Can YOU spot the vape? Vapes disguised as school supplies worry parents, teachers

SAN ANTONIO - School supplies are a common sight this time of year. Families are stocking up on pens, pencils, and more for kids to take to the classroom. But hidden among those supplies, some students are packing devices that aren't meant for school at all.

Vapes that look like school supplies and other common objects are an increasing issue in Texas classrooms, and now, state and federal lawmakers are trying to figure out what to do about it.

We've heard about vapes and e-cigarettes disguised to look like pens, highlighters, USB drives, and more. A company even sells hoodies that have vapes in the drawstrings.

The I-Team put our news crew to the test to see if they could spot some of these vapes. Most were able to pick up on the fact that some of the school supplies looked a bit different. They chose the pen that seemed wider than usual and highlighters that weren't the usual brand names, but most said that none of the items jumped out as vapes.

"Do you think you would immediately know that it wasn't a school supply?" we asked a content producer about the highlighter vapes.

"No," he responded. "If you're not looking for it, there's no way that you'd see that."

These devices are getting easier to hide and harder to spot. This comes at a time when vaping is increasing overall.

"They're more bold. Sometimes they'll even do it in a classroom with the teacher there," said Katherine Lyssy, the Director of the Office of Student Advocacy and School Choice at Northside ISD.

These are just a few of the traditional vapes the Northside ISD Police Department has taken into evidence, but others hide in plain sight...

"The companies that are making vapes look a lot different. Sometimes they can look like a highlighter, a coffee cup, not just traditional, what we're used to seeing," Lyssy explained.

We spoke with Dr. Lawrence Quang about this trend. He's the Chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at CHRISTUS Children's Hospital.

"What does that say to you that these vapes are being disguised as things like school supplies?" Reporter Jordan Elder asked.

"That tells me that this is a trend that's here to stay," Quang said.

He calls vaping a national epidemic.

"There is a market for this, and kids, unfortunately, are being preyed upon," Quang said.

Quang says there are big risks associated with vaping because we don't know the long-term impacts it can have on your health.

Data from local school districts in San Antonio show that most of the vapes confiscated from students contain THC, which Quang says has its own set of risks. And he says the fact that the vapes are made to look like school supplies only furthers the concern that they're being marketed to children.

"Our state government agencies need to come down on these companies," Quang said. "They're skirting the law—willfully skirting the law—and targeting our youth."

Texas lawmakers have taken aim at this already. As of January 1, a new law went into effect that cracks down on companies marketing their vapes to children. It bans vape and e-cig products from using certain cartoons, characters, or images of food or candy. It's now a Class B misdemeanor.

The federal government is also taking action on this. The FDA sent a warning letter to the company that makes "High Light Vapes," which look almost identical to a typical highlighter.

The agency writes that the product is concerning because it "helps conceal the nature of the product as a tobacco product from parents, teachers, or other adults." You can read the full letter here...

When we ordered a Highlight Vape for this story, it did require an ID to ensure the buyer was 21, which raises the question, how are kids getting their hands on them? School district officials say it's often an older sibling or parent, or kids buy from strangers they meet on social media.

"They seem to have more access to it. It seems easier for them to come across it and to purchase it," Lyssy said.

Experts warn you to be on the lookout for these devices and to talk to your kids about the risks associated with vaping. Schools are doing the same.

"It has to be all hands on deck. Parents, public health, and in the medical community," Quang said.

The U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory declaring youth use of e-cigarettes an epidemic in December 2018.