Hamilton County council to help 4 school districts, charter facility get vape detectors
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — Four Hamilton County school districts and a charter school in Westfield have received cash from a local group designed to prevent and reduce underage drinking and illegal drug use.
The grants will be used to install vape and e-cigarette detectors in high schools and middle schools in the Carmel Clay, Noblesville, Sheridan and Westfield Washington districts, plus the Westfield-based Options Charter School. A news release issued Monday from the Hamilton County Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs did not say which specific schools would receive the detectors, but Monica Greer, executive director of the council, told News 8 that at least four of the five recipients of a total of $27,000 in grants have already installed the vape detectors.
Noblesville Schools first installed vape detectors in 2020, as News 8 reported. Any Noblesville student who was caught vaping must was to attend a mandatory Saturday vape counseling class.
The council’s cash will allow the installation of 25 detectors in school restrooms, the release said. The detectors seek out aromas of vaping and alert school administrators.
The 2022 Indiana Youth Tobacco survey released in June collected data from more than 5,400 students in grades 6 through 12. The survey put tobacco use by Indiana youth at its lowest level in two decades, finding that 10.5% of high schoolers and 3.3% of middle schoolers reported using tobacco products.
The 2022 Indiana survey also found e-cigarette use at its lowest since 2012.
Greer says in the news release that e-cigarettes are the most used tobacco product among youth.