Health

Washington, Others Will Treat e-Cigarettes as Drug Paraphernalia

Published

11 years ago

February 20, 2015

This June 12, 2013, file photo shows a person posing with an electronic cigarette, or e-cigarette. Electronic cigarettes have surpassed traditional smoking in popularity among teens, the governments annual drug use survey finds. Even as tobacco smoking by teens dropped to new lows, use of e-cigarettes reached levels that surprised researchers. The findings marked the surveys first attempt to measure the use of e-cigarettes by people that young. Nearly 9 percent of 8th graders said they'd used an e-cigarette in the previous month, while just 4 percent reported smoking a traditional cigarette, said the report being released Tuesday by the National Institutes of Health. (AP Photo / Tim Ireland, PA)

This June 12, 2013, file photo shows a person posing with an electronic cigarette, or e-cigarette. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland, PA)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Some schools are getting tougher on e-cigarettes, even punishing possession of the devices more harshly than regular cigarettes.

The devices, which heat a nicotine solution to create a vapor instead of burning tobacco, have passed traditional smokes in popularity among teenagers. Schools are clamping down because e-cigarettes, sometimes also known as vaporizers, can also be used for illegal substances like marijuana.

Most schools have folded e-cigarettes into their anti-tobacco policies, which typically punish students with detention, a letter home and sometimes a tobacco education class.

But other schools in states including North Carolina, New Jersey, Washington and Connecticut, are grouping the devices in with bongs and pipes, meaning students could face long suspensions and required drug tests and have possession of drug paraphernalia marked on their school record.

“Our goal is to reduce access and discourage use on campus,” said Sarah D’Annolfo, dean of students at The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut.

The co-ed boarding school amended its policy this school year to have e-cigarettes fall under its drug and alcohol policy. A disciplinary committee made up of faculty and students evaluate violations case-by-case, but they could result in a weeklong suspension and a mark on their record rather than a chat with the dean and school doctor and parental notification.

“It definitely sparks conversation within the school community about e-cigarette use and the possible dangers and the possible benefits,” D’Annolfo said. “That conversation alone is a hugely important learning opportunity.”

According to an annual government survey of more than 41,000 students, e-cigarettes have surpassed traditional smoking in popularity among teens.

Some 16 percent of 10th-graders had tried an e-cigarette in the past month, and 17 percent of high school seniors. Regular smoking continued inching down, to 7 percent of 10th-graders and 14 percent of 12th-graders. However, the survey didn’t ask about repeat use, or whether teens were just experimenting with something new.

Most agree it should be illegal to sell e-cigarettes to kids, and most states have banned such sales. But health and public policy experts can’t say for certain whether the electronic devices are a good thing or a bad thing overall, whether they help smokers kick the habit or are a gateway to ordinary paper-and-tobacco cigarettes.

Nevertheless, companies vying for a stake in the e-cigarette business have revived marketing tactics that helped hook generations of Americans on regular smokes. The TV commercials, race-car sponsorships and candy-flavored nicotine liquid all raise fears that makers are targeting young people to take up an addictive habit.

Last April, the Food and Drug Administration for the first time proposed regulations for e-cigarettes. They would include banning sales to minors and requiring health warning labels. The rules wouldn’t immediately ban the wide array of flavors or styles of e-cigarettes or curb marketing.

Gregory Conley, president of the e-cigarette advocacy group American Vaping Association, said minors shouldn’t have or use e-cigarettes but it’s “pure over-reaction” to punish students caught with them more than students who have regular cigarettes.

Still, the array of possible uses of e-cigarettes has spurred caution among school officials.

“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.

Some parents think such measures are too harsh. In Parsippany, New Jersey, Kathleen Leone refused to let school officials drug test her 16-year-old daughter after she was caught with her older brother’s e-cigarette in her pocketbook, leading to a four-day suspension.

“I’m not going to sit here and tell you that she should have it, but you know, she’s 16, and 16-year-olds do stupid things,” said Leone, who’s also a teacher. “In her record it says she was suspended for refusal to take (a drug test), and that’s something that could affect her chances getting into a university.”

But the concerns raised by school districts may not be too far-fetched.

Devices that look exactly like e-cigarettes but have a compartment that can be filled with substances like concentrated forms of marijuana are sold online and in stores across the country. In states like Colorado and Washington state, where marijuana is legal for adults over 21, stores not only sell the hash oil itself but sells it in pre-filled cartridges.

Traditional e-cigarettes also are being modified by users for use with the oil, illegal in most of the country.

Much like using an e-cigarette with liquid nicotine, the vapor – along with any odor – produced dissipates quickly. Still, some argue most people could smell the difference.

The National Association of State Boards of Education doesn’t have an official policy on e-cigarettes, but Executive Director Kristen Amundson said she believes the group would recommend that the devices be treated as tobacco products. But if a school district thinks they have a particular problem with the devices, then sending a really clear message may be a good idea, she said.

“But it is always better if school administrators use good judgment and discretion,” said Amundson, a former Virginia legislator and teacher who also served on the school board of northern Virginia’s Fairfax County. “That’s how we end up not having to hear a case of a kindergartner who brought a little paring knife to school suddenly being recommended for expulsion for bringing a weapon to school.”

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COMMENTARY: The Biases We Don’t See — Preventing AI-Driven Inequality in Health Care

For decades, medicine promoted false assumptions about Black bodies. Black patients were told they had lower lung capacity, and medical devices adjusted their results accordingly. That practice was not broadly reversed until 2021. Up until 2022, a common medical formula used to measure how well a person’s kidneys were working automatically gave Black patients a higher score simply because they were Black. On paper, this made their kidneys appear healthier than they truly were. As a result, kidney disease was sometimes detected later in Black patients, delaying critical treatment and referrals.

Published

3 weeks ago

February 10, 2026

Oakland Post

Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, M.D (D-San Diego). File photo.

By Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, M.D., Special to California Black Media Partners

Technology is sold to us as neutral, objective, and free of human flaws. We are told that computers remove emotion, bias, and error from decision-making. But for many Black families, lived experience tells a different story. When technology is trained on biased systems, it reflects those same biases and silently carries them forward.

We have seen this happen across multiple industries. Facial recognition software has misidentified Black faces at far higher rates than White faces, leading to wrongful police encounters and arrests. Automated hiring systems have filtered out applicants with traditionally Black names because past hiring data reflected discriminatory patterns. Financial algorithms have denied loans or offered worse terms to Black borrowers based on zip codes and historical inequities, rather than individual creditworthiness. These systems did not become biased on their own. They were trained on biased data.

Healthcare is not immune.

These biases were not limited to software or medical devices. Dangerous myths persisted that Black people feel less pain, contributing to undertreatment and delayed care. These beliefs were embedded in modern training and practice, not distant history. Those assumptions shaped the data that now feeds medical technology. When biased clinical practices form the basis of algorithms, the risk is not hypothetical. The bias can be learned, automated, and scaled.

For us in the Black community, this creates understandable fear and mistrust. Many families already carry generational memories of medical discrimination, from higher maternal mortality to lower life expectancy to being dismissed or unheard in clinical settings. Adding AI biases could make our community even more apprehensive about the healthcare system.

As a physician, I know how much trust patients place in the healthcare system during their most vulnerable moments. As a Black woman, I understand how bias can shape experiences in ways that are often invisible to those who do not live them. As a mother of two Black children, I think constantly about the systems that will shape their health and well-being. As a legislator, I believe it is our responsibility to confront emerging risks before they become widespread harm.

That is why I am the author of Senate Bill (SB) 503. This bill aims to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare by requiring developers and users of AI systems to identify, mitigate, and monitor biased impacts in their outputs to reduce racial and other disparities in clinical decision-making and patient care.

Currently under consideration in the State Assembly, SB 503 was not written to slow innovation. In fact, I encourage it. But it is our duty must ensure that every tool we in the healthcare field helps patients rather than harms them.

The health of our families depends on it.

About the Author

Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson (D–San Diego) is a physician and public health advocate representing California’s 39th Senate District.

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As California Hits Aging Milestone, State Releases Its Fifth Master Plan for Aging

“California’s Master Plan for Aging started a powerful movement that is shaping the future of aging in our state for generations to come,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement, calling the initiative a “future-forward” model delivering real results for older adults, people with disabilities, and their families.

Published

4 weeks ago

February 9, 2026

Oakland Post

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By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

On Jan. 27, California released its Fifth Master Plan for Aging Annual Report,titled “Focusing on What Matters Most,” outlining the state’s progress and priorities as its population rapidly grows older.

The report, issued by the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS), provides updates on the Master Plan for Aging’s “Five Bold Goals”: housing, health, inclusion and equity, caregiving, and affordability.

The report comes as Californians aged 60 and older now outnumber those under 18 for the first time, a demographic shift expected to accelerate over the next decade.

Launched in 2021, the Master Plan for Aging takes a “whole-of- government” and “whole-of-society” approach, coordinating state agencies, local governments, community organizations, and private partners. The annual report highlights significant milestones, including more than 100 California communities joining AARP’s Age-Friendly Network and $4 million in state funding awarded to local organizations to develop aging and disability action plans in 30 communities statewide.

The report also underscores California’s leadership at the national level, noting that dozens of states have followed its example and that federal legislation inspired by the plan was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate in December 2025.

CalHHS Secretary Kim Johnson emphasized the plan’s focus on equity and resilience amid ongoing challenges.

“The Master Plan for Aging continues to provide a vision, a focus, and a platform for collaboration,” Johnson said. “Equity is at the center of all that we do.”

Looking ahead, the report notes that by 2030, one in four Californians will be age 60 or older, positioning the Master Plan for Aging as a central framework for meeting the state’s long-term social, economic, and health needs.

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Candidates Vying for Governor’s Seat Debate at Ruth Williams–Bayview Opera House in San Francisco

The gubernatorial debate participants included Antonio Villaraigosa, former Los Angeles mayor; Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor; Betty Yee, former California state controller; Xavier Becerra, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and attorney general of California; Steve Hilton, political commentator and political adviser; Tom Steyer, entrepreneur, and Tony Thurmond, California’s superintendent of public instruction.

Published

4 weeks ago

February 9, 2026

Oakland Post

The gubernatorial debate was hosted by KTVU’s Greg Lee, KTTV’s Marla Tellez and KTVU’s Andre Senior. The candidates are (l.-r.): Xavier Becerra, Steve Hilton, Matt Mahan, Tom Steyer, Tony Thurmond, Antonio Villaraigosa, and Betty Yee.

By Carla Thomas

On Tuesday, Feb. 3, seven candidates took the stage at the historic Ruth Williams–Bayview Opera House in San Francisco for the gubernatorial debate, hosted by the Black Action Alliance (BAA) in partnership with KTVU and sister station KTTV Fox 11 in Los Angeles.

For many voters, it marked a first opportunity to hear directly from several candidates seeking to lead the nation’s most populous state.

Crucial topics and issues addressed throughout the debate included housing, crime, immigration, climate change, health care and homelessness.

The debate was moderated by KTVU political reporter Greg Lee alongside KTVU’s Andre Senior and KTTV Fox 11’s Marla Tellez.

Candidates also addressed inflation and the rising costs across the state, impacting everything from groceries to childcare and health care.

Thurmond vowed to generate 2.3 million units of housing by placing 12 units on each parcel of available land in the 58 counties of California. Steyer agreed that billionaires should pay their fair share of taxes.

Hilton wanted to cut taxes, help working-class families, and end the Democrats “climate crusade and insane regulations.”

Yee offered a more transparent governmental approach with accountability, given the state’s debt.

Gonzalez said, “This debate was a great way to see who has great ideas and who has substance.”

“It’s important to have the debate within a community that requires the most,” said business leader Linda Fadekye.

Attendees included State Controller Malia Cohen, representatives of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, the National Coalition of 100 Black Men, the San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce, and Black Women Organized for Political Action, among others.

Event host, the Black Action Alliance (BAA) was established to amplify the voices of the Bay Area’s Black community, whose perspectives have too often been overlooked in politics and public policy.

Loren Taylor, CEO of BAA, said it was important to bring the event to the Bayview in San Francisco and shared his organization’s mission.

“The Black Action Alliance (BAA) stands for practical, community-driven solutions that strengthen public safety, address homelessness, support small businesses, expand affordable housing, and ensure access to quality education—issues at the heart of the Black experience in the Bay Area,” said Taylor.

California’s primary election will take place on June 2 and the general election will take place on Nov. 3.