Melissa Markegard, tobacco prevention coordinator at Fargo Cass Public Health, said the behavior once seen primarily in high schools spread to middle schools and now, elementary schools.

New data from the latest Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey found among high school students in the state who vape, more than 33% do it every day.

Jason McCoy, tobacco prevention coordinator at Clay County Public Health, said that's double the 2017 number.

Derek Johnson, school resource officer at Fargo Davies High School, said in one case, parents provided the vaping device to their child, not realizing it was a problem.

He said with students back in school full-time rather than distance learning, they’re “constantly” being caught vaping; and always, more girls than boys.

Few kids are interested in the traditional way of smoking — it’s all about vape.

The Juul pod reusable system was the first that didn’t throw out a plume of smoke, making it popular among students looking to conceal it, Johnson said.

Markegard said kids in her tobacco education class talk about how they vape in the car with their parents without them knowing, because they hide the device in their hoodie and hold the vapor in their lungs until there’s nothing left to exhale.

He said a Moorhead middle school student recently caught with a vape was using the same amount of nicotine as in six packs of cigarettes a day.

Johnson said when he finds a freshman student at Fargo Davies with a vape, it’s likely one filled with flavored tobacco.

Parents should understand the consequences of their children using these concentrate forms, Johnson said.

Kids using marijuana vape concentrates are getting sick and having lung issues, Johnson said.

“We have students who have panic and anxiety when they forget their vape at home,” she said