The multi-state settlement between Orlando, Florida, and JUUL will pay millions of dollars to the states, foreign sources said today.
In September, Juul reached a settlement with 37 states and Puerto Rico over how they advertised e-cigarettes to teenagers and mislabeled the amount of nicotine in their products. Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) just learned that $5.4 million from the settlement will go to it.
“There were times when I couldn’t breathe without it. I couldn’t breathe properly. It was like I was hyperventilating.” Jalen Robinson said.
Robinson, 14, used to be addicted to e-cigarettes. He said he was introduced to it at school more than a year ago, but today he is proud to say he has kicked the habit.
“It feels good,” Robinson said. “I think when I get older and I have kids, I want to be able to see that.”
Orange County Public Schools says it wants to use the money it spends to buy e-cigarette detectors to protect students. They also want to offer counseling to students caught vaping.
“Once addiction sets in, a lot of things are worth the risk, so I think counseling will be one of the best things they can offer.” Courtney Robinson said.
Vaping detectors are now in hundreds of school districts across the country, including Florida, according to Triton Sensors. Three years ago, Triton began making smoke detector-like sensors to help combat what they called an epidemic of vaping.
“It’s kind of like glorified smoke detectors, but instead of detecting smoke, they detect e-cigarettes. Instead of sending alerts throughout the school, it sends a simple text, email or push notification to nearby teachers.” The sales manager says it works with Triton Sensors Garrison Parthemore.
OCPS told FOX 35 News that it will be a while before parents see the devices in schools. They still have to receive money and skip some hope before buying the equipment.