News and Events

Okeechobee Mayor Visits SWAT Club At Okeechobee High School
October 17, 2018

City of Okeechobee Mayor Dowling Watford Jr. visits Okeechobee High School and presents the SWAT club with a proclamation declaring October 17th, 2018, "Not A Lab Rat Day" which brings awareness to the harmful effects of electronic nicotine delivery systems and proclaimed this year (2018) the 20th Anniversary of the SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco) Club program.

Pictured from L to R: Courtney Moyett SWAT Coordinator, Mariah Spelts SWAT Club President, Mayor Watford, Eric Swant SWAT Club Advisor, Dylan Tedders OHS principal.

Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT), Florida’s statewide youth-led movement to combat the tobacco industry, announced the first-ever statewide observance to tackle youth electronic cigarette use. This year, Not A Lab Rat Day empowered youth to stand up to the e-cigarette industry and declare that they are not “Lab Rats” in discovering the harms and addictiveness of these products.

Some of the common myths are that e-cigarettes do not contain nicotine (1), that e-cigarettes are less addictive than conventional cigarettes (2), and that e-cigarettes are completely harmless.

The fact is that most e-cigarettes do contain nicotine. Nicotine is highly addictive and can harm adolescent brain development, which continues into the early to mid-20s. Additionally, e-cigarette aerosol is not harmless. It can contain harmful and potentially harmful substances, including heavy metals like lead, volatile organic compounds, and cancer-causing agents (3). Scientists are still learning about the long-term health effects of e-cigarettes.

"Many of my peers have been influenced by false or misleading information about e-cigarettes,” said Sachit Gali, Statewide Chair of SWAT. “Teaching youth the truth about e-cigarettes can prevent a lifetime of nicotine dependence and unknown health effects."

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently declared e-cigarette use among teens a national “epidemic of addiction. (4)”

Youth use of nicotine in any form is unsafe, can cause addiction and can harm the developing adolescent brain, according to a 2016 Surgeon General’s report (5).

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References:

  1. Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Miech, R. A., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2017). Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 1975-2016: Overview, key findings on adolescent drug use. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan.
  2. Stephen M Amrock, Lily Lee, Michael Weitzman Pediatrics Oct 2016, e20154306; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2015-4306
  3. US Department of Health and Human Services. E-cigarette use among youth and young adults: a report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2016.
  4. Florida Youth Tobacco Survey (FYTS), Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Epidemiology, 2018
  5. US Department of Health and Human Services. E-cigarette use among youth and young adults: a report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2016.