BAKERSFIELD, Calif. --- — The Bakersfield police department presented an anti-vaping presentation to Garces Memorial High School, showing over 500 students graphic photos and videos of vaping-related injuries to educate them about the dangers of vaping.
BPD Community Relations Officer Chris Peck answered several questions students had about vaping.
"'Why hasn't it been banned yet if it's so bad,' I wish I had an answer for that," Peck said he told students.
The presentation at GMHS is given less than a week after Kern County Public Health Services announced that a third victim has been hospitalized for severe breathing problems and lung damage due to vaping in Kern County.
The county's vaping-related injuries are among the over 1,000 reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention across the United States.
GMHS school officials said there hasn't been any vaping-related incidents at their school this year, but they're still cautious.
"I'm not naive enough to think that our kids aren't affected by the epidemic," Kelly Olson, GMHS dean of students said.
"We take precautions to ensure that it's not happening on campus," Olson added.
BPD says any school in Kern County can request an anti-vaping presentation at their school.
To make a requests, call the BPD Community Relations Unit at 661-326-3388.
