SAN ANTONIO — As hospitals across the country continue to treat hundreds of vape-related illnesses, a San Antonio school district is not holding back on their efforts to get the vapes out of their schools.
"We're doing exactly what we told the parents we were going to do," Aubrey Chancellor the NEISD spokesperson told KENS 5 on Monday.
Last month we first reported NEISD's new vaping policy. If a student is found with a vape pen and appears to look high, their pen would be tested for THC. If it's positive, they would be recommended to expulsion.
So far, 56 vapes have been confiscated by NEISD officials and nine of those were tested for THC.
"All but one has come back positive," Chancellor said.
Eight high school students are now facing expulsion because of the new policy.
"Our far-reaching goal is for our students to remain safe and I think this is a big part of it," Chancellor added.
Safety is Dr. Shawn Varney's biggest concern as well. The Director of South Texas Poison Control told KENS 5 the San Antonio area is seeing several cases of vape related illness.
"My recommendation is just say no, don't do it," Dr. Varney said in an interview with KENS 5 last week.
While doctors don't know the exact root cause for the vape-related illness Varney said THC is a big culprit.
"Some of the cases around here, some of the cartridges have been bought off the street, so there's no quality control for street chemists, there's no FDA for street chemists who are creating all these products."
Products NEISD encourages parents to talk to their children about as they try to keep their campuses safe.
"We're going to do our part to make sure they don't have those items that can harm their health and possibly even kill them," Chancellor said.