Colorado Schools Are Using THC Test Strips to Find Out What Students Are Vaping

In 2018, the idea of high schoolers sneaking a cigarette or lighting joint behind the bleachers before fifth period is as antiquated as sock hops and landlines. Instead, teenage students today puff on vaporizers stocked with nicotine e-juice or THC oil, often indistinguishable from each other.

To combat the modernized version of bathroom smoke breaks, administrators at one Colorado high school are employing a newly-developed cannabis detection test strip, allowing educators to find out for themselves what students are vaping without police intervention. Thanks to the new drug test tool the principal can simply dab a Q-tip inside the mouthpiece of the vaporizer and swab it on the test kit, with any THC products turning up bright red.

Administrators at Yampah Mountain High rely on cannabis detection products from S2 Detection Technologies, a Denver-based firm that produces rapid result test strips for both narcotics and explosives. Similar devices have been used at airports across the world to find dangerous weapons and chemicals for years.

At Yampah Mountain High in Colorado, McGown did not specify what the consequences are for students caught with nicotine or cannabis vaporizers – though she admitted that she destroys any confiscated vape or e-cig with a hammer. That said, prior to using the S2 test strips, the administrator would call police to have potential pot products tested.

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