SC school district joins lawsuit against Juul, alleging rise in teen vaping
Editor’s note: this story has been updated to include a comment from Juul.
Lexington 1 school district has joined with other schools across the country in a lawsuit against the e-cigarette manufacturer Juul, after S.C. high schools reported a jump in the amount of vaping by students.
The Midlands school district joined the class action suit in a California courtroom on Oct. 2, the district announced in a press release on Monday. Lexington 1 is the first district in South Carolina to join the nationwide lawsuit.
The lawsuit was spurred by a rise in vaping among high school students in the Palmetto State in recent years, with data showing electronic smoking devices are now students’ preferred method of using tobacco.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 21.6% of S.C. high school students use tobacco products. A 2019 survey of tobacco use among young people found 39.5% of high school students have used an e-cigarette, 22% in the last 30 days.
High schoolers reported using Juul more than any other e-cigarette, and the lawsuit accuses the vaping company of targeting users under the age of 18.
In a statement to The State, a spokesman for Juul said the company’s customer base is adult smokers, and that Juul would respond to the suit through the company’s legal channels.
The lawsuit comes after Juul opened a production facility with more than 500 jobs in Lexington County last year. Lexington County Council approved an incentive for the $125 million project.
Juul markets itself as having an innovative design that delivers a stronger hit of flavored vapor — made of nicotine salts — without the tar of cigarettes. The company’s e-cigarettes also became popular because of their size: About as big as a USB drive, and rechargeable when plugged into a computer. The company sells different flavor “pods” which can be purchased and inserted into any Juul. Each pod offers about 200 puffs and is equivalent to a pack of cigarettes, according to the company’s website.
But Juul has also been criticized for not doing enough to police underage use of its products. The company has sought to improve its image — a large banner on its website now displays a warning about nicotine being addictive and the company is supporting legislation to curb underage use.
“We will continue to reset the vapor category in the U.S. and seek to earn the trust of society by working cooperatively with attorneys general, legislators, regulators, public health officials, and other stakeholders to combat underage use and transition adult smokers from combustible cigarettes,” a Juul spokesman said in a statement to The State. “As part of that process, the company reduced its product portfolio, halted television, print, and digital product advertising and submitted a Premarket Tobacco Product Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration including comprehensive scientific evidence to support the harm reduction potential of its products and data-driven measures to address underage use.”
The company has ramped up lobbying efforts, too. There are six registered Juul lobbyists in the Midlands, according to the South Carolina Ethics Commission, as well as an employee PAC that has donated to a dozen state attorney general campaigns, including that of S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson.
The school district said it expects the actual number of users is higher than those self-reported figures would suggest. In Lexington 1 alone, in-school discipline referrals for vaping rose from 147 in the 2017-18 school year to 358 in 2018-19, the district said.
That has required Lexington 1 staff to spend an increased amount of time during school hours addressing e-cigarette use, taking away from time spent on class instruction.
In February, Lexington 1’s school board passed a resolution opposing the sale and use of e-cigarettes, and this summer approved joining the class action suit brought by dozens of other school districts nationwide.
Nationwide, reported e-cigarette use by young people rose 78% in the past year, from 11.7% to 20.8%.
This story was originally published October 13, 2020 at 10:10 AM.
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