Wisconsin Health Department Funds Anti-Smoking E-Cigarette Initiative

Recently, according to Badgerherald, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services has awarded $830,000 in funding to 13 organizations statewide for anti-smoking e-cigarette prevention and treatment initiatives. This aims to address the impact of e-cigarette use among youth and young adults over the past two years.

These funds, totaling $14.7 million, come from a settlement between Wisconsin and Juul Labs. They will be distributed over a period of 5 to 10 years. The settlement was reached in September 2022, with Wisconsin accusing Juul Labs of targeting underage consumers with their e-cigarette products.

Gina Larsen, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Tobacco Prevention and Control Program, stated that Wisconsin will be concentrating on the 18 to 24 year old demographic in the coming years. This group may be in college, starting their careers, or beginning to form families while dealing with smoking addiction.

A study has shown that since the establishment of Juul Labs in 2015, the rate of e-cigarette use among teenagers in Wisconsin has more than doubled. In comparison to the 7.9% usage rate among high school students in Wisconsin in 2014, 20.1% of high school students reported using e-cigarettes in 2018, according to Larson.

According to data from the university health services department, the 2021 national university health assessment shows that for every three undergraduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, there is at least one person who has used tobacco or nicotine delivery products at least once, while the proportion among graduate and professional students is one in seven.

Larsen warned, "This is why I call it the 'perfect storm.' Not only are these devices designed to be attractive to us, but they come in thousands of flavors, and they are disposable. This sets the perfect stage for addiction."