The society might be quick to judge the young adults involved in vaping. But has the society sat and thought for a second how these children get access to these drugs? Truth be told, vaping amongst teenagers would not prevail if companies producing, marketing, and selling vapes were inexistence.
Take the case of Juul for example. Juul, one of the largest e-cigarette companies has continuously been on the limelight for it’s involvement in teen vaping. Primarily, the company is known for incorporating marketing strategies that encourage the young adults into considering vaping. This even resulted to the company being asked to pay most U.S states a cumulative amount of $438 million.
Barely a month after the settlement announcement, District Schools in Santa Rosa are already rallying a class-action lawsuit against the company. One school based in San Francisco has promised to take the matter up in court on o4 November 2022. It is quite exciting to see more than 1400 schools, 10 of which are from Florida supporting this San Francisco based school in filing the lawsuit against the Juul e-cigarette company.
Numbers do not lie and if statistics are anything to go by, you can trust that the schools which will be backing up this lawsuit will be more than the current 1400. This is because teachers just like parents are not comfortable with children wasting their life on drugs yet there is a solution out of it.
The case being fronted by the school district argues that despite the settlement announced in September, there is no resolution on how the company will halt it’s contribution to teen vaping. Important to note is that while the schools supporting the lawsuit do so at no cost, they risk being charged $25 if the court finds no fault with the Juul Company.
The amount is expected to increase by 5%, making the charge $30 in case the settlement comes after June 01, 2023. With this, one might think that this is a bold yet a scary move as financial risks are involved. However, chances of the school district being asked to pay for settlement are close to nothing. This is because there is overwhelming evidence of the company’s marketing strategies and on the health impact that it’s products are doing to the students as well as to the community at large.
It is high time for communities to act against vaping just like the Santa Rosa District. It is time that they realize that the government alone cannot fight the war on increased teenage vaping. All I am saying is that for effective end of this menace, the society should also be vigilant in ensuring companies like Juul are brought to books for their contribution in teenage vaping. By society, this also include law enforcement entities like the laws because it is useless if communities rally up a lawsuit and the court does not back them up even when there is clear evidence for it.
