Ballpoint pens will be welcome when the Palm Beach County School District starts its new school year on Aug. 10, but vape pens will continue to be a ticket to trouble.
The e-cigarettes, which can resemble flash drives and deliver nicotine with fruity flavors enticing to children, are proving to be an enduring challenge to school officials, figures released by the school district show.
There were 773 drug vapes and 1,262 tobacco vapes seized during the 2025-26 school year. Both of those figures are up from the 2024-25 school year, when 637 drug vapes and 1,146 tobacco vapes were seized. In 2023-24, 653 drug vapes and 1,177 tobacco vapes seized from students.
In June, the Palm Beach County Commission directed the county’s Criminal Justice Commission to draft an ordinance that would establish a minimum distance of 1,000 feet between vape stores and schools. Law enforcement officials described vaping as an emerging youth epidemic that often leads to the use of marijuana and other harder drugs.
Student possession or distribution of vapes or any other tobacco product on school grounds is a violation of rules that can bring a suspension, though a suspension is not automatic.
The district said it uses an “alternative-to-suspension program designed to address vaping and tobacco infractions constructively.”
A district spokesman said: “Rather than relying solely on traditional punitive discipline, we provide free courses for students who violate substance policies. These courses educate students on the risks of electronic vapor products and help guide them toward healthier behaviors.”
The district said there were 46 instances of students distributing vapes during the 2025-26 school year, which was down sharply from the 79 instances the year before. During the 2023-24 school year, there were 58 instances of vapes distribution.
In 2019, the Palm Beach County School District joined more than 1,400 government agencies in suing JUUL, whose e-cigarette resembled a flash drive, in an attempt to recoup resources it sunk into creating a night class for students suspended for vaping, revising the student conduct code to prohibit e-cigarette use and conducting town hall meetings to alert parents to the danger vaping poses.
The district and other plaintiffs argued that JUUL had launched a campaign to lure underage people into buying the e-cigarettes with imagery reminiscent of Big Tobacco marketing schemes.
JUUL settled the case in 2023, putting the district in line to receive $10 million.
The district educates all middle and high school students on the dangers of substance use, and it partners with outside agencies to provide educational presentations on the topic.
District students also learn about preventing tobacco use from a program sponsored by state departments of Health and Education.
“The goal of this initiative is to reach students directly with targeted tobacco and vaping prevention lessons and messaging,” a district spokesman said.
Wayne Washington is a journalist covering education and Riviera Beach development for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at wwashington@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Vaping incidents on the rise in Palm Beach County schools
Reporting by Wayne Washington, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Wayne Washington, Palm Beach Post | USA TODAY Network
