Residents from Marion County met Tuesday evening at Hillsboro High School’s auditorium to air concerns about an increase in vaping and e-cigarette use among students.

Allowing parents and children to understand potential dangers of vaping starts with keeping them informed, said program speaker Crystal Dalmasso.

“Youths don’t consider vaping smoking,” she said. “That’s number one right there. If we come in as adults and say, ‘are you smoking,’ they’re going to say no. So, it’s being educated as adults and knowing it’s vaping, not smoking.”

Dalmasso works for the Wichita branch of Douglas County Citizens Committee on Alcoholism, which attempts to reduce substance abuse among teenagers.

Nicotine levels vary depending on the vape product or e-cigarette, but a single JUUL e-cigarette pod has about the same level of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes, and 12% of students in the U.S. smoke e-cigarettes of some variety, according to KDHE.

“This is a substance that teens are getting addicted to with the nicotine levels that are higher,” she said. “It’s something we need to talk about and highlight. It’s definitely preventable, so we need to talk about it and have those conversations to educate parents now.”