As school starts, children and teenagers return to a fun yet challenging social environment. But when it comes to topics such as mental health, bullying and online safety, they don’t always open up to adults.

State and San Antonio-area lawmakers have strengthened laws and ordinances to keep vaping products out of teenagers' and children's hands.

City council members approved a new requirement on Thursday for tobacco and vape shops to operate away from San Antonio schools.

The Community Health Committee voted unanimously Monday to advance a proposal to forbid tobacco retail shops, including vape shops, from setting up business within 1,000 feet of a school, daycare, or institution of higher learning. The idea will now go to the zoning commission for consideration before a vote by the full city council.

The City of San Antonio has made changes to the Smoking & Vaping Ordinance.

School officials at Boerne Independent School District have removed the entrance doors from the hallway that lead into restrooms at Champion High School.

Vaping is coming before the Supreme Court next week as federal regulators ask the high court to uphold its block on sweet, flavored products following a spike in youth e-cigarette use.

An alarming trend of younger people and teens using e-cigarettes and vapes is pushing the City of San Antonio to change its Smoke-Free Ordinance to include these products.

Talk About Tobacco reports that kids as young as 11 years old have been caught vaping, and over 60% of parents whose teens vape were unaware of it. Rise Recovery offers tips to help parents identify potential signs of vaping.

A new state law prohibits the sale or marketing of nicotine vapes in containers that use designs some say are aimed at minors.

Vaping law causing surge in disciplinary cases for NEISD

The Northside Independent School District hosted a community forum on Wednesday to talk to families about vaping and fentanyl.

A new law cracking down on vaping in schools is presenting a challenge for San Antonio’s largest school districts.

A University of Central Florida researcher has discovered that vaping could also increase your risk for cancer.

Texas lawmakers passed House Bill 114 in the last regular session, which will lead to stricter discipline for students caught vaping or with e-cigarettes, starting on Sept. 1 when it goes into effect.

Australia’s tobacco tax will be increased by billions of dollars over the next four years as the government cracks down on smoking and vaping.

But now, the teenage vaping rates have fallen during COVID-19 lockdowns. Teenage vaping and COVID-19 can cause long-term debilitating lung conditions. Experts say one of the main reasons they’ve seen a drop in youth vaping is because they’re worried about their lung health. That’s because experts say vaping among teens is socially driven. Researchers suggest although teenage vaping has become less of a concern, it’s still a major problem.

NEW YORK Vaping rates among U.S. teenagers fell dramatically this year, according to a federal report released Wednesday. That marks a dramatic decline from a similar survey last year that found about 28% of high school students and 11% of middle school students recently vaped. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducts the national survey of more than 20,000 middle and high school students. It asks students if they had used any vaping or traditional tobacco products in the previous month. CDC officials gradually focused their investigation on black market THC cartridges, and on a chemical compound called vitamin E acetate that had been added to illicit THC vaping liquids.

SAN ANTONIO – If there is one thing you can do to prevent complications from COVID-19, it would be to stay away from smoking, doctors say. There is research currently underway to find out whether smokers with asymptomatic COVID-19 are secret super-spreaders of the virus. “We’re finding in multi-family housing units that seven in 10 African-American children are exposed to secondhand smoke, as well as a prominent nearly a quarter of Latino community are exposed to that secondhand smoke,” Svatek said. There is more inequity hidden in such living conditions Svatek said, with an estimated 15,269 housing units in San Antonio considered to be overcrowded. And it is not just in housing units that the high density and smoking are showing a spike in cases.

Struggling to keep up with the rise in teen vaping, North Texas schools are fighting back with more tools and harsher discipline. According to Texas Education Agency data from 130 schools districts in North Texas, last year schools reported suspending or expelling students 5,041 times for vaping or using other tobacco products. This is a dramatic rise from the 1,077 times North Texas schools reported punishing students for vaping two years prior in 2017. Vape debate: Are e-cigarettes wiping out teen smoking? Tonight at 10 p.m., investigative reporter Brian New and the CBS 11 I-Team take a look at what North Texas schools are doing to combat vaping on campuses and why some students says it’s not enough.

SAN ANTONIO – The North East Independent School District is confronting the rise in vaping. “I definitely think it is an issue, still,” said Kathy Johnson, a counselor at Winston Churchill High School. Johnson said the district has been taking several steps to address the vaping issue, including speaking to students in the classroom. On Friday, students at Bradley Elementary School heard from Winston Churchill High School students. The high school students are part of the Winners Circle, a group that promotes a healthy and drug-free lifestyle.