Education

More Georgia students are vaping. Why vape detectors may not be the fix.

More than 20,000 students in one year were disciplined for vaping in Georgia schools.
Dozens of schools in metro Atlanta will install vape sensors this year, while more are hesitant about the devices. Schools in DeKalb County and Marietta will use HALO vape sensors, pictured here. (AP file photo)
Dozens of schools in metro Atlanta will install vape sensors this year, while more are hesitant about the devices. Schools in DeKalb County and Marietta will use HALO vape sensors, pictured here. (AP file photo)
By
Sept 2, 2025

Dozens of schools in metro Atlanta will be equipped with vape detectors this year, as part of a push to keep students from using electronic smoking devices. But far more schools have no plans to install the sensors.

The DeKalb County School District is spending $1.6 million to put the sensors, which resemble smoke detectors, in its high schools. Marietta City Schools will spend up to $60,000 to put the sensors in three schools.

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But spokespeople for Atlanta Public Schools and the Cherokee, Cobb, Fulton and Gwinnett school districts said they do not use the sensors and do not plan to. Vape sensors have been used in middle and high schools in Douglas County for the past three years.

“We can confirm Fulton County Schools does not have vape detectors installed in our schools, and we have no current plans to add them,” read one statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We utilize student and staff educational efforts to address the issue.”

The divide in metro Atlanta encapsulates the debate in the field: Can you deter someone from doing something addictive? Is punishment or education the fix?

Dozens of schools in metro Atlanta will install vape sensors this year, while more are hesitant about the devices. Schools in DeKalb County and Marietta will use HALO vape sensors, pictured here. (Courtesy of Motorola Solutions)
Dozens of schools in metro Atlanta will install vape sensors this year, while more are hesitant about the devices. Schools in DeKalb County and Marietta will use HALO vape sensors, pictured here. (Courtesy of Motorola Solutions)

Vaping has exploded in popularity in recent years. E-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among middle and high school students in the United States. In 2024, 1.63 million kids used e-cigarettes, according to federal data. In Georgia, vaping is illegal for anyone under the age of 21.

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In Georgia, 6,100 students were disciplined for using electronic smoking devices in 2019-2020, the first year districts were required to track the number. In 2023-2024, the number topped 20,000 — and that’s just the students who were caught.

The American Lung Association does not support schools using vaping detectors because they often lead to a punitive response.

“We understand the notion to do something, and we understand that vape detectors could have an appeal. ... However, there’s really no credible evidence base to suggest they are efficacious in preventing youth vaping,” said Caroline Joyce, the executive director of Parents Against Vaping. “Nicotine use is an addiction.”