hope that by sharing this information, those in metals into their vapor, and one of the most harmful our community who interact with teens will take the time metals found was lead. Vaping is marketed as a safer to talk with them and help them understand the risks. alternative to traditional cigarettes. However, for teens Teens will spend hours being exposed to vaping online, who are experimenting with smoking by vaping, it can but a few minutes with a trusted adult might help them to become a gateway to other drugs. This is especially make a healthier and safer choice in their own lives. concerning since many e-cigarette companies are marketing to teenagers. E-cigarette liquids are sold in flavors that appeal to teens. The e-liquids are sold in brightly colored Wayne Dennard has served as chief since packaging, some even with cartoon depictions. In the 2012 and has lived in this community for 1990s, the R.J. Reynolds company, which produces more than 40 years. Camel cigarettes, was accused of marketing to children
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AROUND ACWORTH | October 2021
