Vape pens and other electronic nicotine and THC devices are getting cracked down at Los Altos High School.
According to a Jan. 6 student letter, LAHS installed vape detection sensors in their bathrooms to enforce their drug and alcohol policy on campus. The policy states that students cannot use, possess or be under the influence of drugs and alcohol while on campus.
LAHS principal Tracey Runeare said the placement of the sensors began this semester and is in the beta testing stages to see the substances from the student. She said the bathroom is the most common location for students to hide their substance abuse.
“We want to be able to help any students who have a substance abuse or nicotine addiction,” Runeare said. “We’re basically trying to prevent students from vaping anything on campus. We want to be able to support them by helping them with some kind of treatment or counseling they might need if they’re using during the school day.”
Runeare said the devices will be a warning for students with addiction and make the bathrooms a safe space since it is a basic need. She said vaping is an issue at most schools and it is important to communicate with parents and guardians on how to support their child and to provide their children with an option for a full-time therapist or counselors.
“We hope that students will not be vaping at school, and we don’t have a huge issue here, but it is problematic for any student,” Runeare said. “Whether it’s one time or multiple times, to either walk in on a student who is vaping and feel uncomfortable or if you feel like you need to be doing that during the day, to make sure we can get students some help.”
How do the sensors work?
According to the Santa Clara County Office of Education website, they recommend vape detection sensors as one example of a school’s drug support resource. SCCOE partnered with the California Youth Advocacy Network (CYAN), a group that creates resources and awareness for drug prevention in children and young adults, and followed their advice on how the device operates.
CYAN said that each device costs between $300-$1000 with additional fees for connecting it to school networks. The organization said the devices operate by aerosol or chemical vapors and will detect the exact location and time when a student uses a vaping device. The device is also prone to picking up noise disturbances such as fights or bullying and may provide false negative results.
The organization also said that the vape detection sensors have not yet proved to reduce the use of substances and may contribute to a negative culture around drug use.
HALO Smart Sensors, a sensor device company owned by Motorola Solutions based out of Chicago, creates vaping and smoking detection devices for various school districts. Their website suggests the devices can read many other activities such as gun noises, chemicals and gases and air quality. The sensor is used in over ten thousand schools.
Vaping’s Decline
According to the Monitoring the Future study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, nicotine vaping, marijuana and alcohol abuse are on the decline.
The research points to that there was a delay in drug use during the pandemic when adolescents were limited in their drug experimentations among their friend groups.
Their data was collected by students across the United States. They found that drug use went down between 2020 and 2024, with the pandemic triggering the lower figures. They measured that nicotine vaping in 12th graders in 2020 went from 35% to 21% in 2024; in 10th graders in 2020 it from 31% to 15% in 2024 and in eighth graders in 2020 it went from 17% to 10%. The results found that the recent numbers have dropped close to the levels from their first study in 2017.
Other California Schools
Many schools in California have also –or plan to– install the detection devices on their campuses. Homestead High School Principal Denae Nurnberg confirmed with the Town Crier they are installed at their school, Moorpark Unified School District in Ventura, CA installed them in 2023 and Redwood City Elementary School District put them in 2019. According to Mountain View High School’s 2023-24 safety plan, they plan on researching and installing vape detectors soon. Their objective for the vape detectors said it will decrease vaping on campus and implement student programs to encourage healthy behaviors.
