Olentangy raises stakes in fight against vaping
February 19, 2019
https://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20190219/olentangy-raises-stakes-in-fight-against-vaping
By ANDREW KING THISWEEKNEWS.COM
Posted Feb 19, 2019 at 12:28 PMUpdated Feb 19, 2019 at 12:32 PM
Thanks in part to a push from high school students, Olentangy Local School District leaders are taking a closer look at ways to combat vaping.
The district hosted an event for parents Feb. 6 to discuss “the dangers of vaping.” At the event, students from a group called Clearing the Fog shared information they’ve gathered that highlights the rampant use of vaping in Olentangy schools.
The group is made up of Olentangy High School seniors Samantha Billy, Josh Gernert, Maggie Powers and JoAnn VanGorder; they formed Clearing the Fog as a class project last year.
According to Billy, the group members had “seen the way (vaping) had changed some of our friends,” and wanted to do their own research on how much vaping was happening in their school.
Late last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a report that detailed the first recent increase in tobacco use among students, largely due to a 78 percent increase in students using some type of e-cigarette.
A survey completed by Olentangy students of 277 classmates found more than half of them had tried vaping, and more than a quarter smoke e-cigarettes at least once a week.
