During my 30 years as a high school teacher in South Carolina, I have watched countless young people navigate the choices that shape their futures: where to go to college, what courses to take, and even who to ask to the prom. Schools reflect our communities — the good, the bad, and the challenges in between.
As a history teacher at River Bluff High School in Lexington County and a leader in its Center for Law and Global Policy Development, I work to help students understand the past so they can engage thoughtfully in the present. Through my work, I have seen young people grapple with constant changes, including the vaping epidemic that’s sweeping through South Carolina and our nation.
Vaping devices hit South Carolina fast around 2018 and continue to penetrate into the lives of our youth, yet our government — at every level — has failed to keep up. If you were to walk into any school today, you could see kids using candy and fruit-flavored vapes in bathrooms and tucked-away corners.
Manufacturers are designing these devices to look like everyday objects — highlighters, USB drives, pens — making it easier for students to hide them from teachers, parents and law enforcement. Most troubling, many kids don’t even realize just how much nicotine they’re inhaling; a single legal disposable vaping device can pack the nicotine of 20-40 cigarettes, and an illegal vape can be the equivalent of hundreds of cigarettes.
This epidemic is more than a health crisis. It’s an educational crisis as well, and educators everywhere are seeing the consequences: students who are distracted, disengaged and struggling with addiction at a young age.
Even scarier, we don’t know what is exactly in these devices. Manufacturers use loopholes to avoid oversight, so we have little information about the long-term health effects. Neighboring states have reported tragic vape-related incidents involving children, including hospitalizations from fentanyl-laced vapes, cases of permanent lung damage, and even deaths.
Moreover, 90% of disposable vaping devices come from China, a country that has banned these same products for its own citizens while flooding our market with them. Their nefarious practices, part of the $22 billion and growing vape industry, have led to 47% — or over 115,000 — South Carolina high schoolers self-report using these products.
For years, parents, teachers, law enforcement and communities have called for action and seen only some. States like North Carolina, Alabama, Virginia and Florida have stepped up with laws to crack down on predatory vaping device manufacturers. Now South Carolina has the opportunity to do the same.
Last month, bipartisan leaders in the South Carolina House and Senate introduced House Bill 3728 and Senate Bill 287. These bills take a direct approach to tackling youth vaping by creating a state-run registry of legal vape products under the Attorney General’s Office. Only products with Food and Drug Administration approval would be legal, ensuring that vaping devices sold in South Carolina meet regulatory standards.
The legislation would also tighten restrictions on advertising and marketing, preventing companies from targeting minors and requiring clear warnings about nicotine addiction on packaging.
Most importantly, the legislation would set tough penalties on manufacturers and retailers that break the law, giving law enforcement the power to seize and destroy illegal products.
No child should get hooked on nicotine through flavors like cotton candy and birthday cake. At the same time, adults looking for cigarette alternatives should have access to a regulated market that ensures safety and compliance. Passing legislation would let South Carolina do both — protect our kids and ensure responsible options for adults.
On behalf of the tens of thousands of educators in our state and the hundreds of thousands of students and families we serve, I urge the General Assembly and Gov. Henry McMaster to make this legislation law.
The time to protect our children is long overdue.
Michael R. Burgess is the 2023 Gilder Lehrman South Carolina History Teacher of the Year and the 2023 South Carolina Daughters of the American Revolution Outstanding Teacher of American History. He teaches at River Bluff High School in Lexington County.
