2 Students Hospitalized After Vaping Before School: Principal

SILVER SPRING, MD — Two students at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring were hospitalized after using a vaping device Monday, according to Montgomery County school officials.

Vaping refers to electronic devices, including e-cigarettes, vape pens, and Juul (a popular e-cigarette brand). It works when the device heats a liquid, such as nicotine, and subsequently turns into vapor that is inhaled.

In a letter to parents and guardians, Principal Renay Johnson said two students "were under the influence and ingested THC, an illegal drug, through a vaping device that they used prior to coming to school."

THC — or tetrahydrocannabinol — is a major psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that gets users high.

At the beginning of the school day, one of the students became unresponsive, Johnson said, and a second student went to the nurse feeling sick. The school's nurse called 9-1-1.

Both students were taken to Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring and were later discharged and released to their families, Johnson wrote.

Monday's medical emergency comes at a time when county health officials are searching for new ways to keep vaping devices away from children.

"Vaping can be extremely dangerous for adolescents and young adults due to ongoing brain development," Dr. Travis Gayles, a county health officer, said last year. "Vaping devices can contain high levels of nicotine which can impair the development of critical areas of the brain needed for high cognitive and emotional functioning."

"We are concerned that other substances such as marijuana, synthetic cannabinoids and other liquids laced with more potent substances are being used," Gayles added. "These can cause more acute symptoms such as loss of consciousness and respiratory depression."

In the letter, Johnson said vaping devices can be hidden in plain sight and urged parents to talk to their children about the dangers of smoking.

"Vaporizers/e-cigarettes come in all different shapes. Some common styles look like a thick pen, a stylus for an iPad, a flash drive, or a small flask with a round chimney coming off the top. The devices are very small and can easily be hidden on a person or blend in with normal backpack items," Johnson wrote. "Like cigarettes, stores cannot sell vaping items to people under the age of 18. However, students can purchase the devices online or buy from older siblings, friends, or family members. I encourage you to discuss this issue with your child and to engage them in an honest conversation about the negative effects of vaping."