Louisiana
Why have so many Louisiana teens started vaping? This expert says: Ask them.
Louisiana has one of the highest rates of teen vaping in the country.
In 2023, 30% of high school students in Louisiana reported using e-cigarettes in the past month, compared with 17% of high schoolers nationwide, according to state and federal surveys.
Louisiana schools have struggled to deter students from vaping, which some do in bathrooms and hallways.
Young people who vape face health risks and are more likely to start smoking cigarettes. Yet many teens view vaping as safer than smoking and are drawn to e-cigarettes for their flavors, said Mattie Hawkins, a regional manager at the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living, or TFL, which promotes tobacco-control policies.
Hawkins spends her time talking to teens about tobacco and its negative impact on the brain and body. Last month, TFL hosted the “Rise Above Vaping Symposium” at Istrouma High School in Baton Rouge, where students were given a safe space to share their experiences with e-cigarettes.
Humana addiction services manager Jeny Rodrigue hands a fast food gift card to student Jam Jordan after he answered a question correctly about the dangers of vaping at Istrouma High School during the Vaping Town Hall on Thursday, October 24, 2024.
“Just being around other students, they were able to have honest and open dialogue,” Hawkins said.
The conversations with students have helped Hawkins and her team better understand what draws teens to vaping — and what might convince them to stop.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What do you hear from young people about why they started vaping?
Some of the main reasons students may start vaping are, of course, curiosity. They may have family and friends who vape, so they could deal with peer pressure or they may just see them and also want to do it.
Our youth also struggle with stress and many different mental health issues, so that’s a reason, too. They may be attracted to the different flavors of vapes, or they might think it looks cool.
Why has vaping become so much more popular with teens than smoking?
When e-cigarettes were created, they were marketed as being safer than cigarettes. But studies have shown that they’re actually not safer.
A pack of 20 cigarettes is equivalent (in nicotine content) to one JUUL pod.
What does vaping look like in school?
They are easy to sneak in. We’ve heard from principals that kids are just grabbing their parents’ (vapes) and they think it’s OK, they think it’s cool and don’t see it as being harmful.
You have some parents who may actually buy it for their students because they don’t see it as an issue. And then you have older students who are able to purchase vapes from local smoke shops who don’t pay attention to age requirements.
So those kids are able to get them into schools and pass them among each other. Some kids pick them up off the ground, too, which is nasty.
How do you talk to kids about quitting?
I have to let them know, “I’m not condemning you, I’m not judging you, but these are the facts. These are the statistics when it comes to vaping.”
I tell them about the health issues that may affect their body in the long run.
Can you go into more detail about the problems vapes can cause?
Recent studies have shown that vaping can lead to urinary and bladder cancer for youth.
Kids typically first try tobacco around 13 or 14 years old, and smoking can be detrimental to brain development. The human brain doesn’t stop developing until around 25, and tobacco stunts its growth, so kids often have issues with focusing and memory. They also tend to struggle with anxiety.
How can parents help their kids quit?
The first step in prevention when it comes to family is being open and having those conversations, explaining to youth the dangers of tobacco use.
Once again, not condemning them, but just having that open dialogue where they’re able to tell you something.
What can schools do to combat vaping?
With schools, we have a Live Vape Free tool kit, which is a comprehensive online tool kit for schools to take the lead in responding to the youth vaping epidemic. These kits guide schools in how to create a tobacco-free environment that prevents students from using products like e-cigarettes. It also supports students who need help quitting.
The tool kit encourages schools to lessen the punitive consequences for smoking. Students who are caught vaping face the possibility of being expelled, so the kit offers guides for coaching or hosting sessions to talk about why kids shouldn’t do this. It’s about positive reinforcement.
What was the idea behind the recent anti-vaping event your group hosted at Istrouma High School?
The Rise Above Vaping Symposium was actually a pilot event, so it was our first time hosting it.
We brought together middle school and high school students to educate and create awareness about the harmful effects of vaping.
They had the opportunity to share their personal experiences with vaping, and we had an open discussion where we wanted to understand the factors contributing to the vaping epidemic among youth and develop an actionable, peer-to-peer intervention strategy.
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New legislation in Baton Rouge would reclassify some illegal gaming-related offenses as racketeering law violations, elevating potential consequences.
Louisiana has already stepped up its enforcement of its gaming laws related to potential illegal gaming but a new bill in the state legislature would give prosecutors’ actions more teeth. The proposal would elevate certain crimes involving unlicensed gaming in the state to a racketeering charge with more severe penalties linked to convictions.
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Louisiana bill changes classification of gaming-related charges
Louisiana Rep. Bryan Fontenot has pre-filed HB 53, which could rewrite the state code as it pertains to unlicensed gaming sites. The legislation has been provisionally assigned to the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice, as the 2026 session does not begin until March 9.
Under the proposal, the state’s definition of racketeering would expand to include “gambling, gambling by computer, gambling on cockfights, gambling by electronic sweepstakes, unlawful wagering, and bribery of sports participants.” Under current statutes, racketeering convictions carry penalties of fines of “not more than one million dollars, or imprisoned at hard labor for not more than 50 years, or both.”
Additionally, racketeering convictions that result in sentences of fines of at least $10,000 revoke recipients’ eligibility for parole. The enactment of this bill as currently composed could have a significant impact on the operation of sweepstakes-based online casino sites for real money in Louisiana.
At the same time, many of the companies in that space have already ceased potentially infringing actions within Louisiana.
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Louisiana has already been off-limits for sweepstakes casinos
In 2025, Louisiana gaming regulators and law enforcement took multiple actions to restrict residents’ access to unlicensed platforms for playing casino games online. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill shared a public notice about the illegality of sweepstakes-based online gaming sites, in addition to issuing cease-and-desist orders to the companies affiliated with those sites. As a result, many of the operators of those sites geofenced Louisiana out of their service areas.
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board supplemented that action with its additional cease-and-desist letters. Fontenot’s bill could add additional weight to these demands if it becomes law.
There is currently no legal framework for playing online casino games or redeeming casino bonus codes in Louisiana. While online sports wagering is legal in most of the state, officials in Baton Rouge have not yet tackled the issue of iGaming.
Even if voters in Louisiana someday do clear the way for the utilization of Fanatics Casino promo codes, that would involve licensed gaming and not affect the implementation of Fontenot’s bill. However, such deliberations do not seem imminent.
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If HB 53 becomes law, Louisiana could levy some of the toughest penalties for illegal gaming activity in the United States. Many potential targets of prosecution have already pulled out of the state.
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In partnership with the Louisiana Workforce Commission and South Louisiana Community College, this program aims to provide African American males with financial assistance to obtain Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) training, strengthening the resilience and contributions of this key demographic and improving equitable access to workforce opportunities. This initiative aims to reduce high unemployment rates within this community but also focuses on ensuring participants come from rural and economically disadvantaged areas.
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BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Gov. Jeff Landry is asking Louisiana’s congressional leaders to amend the state’s federal judicial districts, citing caseload growth and public safety concerns.
Landry sent letters to Speaker Mike Johnson, Sen. John Kennedy, Congressman Cleo Fields, and Congresswoman Julia Letlow requesting the change.
The request
Louisiana is currently divided into three federal judicial districts: Eastern, Middle, and Western. Landry is asking that West Feliciana Parish be moved from the Middle District to the Western District.
In the letters, Landry cited significant growth in the Middle District and an increased caseload for its judges. He said a major driver of the Middle District docket is Louisiana State Penitentiary.
Public safety argument
Landry said moving West Feliciana Parish into the Western District would improve judicial efficiency and better address public safety needs in East Baton Rouge Parish and the state.
He said East Baton Rouge Parish continues to battle violent crime. According to the Baton Rouge Police Department, recent numbers show violent crime in the parish has decreased.
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