By Mary O’KEEFE

On Tuesday, Glendale Unified School District filed a lawsuit against JUUL Labs, Inc., the leading e-cigarette manufacturer, for creating an epidemic of youth vaping that impedes student learning and puts the health and safety of Glendale Unified students at risk, according to a GUSD statement. Glendale Unified joins Los Angeles Unified that already filed suit against JUUL for similar damages.

“Protecting student safety and well-being is our top priority; the vaping crisis puts student health at risk, negatively affects campus culture, and diverts valuable district resources. This crisis is made worse when companies like JUUL intentionally target young people in their marketing,” Glendale Unified Superintendent Dr. Vivian Ekchian said. “We filed a lawsuit against JUUL Labs, Inc. to ensure the company cannot continue to influence young consumers, and to recover costs and expenses spent battling the e-cigarette epidemic among students at Glendale Unified School District.”

LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn recently announced a joint lawsuit with LA County Board of Supervisors, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and LA District Attorney Jackie Lacey against JUUL.

“The lawsuit alleges that, contrary to the company’s claims that its product is aimed only at adults, JUUL targeted young people through advertising and failed to give warnings about the product’s chemical exposure and risks for cancer, birth defects and reproductive harm. It also alleges that JUUL unlawfully failed to verify the age of California consumers and then violated the privacy rights of minors by keeping personal email addresses of underage individuals who failed age verification on their website and using those email addresses to send marketing materials,” according to a statement from LA County.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, JUUL sales make up more than 64% of the U.S. e-cigarette market. As of Nov. 13 the CDC reported 42 deaths in patients with e-cigarette or vaping product use, with 2,172 cases of associated lung injury reported nationwide.

Vaping is an issue many schools are dealing with as more students are caught with e-cigarettes. Administrations of Rosemont Middle and Crescenta Valley High schools have been working to stop vaping on their campuses. At recent meetings with both Rosemont and CVHS students, vaping was an issue discussed. Students shared stories of kids vaping in bathrooms and said they noticed an increase in vaping. Rosemont Principal Scott Anderle said in a previous interview that he too has seen an increase in vaping.

The joint lawsuit with LA County states, “The State of California has an interest in promoting the health of its residents, especially its children. To that end, California seeks to reduce the illegal sales of tobacco products to individuals under 21 years of age. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.”

California joins New York, North Carolina and the District of Columbia attorneys general in filing lawsuits against JUUL. Many states have already either banned or are looking to ban flavored nicotine products used in e-cigarettes.

  Mary Okeefe