Portland School District Sues E-Cigarette Company Juul Labs

The Portland Public Schools district has become the latest district to sue e-cigarette company Juul Labs, accusing the company of marketing its products to teenagers and contributing to the illegal drug use in the city's schools.

According to a lawsuit filed in the US District Court in Portland, approximately half of the disciplinary actions related to drug abuse in the 2021-22 school year were due to vaping and e-cigarette use.

As a result, the school district has added information on electronic cigarettes and nicotine addiction to its "Insight" curriculum, which is a 14-week student and parent education program aimed at students who violate the district's drug and tobacco policies.

A lawsuit alleges that, similar to the nationwide rise in electronic cigarette usage, there is a high rate of teenagers in Portland public schools using e-cigarettes. The lawsuit states that from 2017 to 2019, the usage of e-cigarettes among 11th-grade students in Multnomah County rose from approximately 10% to 21%. Juul's founders, Adam Bowen and James Monsees, are accused of developing a highly addictive product to expand their loyal user base and using tactics similar to the tobacco industry to market it to young people.

It accuses the company of using child-friendly flavors to appeal to young people without ensuring that the flavorings can be safely inhaled.

A recently filed lawsuit alleges that an electronic cigarette manufacturer has been engaging in both environmental pollution and extortion. The school district is requesting that a judge order the company to cease enabling teenage addiction and award damages to help cover costs for prevention education, addiction treatment, and on-campus monitoring. They are also seeking punitive damages.

Statement:

This article is compiled from third-party information and is solely for the purpose of industry exchange and learning.

This article does not represent the views of 2FIRSTS, and 2FIRSTS cannot confirm the truthfulness and accuracy of the article's contents. The compilation of this article is only for industry exchange and research purposes.

Due to limitations in translation ability, the translated article may not accurately reflect the original text. Please refer to the original text for accuracy.

2FIRSTS is entirely aligned with the Chinese government on any domestic, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and international views and positions.

The copyright of the compiled information belongs to the original media outlet and author. If there is any copyright infringement, please contact us for removal.