SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — Parents should be on the lookout. Many vaping devices resemble common items your children take to school.
There are a wide variety of vape pens. A Juul is a vape pen that is about the length of a cigarette but has a USB plug-in, so it resembles a thumb-drive.
“You just pull the top off and insert it,” said AJ Sanders, a vaping research specialist at the Spokane Regional Health District.
Some e-cigarettes are designed to look like highlighters, car remotes and even prescription inhalers.
Perhaps the most unexpected vaping tool is a hoodie. Companies selling these hoodies designed one of the drawstrings to be the mouthpiece that pulls the vapor from a container hidden somewhere in the garment.
“And there are many other [types of vaping devices]. These are just a couple examples of how we progress from something that looks like a cigarette to something that looks nothing like a tobacco or nicotine-related device,” Sanders said.
Health officials say this is a problem. While Washington state law requires users to be at least 21 to purchase vaping products, these items are often sold online and easily accessible to minors.
Teachers say some children sell these products and liquids at school to other kids.
“It’s not regulated at all, and if you’re buying them from someone on the street or at school, there’s no way to know what’s in it,” Sanders said.
Many of the devices allow users to put more nicotine in them or customize them to make more vapor.
While vaping itself is already enough of a problem, doctors say modifying the pens or the liquid could intensify negative health effects.
Experts recommend talking to your children, keeping the conversation open and keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.