Using nicotine and marijuana is dangerous at any age, especially for teenagers whose brains are still developing. Newsday's story this week about vaping in schools is a reminder that education, health and government officials must work collaboratively to get teens to stop vaping and prevent more from starting in the first place.

Nicotine is highly addictive and can cause lasting damage to a teen's brain, negatively impacting their ability to learn and concentrate. Marijuana can cause similar long-term damage, including the loss of IQ that isn’t regained in adulthood.

The good news is that nicotine use among high school students declined from 12.6% to 10.1% from 2023-24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but those numbers are still dangerously high.

The Newsday

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