Barrington students told to avoid vaping

Former narcotics investigator asks students 'Are we going to be fooled again?'

By Josh Bickford
Posted 2/15/18

The overhead slide showed an image of brightly colored computer thumb-drives, and another slide showed two asthma inhalers.

But the speaker pacing in front of Barrington High School's freshmen …

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Barrington students told to avoid vaping

Former narcotics investigator asks students 'Are we going to be fooled again?'

Posted

The overhead slide showed an image of brightly colored computer thumb-drives, and another slide showed two asthma inhalers.

But the speaker pacing in front of Barrington High School's freshmen class told the students that not all is as it appears to be. The thumb drives, said US Attorney's Office Investigator David Neill, were actually vaporizers, and so too were the asthma inhalers. 

"They make them look like a thumb drive so you can use it without getting caught," Mr. Neill said. 

The former Rhode Island State Police narcotics investigator stopped by Barrington High School on Friday morning and offered an honest look at vaping — detailing the similarities between cigarette advertising of years ago and that of today's e-cigs and vaporizers; showing teenagers about the chemicals discovered in e-cig juice products and in marijuana; and dispelling the myths of vaping as being safer or less addictive.

Vaping, said Mr. Neill is a billion dollar industry that has grown tremendously over the last few years. And the industry's target audience, added the investigator, is teenagers.

"They want your money," he told the BHS freshmen.

High schools and middle schools across the country have been working to combat the growth of vaping among young people. At Barrington High School, the dangers of vaping is now taught as part of the 11th grade curriculum. Staff at the high school have attended presentations on vaping, and a similar program was offered to parents at the December Barrington Parents Association meeting.

Principal Joe Hurley recently sent a letter to students' parents regarding vaping. It warned of a "dangerous trend among our students" and offered parents some basic information.

"E- cigarettes, vape pens or juuls, are electronic devices that emit a vapor that is inhaled by the user," stated the letter. "The liquid solutions that are used in these devices may contain nicotine and other harmful chemicals. Vaping devices can also be used to dispense crystallized marijuana. These devices may resemble a pen, USB drive or inhaler."

Mr. Neill told freshmen at the assembly about the driving force behind vaping — money. He said the vaping industry has followed a similar marketing approach to the one cigarette executives used decades earlier. Companies told consumers that smoking was manly or glamourous, and paid celebrities and filmmakers to spread the message to the masses.

At its peak, tobacco companies were making more than $315 billion a year. But those sales came at a greater cost — last year more than 480,000 people died from smoking-related illnesses. 

Mr. Neill said that while tobacco sales and cigarette use has dropped dramatically over the years, tobacco companies have switched gears and are now heavily invested in vaping and e-cigs. Companies are now preaching a safer and "cooler" alternative to smoking, and they are marketing vaping similarly to how they marketed cigarettes. They create fruity flavors to hook young consumers and design colorful packaging to catch teenagers' attention.

Mr. Neill told the BHS freshmen that vaping companies spend a lot of money advertising vaporizers and e-cigs on social media sites, and the approach has worked.

"One in every four high school seniors is vaping or smoking," he said. "Are we going to be fooled again?"

Barrington School Resource Officer Josh Melo said vaping is not just an issue at the high school. 

"I'm starting to see it more and more at the middle school," he said. 

Officer Melo said he is working with school administrators to eliminate vaping at the schools, but cautions that more work needs to be done by parents of school children also. 

"I don't think they know enough about it," he said, adding that kids can order vaporizers and e-cigarettes and the e-cig juices online and have them delivered to their homes. 

"You need to search your kids' stuff," Officer Melo said. 

Barrington officials have done their part to push back against vaping. Earlier this year, the town council changed the age requirements for purchasing tobacco in Barrington — people must be 21 years old to purchase tobacco in Barrington, while most other towns allow the sale of tobacco to people 18 and older.

Harmful, just less harmful

Mr. Neill quieted the crowd of high school freshmen as he spoke about some of the chemicals that have been found in e-cig juice. He said tests have shown that some e-cig juice contains formaldehyde and other cancer-causing chemicals. 

He spoke about a chemical called Diacetyl, which is used as a flavor enhancer. A popcorn company had used the additive years ago, but stopped after a number of their factory workers grew sick with lung infections — the disease was later called "Popcorn lung disease."

Now vaping companies are using Diacetyle, said Mr. Neill.

Other e-cig manufacturers have been known to use lead paint or actual lead in the creation of vaporizers or e-cigs, some include fiberglass wicks or other harmful chemicals. Even the advertising for vaporizers preach that they are "less harmful" than cigarettes. 

"The companies are kind of acknowledging that they're harmful," added Mr. Neill. 

Tests have also shown that vaping companies are now adding the highly-addictive chemical nicotine to e-cig juices.

"I'm hoping you don't get fooled," said Mr. Neill. "You get to choose."

Is he really a Buddie? 

Mr. Neill also discussed the dangers of using marijuana. He said the issue has been clouded by recently-passed legislation in some states that makes marijuana legal, and, he added, there are likely some benefits to medical marijuana use.

But the investigator cautioned that the lack of regulations has proven dangerous. Mr. Neill told the Barrington teenagers that some sellers regularly mix other narcotics into marijuana, and cannabis products used with vaporizers have been shown to have dangerously high concentrations of THC.

"You never know what you're going to get," he said. 

Mr. Neill told students about an incident in Fairhaven, Mass. recently where two people had died after smoking marijuana, only to be revived by firefighters using Narcan. The marijuana cigarettes, he said, had been laced with the chemical Carfentanyl.

Mr. Neill said heavy THC use has resulted in paranoia and psychosis and is the number one reason teenagers are brought to hospital emergency rooms. He also shared a story about a South County teenager who had struggled badly with depression after he started using marijuana. The dangers surrounding edible marijuana are even greater, as people often do not feel the effects of the drug immediately and then over-consume and create bigger health problems.

Much like the cigarette industry, officials promoting the sale of marijuana have begun marketing the drug to young people. Mr. Neill showed a slide with "Buddie" — marijuana's mascot. He then showed a slide with Buddie and Joe Camel, a cartoon character used to sell a brand of cigarettes.

Students respond

The freshmen seated inside the high school auditorium on Friday morning responded to the presentation in different ways.

Some heckled. During an early part of the assembly, Mr. Neill asked a question about the flavored vaping products and whether they were designed for younger consumers or older ones. A student twice hollered out that they were for older people, which ran counter to the evidence provided in the presentation. School officials walked over to where the student was sitting and he quickly quieted down.

Some students rapped. One girl offered her own song supporting the anti-vaping message. Mr. Neill called her to the front of the auditorium where she bravely took the microphone and rolled through her rap. Students cheered her.

And some pressed for more information. A female student asked Mr. Neill for the actual cause for the emergency room visits for teens who had used marijuana. The investigator said the young people's brains were overwhelmed by the high concentrations of THC.

"They can't handle it," he said.  

Middle school hosting vaping presentation

Barrington Middle School and the PTO are planning a vaping presentation for Tuesday, March 27, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Officials are encouraging parents to come to this presentation with their children. "We believe the presentation would be appropriate for families of students in grades 5 through 12," stated a press release. In addition to the vaping program, students will also participate in a town hall style presentation on vaping during the day. 

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