Olathe schools are suing e-cigarette maker Juul. Other KC-area districts should, too
The Olathe school board took aggressive and needed action to protect students’ health with a unanimous vote Friday to sue electronic cigarette manufacturer Juul.
The Olathe district is taking a leading role in a fast-growing movement to take on an industry that’s getting kids hooked on the inherently harmful habit of vaping.
The school board’s decision to initiate a lawsuit against Juul should serve as a call to action for other districts. Manufacturers, distributors and sellers of e-cigarettes and vaping products should be held responsible for marketing dangerous products to teens.
“As a board of education, we have a duty to do what’s right for students, the community and our future generations,” said Olathe Public Schools Board President Shannon Wickliffe. “The hidden dangers of vaping are triggering a health crisis, and we’re taking action.”
The Olathe school board said that the district has been forced to divert significant resources to fight the rapid spread of vaping. The district is trying to combat the problem in school buildings with tougher penalties and more education.
Olathe has locked bathrooms at some schools during lunch hour to keep students from vaping in them. Wickliffe deemed it an epidemic.
Superintendent John Allison said a majority of e-cigarette users don’t realize that nicotine is always present in the liquid used to vape.
In 2018, one in five kids reported having used an e-cigarette product in the past month, he said. The electronic devices, which typically heat a nicotine–filled liquid, have become the most commonly used tobacco product among youth in the United States.
Olathe joins Goddard Public Schools near Wichita, Kansas, in taking legal action against the company and other e-cigarette makers.
Juul controls around 70% of the market. The company announced this week that it will replace its CEO and will no longer run TV, print or digital ads for e-cigarettes.
Company officials say Juul doesn’t market to youth and that its products are meant to be an alternative to smoking. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration counters, saying Juul ran afoul of regulations by touting its vaping products as safer than traditional tobacco cigarettes.
Making it seem hip for young people to vape is not cool. And we’ve seen the results of marketing products with colorful packaging and fruit- and candy-flavored, nicotine-laden vape juice.
The use rate by high school students has spiked from 11.7% to 20.8 %, according to the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey. Now, people are dying from a mysterious vaping-related respiratory illness. And underage children are using the product at alarming rates.
Just this week, Kansas reported its second vaping death in less than two weeks. Missouri has reported one death related to the outbreak.
Kansas had nine confirmed or probable cases of the vaping-related illness. All of them resulted in hospitalization. Seven have been reported in Missouri.
The illness has been linked to vaping products containing nicotine and others containing THC, the chemical in marijuana that creates a high. But no single product or ingredient has been identified as the cause of the vaping illness, adding to the mystery of the outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 805 cases have been reported nationwide, and 13 people have died.
Every day seems to usher in more alarming news of the consequences of vaping, underscoring just how much we still don’t know about this dangerous habit that appears particularly perilous for young people. The Olathe school district can’t afford to wait for its students to fall ill — taking action against Juul was the right decision.