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Teen Vaping -- Discipline Or Addiction Treatment? A Conversation

Over 2,200 people across the country have become sick from vaping related lung injuries.

This week, Indiana Public Broadcasting's All IN invited a pediatrician, school nurse and a principal to talk about vaping. What consequences should schools enforce for students caught vaping? And what is the best way to tackle this growing crisis? This show was in partnership with Side Effects Public Media.

An estimated 1 in 4 high school students used an e-cigarette in the past 30 days, according to 2019 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Talk show guests included Sarah Bosslet, past president of the Indiana chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics; Deb Robarge, executive director of the Indiana Association of School Nurses; and Aaron Huff, principal at Benjamin Bosse High School in Evansville, Indiana. 

"I've been in practice for 12 years and I've never seen anything take hold and explode in a population like vaping has in our middle and high school students," Bosslet says. 

Many vapes look like a flash drive and have little to no smell. Bosslet reccomends talking to children as young as fifth grade about the dangers of vaping. 

Now, this issue is on the forefront of Indiana's 2020 legislative session.