News and Events
Indian River County Recognizes Third Annual ‘"Vaping Awareness Month"
October 19, 2022
In 2019, the Tobacco Free Partnership of Indian River County and Students Working Against Tobacco announced that October would be recognized as ‘Vaping Awareness Month.’ The decision to name October Vaping Awareness Month was made to increase community awareness about the youth vaping epidemic and focus efforts to educate the community throughout the month of October. This year, SWAT, the Tobacco Free Partnership, and Community Members recognized the third annual vaping awareness month.
Since its inception, Vaping Awareness Month revolves around proclamations and town halls to educate the community on the dangers of vaping. This year, the Substance Awareness Center, the Indian River County Board of County Commissioners, the City Council of Vero Beach, and the School District assisted the Partnership and SWAT in education efforts
| The School District has implemented a comprehensive tobacco free policy and have greatly increased education about the dangers of vaping to youth. The first media campaign of the year focused on how ‘Most Teens Don’t.’ This campaign, in Partnership with the Substance Abuse Free Indian River Coalition, focused on changing the norm surrounding ‘everyone does it.’ The poster highlights how 84% of Indian River County Teens do not vape, to increase awareness among youth that vaping is not the norm. |  |
The Indian River County Commissioners and the City Council of Vero Beach both passed proclamations in the month of October, recognizing October as vaping awareness month. At there presentations, community members, parents, and youth were encouraged to seek out accurate information on the dangers of vaping and attend the annual vaping town hall hosted by SWAT.
As mentioned, SWAT hosted their annual town hall on vaping in observance of Not A Lab Rat Day. The town hall featured Dr. Barry Hummel (QuitDoc) and Sergeant David Bailey (Indian River County Sheriff’s Office) as they educated community members, parents, and youth on the dangers of vaping and the efforts to address vaping in the community.
The Tobacco Free Partnership and SWAT continue to bring awareness to the dangers of vaping throughout the year, especially in the month of October. If you are interested in learning more or would like to get involved, please contact Program Director, Grace Greenberg at ggreenberg@quitdoc.com.
