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Special presentations Friday target vaping at Hardin County schools

Hardin County public schools are hosting “Vaping Me Crazy” presentations for students and the community on Friday, Feb. 24.
Director of Schools Michael Davis said the district is trying to educate students about the harmful effects caused by vaping from e-cigarettes.
“Vaping among youth is a problem not only in Hardin County, but across the nation. We want to educate our students on the dangers of vaping for two reasons: The first, is because we care about them, and the second, is we are hoping that once our students see the danger of vaping, many, if not all, will stop vaping,” he explained.
“Vaping Me Crazy” is an educational drug use prevention program created by the Murfreesboro, Tennessee-based Steered Straight organization.
Speakers will engage students by teaching them about the real life health consequences of vaping.
Vaping involves inhaling and exhaling vapor containing nicotine and flavoring produced by a device known as an e-cigarette. There are various brand names of e-cigarettes, the most popular being JUUL.
According the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, more than 2.5 million middle and high school students in the U.S. reported using e-cigarettes. Nearly 85% of those youth used flavored e-cigarettes and more than half used disposable e-cigarettes.
According to “Vaping Me Crazy,” many students are not aware they are inhaling nicotine when vaping, which is concerning since each pod used in an e-cigarette can be equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes.
Medical experts report common side effects of vaping include coughing, dizziness, sleepiness, shortness of breath and heart palpitations. Long term effects can include oral and lung cancer, popcorn lung, nicotine addiction, strokes and heart attacks.
Other dangers health and law officials fear is kids using liquid THC, a genetically modified, commercialized, synthetic drug containing a super-high potency THC. Some ingest it without really understanding what it may do to their brain and body.
The “Vaping Me Crazy” presentations will address these issues and more. The event’s speaker will also discuss methods to help students quit vaping.
The presentations are for students in grades 4-12 and are scheduled during the school day at Hardin County High School and Middle School.
Davis added there will also be a special presentation for all of those concerned about the problems with vaping.
The “Vaping Me Crazy” presentation open to the public takes place at the HCMS gym at 3:30 p.m.
“We encourage parents that are concerned about vaping to attend and learn about the dangers of using e-cigarettes. Vaping is an issue that the school system and parents will have to partner together in order to eliminate,” Davis said.

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