Vaping among kids or teenagers is not a new concern, but since the start of the year, several Oneida County students have had to leave school and go to the hospital after vaping, according to the Oneida County Sheriff's Office.

What You Need To Know

  • The number of students hospitalized after vaping has increased since the start of the year, according to law enforcement

  • Oneida County has enlisted the support of school resource officers in districts throughout the county

  • Law enforcement wants schools, parents and businesses to be vigilant about teen vaping

“I was up in a couple different school districts, and vaping was prominent, but it wasn’t as prominent as it is now,” said Oneida County Sheriff Sgt. Carey Phair, who was a school resource officer from 2016 through last year.

Since the start of 2022, several students at different schools throughout Oneida County have had to be hospitalized after vaping, according to the Oneida County Sheriff's Office.

“It’s getting to a point where it could be considered serious,” said Phair.

Phair said the sheriff’s office has school resource officers in three schools and special patrol officers in almost every school district in Oneida County, but catching a student vaping isn’t always easy.

“It’s hard to monitor because most times, kids are sneaky about it,” Phair said. “They’ll put it in their pocket, carry it throughout the school and then use the bathroom, whether it’s at lunch or just leaving classrooms to use the bathroom or restroom.”

Phair said school policies don’t allow nicotine products, but that isn’t stopping kids.

When it comes to the law, he said, “possession of a vape is just like cigarettes. You can’t buy them until you’re 21 years old, but there’s nothing in there saying you can’t possess them, which is our issue.”

New York passed a law in 2019 that raised the purchasing age from 18 to 21.

Phair said another issue is the presence of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

“Vaping is fairly new,” he said. “You don’t know the whole, all the chemicals are in there. You don’t know everything about it.”

The Oneida County Sheriff’s Office has a program where they go with minors to spot-check stores to help address the problem.

Phair said several groups need to step up to help stop vaping among students, adding that school districts should create programs to help students struggling with vaping.

“Parents should be monitoring what their kids are taking in, the schools need to continue to monitor the vaping, monitor where it is being used and do things there. The sales obviously, there’s an obligation to the people that are selling this to minors or the people that are getting this to minors,” said Phair.