San Francisco schools make push to keep teens from vaping

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco schools say they're winning the battle against smoking. But now they're worried about something else. There's a new push to keep kids from vaping.

In a video produced by high school students that won second place in a contest, teens make statements like: "Vaping is not healthy" and "I want this body to last."

The goal of the contest was to make a public service announcement to get kids to think twice about using vapes or e-cigarettes.

"E-cigarettes contain nicotine. Nicotine is also in real cigarettes," said the narrator in the video.

San Francisco schools held the contest district wide because they see a growing problem.

"It's quite common," said contest winner Victor Lei. "Yeah, like I guess if you go off campus sometimes you can see people vaping."

Lei's video won first place.

"I entered this contest because many of my friends do actually vape," he said.

He's the only actor in the video, unless you count Siri.

One reason educators are so concerned is that vapor products are not regulated the way cigarettes are. Meaning they don't carry the same restrictions on how companies can market them to kids.

"There's an industry out there that's trying to get you hooked on this product," said Derek Smith with the San Francisco Department of Public Health. "That's why nicotine's in these things, it's why they taste delicious and they smell fruity."

And new vape shops are opening up all the time.

"It's called Juicebox Vapor," said contest runnerup Daniel Fielding. "And the fact that they had the audacity to open up right near the school, that's a big sign. Like they know they can pull in that high school crowd."

Fielding says he just wants his friends to make an informed decision.

"Making sure that kids know the facts about what's out there," he said.

What's out there are hundreds of vapor products, all with different ingredients. Most are water-based. But what else is in there?

"If you were to look at what water looks like when it boils, it looks nothing like what comes out of that vaping cigarette," said school district tobacco consultant Ira Sachnoff. "It's not just water."

Some studies have found one you might recognize -- formaldehyde.

More than anything, they want these kids to graduate school without graduating to real cigarettes.