Kentucky Safe Schools Week & Red Ribbon Week

This week, we are celebrating Kentucky Safe Schools Week & Red Ribbon Week and promoting the importance of making safe, healthy, drug-free choices. As part of this year’s efforts, we want to raise awareness about the dangers of vaping, especially for our children and teens.

Vaping devices, such as e-cigarettes and vape pens, are becoming increasingly common among young people, but they carry serious health risks. Some key points we want to highlight:

Nicotine Addiction: Many vapes contain nicotine, which can harm brain development and lead to addiction.
Harmful Chemicals: Vaping aerosols can contain harmful substances, including heavy metals and toxic chemicals.
Impact on Health: Vaping has been linked to lung damage and other serious health issues, even in young users.

We encourage you to have conversations at home by talking with your child about the risks associated with vaping. The following are resources that provide additional information:

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/e-cigarettes/youth.html

https://www.lung.org/getmedia/302f26c0-d4b1-451f-a05a-092a93183b6c/vape-conversation-guide.pdf

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/pdfs/OSH-E-Cigarettes-and-Youth-What-Parents-Need-to-Know-508.pdf

https://teen.smokefree.gov/

https://www.quitnowkentucky.org/en-us/