SAN DIEGO -- SwabTek™, leaders in the narcotics and explosives presumptive testing industry, are announcing that two of the ten largest school districts in the State of Georgia are joining the over 1,000 educational institutions across the United States already using SwabTek’s products to help secure their school campuses.
The national push for legalization of recreational cannabis use has posed a challenge for many educators and school administrators. The widespread accessibility of cannabis and cannabis-containing products such as edibles and vape pens has resulted in the prevalence of both deliberate and inadvertent consumption among youth.
For many school districts, like Forsyth County Board of Education in Cumming, GA, curbing the prominence of cannabis use on campus has been a multi-year project. Like many schools across the country, Forsyth County witnessed a dramatic rise in nicotine and THC vape pen use among their student body. The cannabis extracts found in vape pens and edibles are much easier to transport, store and consume, and much more difficult to detect.
For School Resource Officers and School Safety Personnel, a tool like SwabTek’s Cannabis Test Kit is a game-changer. For the first time, SROs and administrators have a way to screen vape pens and vaping oil for cannabis. The SwabTek Cannabis Test Kit is based on a simple, swab-based collection procedure, allowing the user to extract samples off of the outer casing, mouthpiece, and oil cartridge of a vape pen, and test for the presence of cannabis within seconds.
“That’s been our number one utilization of SwabTek, is for vapes,” said Steve Honn, the Assistant Director of School Safety for Forsyth County Board of Education. The district serves more than 50,000 students across more than 40 schools, and has been an active user of SwabTek’s products since early 2019.
For Forsyth County’s school administrators, SwabTek’s tests have played a critical role in the battle against cannabis vaping. Since the test’s introduction into the district’s policy, administrators have noted a decline in cannabis use and cannabis vaping on campus. The tests act both as a means to detect and punish cannabis possession and use on campus, as well as deter future infractions.
“It is showing a decline, as far as the use of vapes in our schools,” said Honn. "[SwabTek has] been a tremendous help to us.”
For SRO Supervisor Sergeant Noah Sprague of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, SwabTek’s tests have become an integral part of his unit’s approach to policing the district’s schools. “The test kits, the canine searches, the administration, school safety and sheriff’s office all working together, we are starting to see the decline [of vaping]… It is a team effort, so SwabTek has definitely been a part of the team,” he said.
SwabTek’s full line of narcotics test kits, including those for Cannabis, Amphetamines, Cocaine, Heroin, Fentanyl, THC and Nicotine are currently available to law enforcement professionals and educators across the country. Find out more about SwabTek at swabtek.com and follow the brand on LinkedIn, @swab_tek on Twitter, @swabtek on Instagram, and on Facebook for more updates.
SwabTek will be exhibiting their product in booth #618 at the National Association of School Resource Officers School Safety Conference from July 11-16, 2021 in Orlando, FL.