City of Coates issued the following announcement on Dec. 16.
Dakota County Public Health, schools and several community partners are sharing their best ways to combat the growing youth vaping epidemic. Their latest discussion came during the Vaping in Schools event Dec. 5 in Lakeville, attended by administrators and staff from all nine Dakota County school districts as well as county staff and local nonprofit representatives.
“We're seeing an increasing number of injuries associated with vaping across the country and here at home," said Bonnie Brueshoff, director of Dakota County Public Health. “Dakota County will continue to provide top-notch technical assistance, consultation and training to school and community partners to ensure that our workforce, schools and others who serve youth are equipped with relevant and current data, tools and resources."
According to the 2019 Minnesota Student Survey, 1 in 4 Dakota County 11th-graders reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. Among eighth-graders, 10% vaped in the past 30 days. The survey also indicated that Minnesota youth are not aware of the health risks of vaping products with 76% of 11th-graders saying there is either no, slight or a moderate risk to using e-cigarettes.
“The collaboration among Dakota County school districts and organizations to share evidence-based interventions, prevention strategies and sound policies is more important now more than ever," said Lisa Holien, student services coordinator at Lakeville School District.
Amid a rise in vaping-related deaths, and the State of Minnesota's recent lawsuit against the nation's leading maker of e-cigarettes, Juul Labs, Dakota County and its partners have been taking action to create awareness about the dangers of vaping. Dakota County Public Health recently awarded five school districts with grants to address youth vaping use. The schools have been able to select from a wide range of prevention strategies in order to tailor responses to their students. Funding is provided through the Minnesota Department of Health's Statewide Health Improvement Partnership.
As of December, e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury cases have been reported in all 50 states and 2,291 patients have been hospitalized. There have been 48 deaths confirmed in 25 states, including Minnesota, and the median age of patients is 24 years old.
Vaping products entered the United States marketplace around 2007. Since 2014, they have been the most commonly used nicotine product among middle school and high school students. The U.S. surgeon general advises that there is no safe level of nicotine for youth.
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