Marla Feistner gave a presentation to both schools in Sanborn County about the dangers of vaping and e-cigarettes. She used a Jeopardy-type game and other activities to get the information to the kids in an entertaining and engaging manner.

According to a 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 17.3 percent of high school students in South Dakota are currently using e-cigarettes, and according to a 2017 Youth Tobacco Survey, 2.5 percent of middle school students in South Dakota are using e-cigarettes. There are currently 13 cases of vape associated illnesses in South Dakota, and three of them are 17-year-old teens. As of Jan. 21, there have been 60 deaths in 27 states due to health issues from vaping. A young teen in Michigan had to have a double lung transplant due to non-reversible damage to his lungs from vaping. These statistics are shocking but also very real, and the damage to people’s bodies from vaping and e-cigarettes continues to increase.

With these statistics in hand, Sanborn County’s Health Nurse, Marla Feistner, decided to address the young people in the county about the need to stop using or to never start using e-cigarettes or vape pens. She presented to the students in Sanborn Central first on Feb. 10, and then to the students in Woonsocket on March 5. She had to reschedule her time in Woonsocket twice, due to the weather, but she was finally able to talk to them, too.

…Read on in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!