CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — According to a report released Wednesday the state of Texas has failing grades from the American Lung Association when it comes to efforts to prevent and reduce tobacco use.
The group is calling for more laws that focus on prevention and surveillance of tobacco retailers. The report comes as CCISD held a Vaping and Health & Wellness Symposium at Mary Carroll High School to help local students and their parents understand the dangers of smoking and vaping.
The event was put on through CCISD's HOPE program which stands for Helping Others through Prevention and Education.
We see it everywhere these days, but the concern is how teens are getting a hold of vape pens.
Brenda Saavedra is a mom of a 10-year-old daughter and one of the many parents who attended the event.
"I do feel like in today's age anything is more accessible to them at this time, so much easier than back in our times, when you were just trying to get your hands on a pack of cigarettes," Saavedra said.
The topic hit close to home for CCISD parents as health experts claim vaping is being introduced to kids at a young age.
"We are seeing an epidemic of youth who are vaping in the United States and Corpus Christi is no different to that," said Dr. Maria Iyescas, the coordinator for mental health at CCISD. "We are seeing our middle schoolers, high schoolers vaping as well. One of our goals is to educate parents of the dangers and health risks."
Iyescas added there are often misconceptions that vaping is not as bad as smoking cigarettes.
"Many times it's far more dangerous," she said "One cartridge that a student can vape or an adult can vape can be equivalent to an entire pack of cigarettes, and it's also addictive."
In Texas, the legal age to obtain a nicotine vape is 21.
Statistics from 2018 show nearly 3.5 million high school students in the U.S. have used e-cigarettes.
"It has 5000 puffs, which is equivalent to 500 cigarettes," a representative with the local Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse said during a break out session at the event.
They discussed the serious risks associated with vaping and encouraged educators and parents to recognize the many ways students can conceal their vape pens which at times can resemble anything from an inhaler to a highlighter.
"They could have these items in their backpacks and you don't even realize it as an administrator or a parent," she said.
If a student is caught vaping THC in school they could face a third-degree felony.
While efforts like this symposium help educate parents, Director of Advocacy for the American Lung Association in Texas, Charlie Gagen, said the state has some work to do.
In a report released by the American Lung Association Wednesday, the state of Texas received four failing grades and one 'D' for efforts to prevent and reduce tobacco use.
"We really need state lawmakers to do more," Gagen said. "We need overall increase in funding for youth prevention programs, we need overall increase in funding for retailer compliance to make sure retailers are not selling these products to teens, and we need to make these products more expensive. We haven't raised a cigarette tax in nearly 20 years, and when you factor in inflation, that is a key way to not only reduce tobacco use but raise much needed revenue that can go to some of those programs."
He said there is a lot to be desired when it comes to getting people screened for lung cancer.
"Of those recommended to receive lung cancer screenings, the over 50, smoke 20 pack years, less than 2 percent of those people actually received a screening in the past few years," Gagen said.
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