Thread by @TexasTribune

1/ Vaping is the newest public health epidemic sweeping the nation’s youth. Reports of vaping-related injuries and deaths have piled up.

In some Texas school districts, students have gone to jail for having a vape pen in their backpack. bit.ly/2Z2R2pR

2/ Caught by surprise over the past two years as vaping flipped from trendy to deadly, terrified Texas school officials are unsure whether the best approach is to discipline students or treat them. bit.ly/2Z2R2pR

3/ Alarmingly, school officials are often unable to know whether vape pens contain nicotine or harder drugs, a distinction which could mean the difference between minor discipline or a felony charge that follows a student for the rest of their life. bit.ly/2Z2R2pR

4/ Last school year, the number of times schools punished students for tobacco and felony-level controlled substance offenses both more than doubled compared to the previous year, according to @teainfo data. bit.ly/2Z2R2pR

@teainfo 5/ This is Thomas Williams-Platt, a student in Georgetown ISD.

He bore the full brunt of the newfound vigilance engulfing teen vaping in the state. bit.ly/2Z2R2pR

@teainfo 6/ He bought a vape pen from a classmate that he says he thought contained CBD oil.

But an officer ran the liquid in the pen through an on-site drug test, said it contained THC, then took Williams-Platt to jail. bit.ly/2Z2R2pR

@teainfo 7/ He spent the next 2 months in a county-run disciplinary school created for students who commit crimes so serious they must be removed from their home schools.

“I was alone, and everything that happened to me, I just had to go through it alone.” bit.ly/2Z2R2pR

@teainfo 8/ Guidance from the state on how schools might best respond to this problem has been minimal.

The #txlege won’t be able to pass any new vaping laws until their 2021 session, so schools must continue to deal with it in the meantime. bit.ly/2Z2R2pR

@teainfo 9/9 Education reporter @AliyyaSwaby and criminal justice reporter @jsmccullou joined forces to write this story.

If you have tips as they continue to report on juvenile justice and school discipline, share them confidentially here: bit.ly/2r2GIlh