star arrow-up arrow-left arrow-right close arrow-down search check-mark plus minus avatar calendar delete edit phone E-Cigs Pinellas Park Subscribe to our newsletter!CLEARWATER — Electronic cigarettes are gaining admittance to places that ban other types of smoking, including businesses, bars and restaurants; but Pinellas County school leaders want to keep them — and their potentially harmful side effects — off school grounds and away from students.Tuesday, School Board members will discuss including e-cigarettes and similar devices into existing policies that prohibit tobacco and nicotine use on school property and at school-sponsored events.The issue came to light during a recent expulsion hearing for an 18-year-old high school student who smoked an e-cigarette at school.The student ended up being expelled for unrelated reasons, but School Board members began to question their stance on the new products.

The school district also began receiving calls about school policies on the devices as they became more popular, said Mary Beth Corace, Pinellas County Schools’ director of strategic planning and policy.Most Florida school districts have banned e-cigarettes or are in the process of doing so, and policymakers across the country have advised schools to ban them, Corace said.The decision not only protects student health, as e-cigarettes still release nicotine into the air, but also helps administrators keep better track of students during the school day and ensures students aren’t simply using them to get around smoking bans, Corace said.“Administrators have to watch students at all times of the day, and to have these devices on school grounds that are barely distinguishable from real cigarettes or may or may not contain nicotine makes that difficult, especially in large high school settings,” Corace said.“These really are tobacco-using products; the only difference is that they aren’t lit.” Federal law prohibits smoking in any kindergarten, elementary or secondary school, and Florida law adds chewing or ingesting tobacco in any way to the list.

The ban also extends to all owned, rented or leased school facilities and vehicles and to school events, such as dances and football games, whether or not they happen on school grounds.Though e-cigarettes are more commonly used to help smokers kick the habit, the battery-powered devices contain a nicotine solution and atomizer that allows users to inhale and exhale a vapor that, just like a regular cigarette, could expose students to second-hand smoke.e cigarette muzillacNot only do e-cigarettes look like the real thing, with some manufacturers putting a red light at the end to simulate burning paper, but most also give users a rush of nicotine.e cigarette nearThe design is meant to simulate the entire experience of smoking, from holding a cigarette to breathing out vapor, but that also makes it distracting and not conducive to a healthy learning environment, said School Board member Robin Wikle.e cigarette order canada

“I guess it’s the mom in me that thinks that if they’re using e-cigarettes they must be trying to stop smoking, and that’s a very positive thing; but as a rule-setting School Board member, I know we can’t make any exceptions for anything tobacco-related on school property,” Wikle said.e cigarette promotions“We have to send clear and consistent messages on what’s acceptable and what’s not, so I would support this policy,” Wikle said she did not know whether Nicorette patches, gum and other products that release small amounts of nicotine to help people quit smoking would also fall under the ban.e cigarette riverside caIt would be extremely difficult to recognize if a student was wearing a Band-Aid-like patch, let alone why, she said.e cigarette pos

As long as those products are being used as intended and don’t pose any risks to others, such as second-hand smoke, the school district wouldn’t ban aids that are “truly a support to individuals trying to stop smoking,” Corace said.Time is allotted for the public to address this and other issues at the School Board meeting Tuesday at 5 p.m.in the School Administration Building, 301 Fourth St. S.W.ST. PETERSBURG - On one end of Vapor Road, shop owner Lisa Brothers talked with a customer about different electronic cigarette vaporizers.On the other, two tourists - a mother and daughter from New York - stood at three tables filled with 150 colorful vials of "e-juice," comparing notes on the flavors they'd tried."Try voodoo, try voodoo!"said a little girl with the pair, as the women traded puffs of many of the nicotine-laced juices, which come in flavors such as Snickers, hazelnut coffee and pi�a colada.Sales of electronic cigarettes are surging across the country and in Pinellas County, driven by their increased visibility in the market, people's desire to quit using tobacco products and convenience - You can "vape" almost anywhere, and it doesn't make you smell bad.

In 2011, about 21 percent of adult smokers said they had used e-cigarettes, up from 10 percent the year before, the federal Centers for Disease Control reported this year.E-cigarette sales are expected to hit $1 billion this year, doubling 2012's sales, according to the Wall Street Journal.That trend is evident locally.The Asylum Sights and Sounds record shop on Central Avenue has been selling e-cigarettes for five years and has seen a gradual increase in sales that has picked up recently, store manager John Harris said.E-cigarettes can now be bought at flea markets, convenience stores, malls, online, tobacco and specialty shops.Even some restaurants, such as Engine No9 downtown, are selling them.Stores specializing in e-cigarettes have been popping up, too, including Vapor Road, which Brothers opened about a month ago on Tyrone Boulevard, and Lizard Juice, which opened in Seminole in October, added a St. Petersburg location a month ago and plans to expand into Clearwater soon."At first, it was a little slow to get going; but after a few months, we just started doubling each month, sales-wise," said Nick Schaeperklaus, a partner with Lizard Juice.

"Now we have a UPS-sized truck wrapped with our logo."Even the big tobacco companies are taking notice.Last month, the Altria Group, which makes Marlboro, announced plans to start producing and selling e-cigarettes in August.E-cigarettes, which have been on the market since 2004, are battery-powered devices that convert liquid into a vapor for people to inhale.The liquid consists of nicotine often dissolved in propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin and with added flavoring.It lets the user inhale a hit of nicotine, as with a cigarette, but it doesn't produce smoke or ash or a lingering smell.A 10-mililiter jar of e-juice can last a user as long as a couple of weeks, while the battery lasts for about six hours of "vaping" time.Most of Brothers' customers come into Vapor Road because they want to quit smoking, she said.Many have already tried nicotine patches, gum and lozenges."People want to quit.They just can't," Brothers said."This has given them an opportunity to do something different and healthier for themselves."

Some customers are even referred by doctors, nurses, substance abuse centers or their employers, she said.Officially, though, health care and stop-smoking programs warn against e-cigarettes.Health professionals are wary of the growing popularity of e-cigarettes.While many users praise their effectiveness in helping people quit cigarettes, they are not FDA-regulated, may contain harmful chemicals and may make young people more likely to try tobacco products, according to the Food and Drug Administration."It's definitely not recommended," said Claudia Quinones, a tobacco-cessation specialist for the Gulfcoast North Area Health Education Center."They haven't been studied enough.There are just too many unknowns."E-cigarettes come with different levels of nicotine, and some have no nicotine at all.Brothers now uses e-juice with a low level of nicotine, and she encourages her customers to reduce their addictions.People such as Eva Smith, an employee at Vapor Road who has never smoked, use e-juice with no nicotine as a hobby, partly because they enjoy the various flavors.

Brothers said she hasn't touched - or wanted - a real cigarette since she started smoking e-cigarettes eight months ago.She loves the changes she has noticed in herself."You see a difference in your skin.Your taste buds come back.You can smell again," she said."And you're breaking all of those habits you had for 40 years."Melissa Cassidy, 41, of St. Petersburg, smoked for 15 years but decided to try e-cigarettes six months ago.The brand she was using, though, was too similar to real cigarettes, and she found it easy to go back and forth between the two.She bought a different type of vaporizer three months ago and hasn't had a real cigarette since, she said."It feels like I have a third lung - like I can breathe again," she said. Twitter: @saradrumm 10Weather WTSP Radar Images: Tampa Bay region Brandon Central Tampa South Tampa New Tampa Northwest Hillsborough South Shore North Pinellas South Pinellas Pasco Polk Manatee Sarasota Hernando/Citrus Heartland Tampa Bay area Weather Alerts: Full-sized radar Current conditions 10-day Forecast Hurricane Guide Uber CEO Travis Kalanick resigns at request of investors Security threats on voting system loom as Florida's elections officials gather in Polk County Texas brother and sister dead after both pulled from Brandon hotel pool Tampa firefighters save family's cat with donated oxygen mask Deputies: Robbery suspect who was stabbed is arrested (w/video) Kriseman-Baker debate set for July 25 sponsored by the Times, Bay News 9, St. Pete College