WALDORF, Md. — School staff and resource officers recovered more vaping devices containing THC from Charles County students over the past week, this time at two middle schools and two high schools, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office said Friday. The students involved were as young as 11.
The devices were found at Glymont Middle School, Mattawoman Middle School, Thomas Stone High School and Westlake High School, in bathrooms and other areas of the schools. The students were between 11 and 16 years old. Each received a citation for possession of cannabis and faces consequences under the Charles County Public Schools code of student conduct. The sheriff’s office did not say how many students or devices were involved.
The sheriff’s office warned that THC vapes are especially risky for young people. Some products come from unregulated sources, so students may be inhaling unknown and harmful substances, and the THC levels in some cartridges can affect a student’s judgment and health. It urged parents to talk with their children about the risks of vaping.
Four reports in six weeks
This is the fourth release the sheriff’s office has issued about THC vapes or cannabis at county schools since classes began in late August:
- Aug. 26-27: Two 15-year-olds at Westlake and Henry E. Lackey high schools were found with THC vapes.
- Aug. 28-Sept. 1: Four students at St. Charles, La Plata, Westlake and Thomas Stone were cited for THC vapes or cannabis.
- Sept. 9-11: Students at La Plata High, Benjamin Stoddert Middle and Lackey High were found with THC vapes, including one 16-year-old with seven devices.
- Week ending Oct. 9: Glymont, Mattawoman, Thomas Stone and Westlake.
Westlake High has now appeared in these releases at least four times in 2026, and Thomas Stone twice this fall alone. The trend is moving into the middle schools: two of the four schools named this week are middle schools, and the youngest student involved was 11.
That matches what Charles County Public Schools leaders reported at a February town hall, when they said overall vaping violations were down but violations involving THC vapes at the middle school level had roughly doubled.
Help for families
Free, confidential help to quit vaping is available to teens. The Maryland Department of Health’s Vape Experiment program accepts texts of VAPEFREE to 873-373, and the Truth Initiative’s This is Quitting program accepts texts of DITCHVAPE to 88709.
