27 August 2023 , 21:56
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As vaping booms in popularity in schools, parents are warned that illegal sellers are disguising vape pens as school supplies.
Innocent highlighters, USB drives, and ballpoint pens are not what they may seem, in fact, many of these are contraband vapes in disguise.
Each device contains 50 milligrams of nicotine, equivalent to 50 cigarettes -which is illegal in most European countries.
The vape pens are being sold on the Internet and black market and come from overseas, according to the New York Association of Convenience Stores.
NYACS President Kent Sopris said: “These predatory overseas products are clearly targeted to kids and intentionally manufactured to look like school supplies to evade detection from teachers and parents.”
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Each device contains 50 milligrams of nicotine, equivalent to 50 cigarettes (highlightvape/Instagram)Many of these vape pens mimic sweet flavours including mango, strawberry banana and blueberry ice.
This news comes after data revealed that 2.5 million middle and high schoolers reported current or past e-cigarette use.
NYACS is urging parents and teachers to be on the lookout to prevent the dangerous devices from getting into the hands of their children.
Stefan Bjes, a patrol sergeant with a police department in Chicago’s suburbs who also served as a school resource officer, warned these illegal and unregulated devices are driving the youth vaping epidemic.
Highlighters, USB drives, and ballpoint pens are being disguised as vape pens (highlightvape/Instagram)He told Fox News: “Disposable vapes in kid-enticing flavoUrs are illegal in the United States, yet are still widely available and criminally trafficked in stores nationwide.”
Bjes said the vapes are coming in from China and are “Completely unregulated.
“Since they are unregulated, they could contain dangerous substances that can cause long-term damage to users.
“There is no way of knowing their nicotine content or what else may be in them. We know the Chinese manufacturers of these illegal disposable vapes are also making and trafficking fentanyl to the United States.”
The sales of e-cigarettes spiked by nearly 50% between 2020 and 2022 (highlightvape/Instagram)The sales of e-cigarettes spiked by nearly 50% between 2020 and 2022, according to the CDC.
Bjes added: “Parents everywhere should remain diligent to ensure their children aren’t using these dangerous illegal vapes and that their local authorities are taking action to get them off store shelves.”
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CDC figures claimed at least 2.6million US children are frequently using e-cigarettes, this spiked what was becoming a downward trend in 2019, by 24 per cent - a jump of 500,000 young people vaping.
Elf bars proved the most popular, with 55 per cent opting for these colourful and super strong sources of nicotine
The vast majority of children, 85 percent, had used the flavoUred e-cigarettes that federal regulators are so keen to crack down on after concerns they are madE deliberately appealing to children.