Vaping Awareness

The Oxford School Counseling Department would like to bring more awareness to vaping. It is important for students and families to understand the reasons people vape, the dangers of vaping, and how to quit. We have posted some resources here and will be working on implementing a larger awareness and prevention program for the whole school, along with cessation programming for students who vape. 

Please reach out to a counselor for further information and/or support. 

Get the Facts about Vaping

Vaping is addictive.

• Vapes contain nicotine, an addictive chemical that is extremely hard to quit. 

• Nicotine is the same drug used in cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products.

• Some vape pods have as much nicotine as 20 cigarettes (a pack of cigarettes). 

• Because your brain is still developing until your mid-20s, you're more likely to become addicted to nicotine. 

Vaping can harm your body.

• It's not water vapor-- aerosol from vaping has cancer-causing chemicals. 

• Vaping has been linked to EVALI (e-cigarette, or vaping associated lung injury).

• Vapes can also contain harmful ingredients such as: 

  • • Very fine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs.

    • Flavoring such as diacetyl, a chemical linked to a serious lung disease.

    • Heavy metals such as nickel, tin, and lead.

    • Volatile organic compounds, such as benzene, which is found in car exhaust.

Vaping can harm your brain and your mental health.

• Nicotine can harm the parts of your brain that control attention and learning.

• Nicotine can change your mood and increase your risk for mood disorders.

• Life can be stressful. See tips for getting through hard times instead of using vaping to cope. 

Vaping and COVID-19

• Researchers are still learning about the link between e-cigarette use and COVID-19, but other related harms have been established:

  • Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which has several known health effects, including causing inflammation in lung tissue.

  • E-cigarettes contain acrolein, a pesticide. Acrolein can cause acute lung injury and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and may cause asthma and lung cancer – all four are potential risk factors for developing more severe COVID-19 symptoms.

  • Vaping can weaken your immune system.

All information listed in this text box was retrieved from https://www.mass.gov/service-details/get-the-facts-about-vaping.