Valley Stream Central High School student Jemeilia Russell said there have been times when she has walked into a school bathroom and smelled marijuana. She's also seen students vaping in stalls.

“Sometimes I do get scared when I go into a bathroom and it smells so thick of drugs in there that I’m going to go home and my mom is going to say, 'Why do you smell like weed?' ” said the senior, who noted the situation has improved in the past academic year.

Educators and addiction experts across Long Island say that with the legalization of marijuana, vaping among adolescents has become a concerning trend. The problem, which one educator likened to an “epidemic,” has led some schools to install vape-detection systems, while others have stepped up efforts to educate students on the dangers of s

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