Oklahoma has a ban on tobacco products for public and private school buildings and vehicles.  After conducting an interim study this fall, Owasso’s state Sen. J.J. Dossett has filed legislation for the 2019 session that would extend that ban to vaping. 

He says when they had their interim study on vaping, he heard from educators, administrators and parents who were very concerned about how pervasive it’s become on school property. Kids, Dossett says, think it’s safe for them to use, when the study they performed says otherwise. With all these serious health concerns, Dossett says it just makes sense to extend the school tobacco ban to vaping.

Dossett says under Senate Bill 33, the Tobacco-Free Schools Act, which bans tobacco products in all forms, would extended the ban to vapor products, including the noncombustible devices as well as the cartridges whether or not they contain nicotine.

In addition to the harm nicotine can cause to children and teens, Dossett says there are other chemicals in the aerosol from e-cigarettes that are also alarming.  Diacetyl, which is used in flavoring vaping products, has been linked to an irreversible and serious lung condition called obliterative bronchiolitis. The aerosol also contains other chemicals and heavy metals.  Further studies are being conducted to determine the impact of these materials on the user and for those exposed to secondhand vapors.

Owasso Sen. Dossett says if you look at the studies coming out from the Federal Drug Administration and the U.S. Surgeon General’s office, there is clear evidence that vaping is harmful to adolescents. The studies show that it gets kids addicted to nicotine which can harm their still-developing brains.  That, Dossett says, is a fact that nicotine can affect decision making and impulse control.

Dossett believes his bill will close the vaping loophole so these products cannot be used in schools.