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Schools Start Treating e-Cigarettes as Drug Paraphernalia

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A February 15, 2015 New York Times article reported that some schools are getting tougher on e-cigarettes, even punishing possession of the devices more harshly than regular cigarettes.

Schools are clamping down because e-cigarettes, sometimes also known as vaporizers, can also be used for illegal substances like marijuana.”We don’t know if it’s vapor or some kind of hashish oil or if it’s some kind of illegal substance,” said Anne Garrett, superintendent of Haywood County Schools in western North Carolina, where the policies were changed this month to treat the devices as drug paraphernalia.

According to an annual government survey of more than 41,000 students, e-cigarettes have surpassed traditional smoking in popularity among teens. The full news article is available here