Nearly every time Lewis and Clark junior Olive Pete uses the restroom for its intended purpose, a peer is in the next stall vaping, blowing clouds of nicotine-laced tutti frutti vapor.
“So many teens having nicotine addictions from such early ages,” Pete said. “I think it’s going to be so very detrimental to their health.”
Restrooms are the most common sites for kids to hit their vapes, becoming a modern day “smoking corner.” To deter the practice, several Spokane-area schools installed vape detectors in restrooms in high schools and middle schools; vapor triggers an alarm and notifies staff, who attempt to catch the vaper and intervene in the addiction.
Other Washington schools may soon also have alarms in their bathrooms, paid for by the state in a bill establishing a grant program for the installation of vape detectors.
They cost just over $100,000 to install in Spokane Public Schools’ middle and high school bathrooms, some of the cost reimbursed by a recent settlement with vape manufacturer Juul.