Are teens, parents or companies to blame for the underage vaping epidemic?

I wrote an essay for Fast Company about my experience trying to stop my two teenagers from vaping.

It received a lot of response and finger pointing.

While I may disagree with some of the comments, I think it’s good to engage in discussion. It can only help spread awareness that this is a problem, and we all need to work together to find a solution.

I welcome you to read the article, and the discussion in the comments on Twitter, and join in the dialogue.

 

10 thoughts on “Are teens, parents or companies to blame for the underage vaping epidemic?”

  1. AN OPEN LETTER TO THOSE IN THE VAPE INDUSTRY WHO HAVE MARKETED THEIR PRODUCTS DIRECTLY TO CHILDREN

    Your greed has overcome your morals, ethics, and consciences. You have taken a play out of “big tobacco’s” playbooks and decided to get an entire generation hooked on your addictive poisons. While the government uses legislation and statutes to quash your predatory practices, plaintiffs’ lawyers will be hitting you in the only place you care about… your bank accounts. Ask Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, how it feels to be in the defendant’s chair in such lawsuits.

    While your products may have positive attributes with actual tobacco smokers who are trying to quit, you knew there was little money in targeting only those who could actually benefit from your e-cigarettes. So, you decided to create a new, and much larger, group of consumers – our country’s teenagers. Sound familiar? It should. It’s what Purdue Pharma did with OxyContin. Purdue Pharma had a product that had benefit for those few patients with truly intractable pain. OxyContin was a life changer for such patients when used properly and in the right patient. OxyContin has true and measurable benefits. However, there were not enough of those patients to make this addictive drug into a multi-billion dollar market for Purdue Pharma. Seeing the potential in getting just about any patient with pain hooked on OxyContin, the opioid manufacturers and distributors promoted the campaign to make “Pain” the “Fifth Vital Sign.” This campaign was incredibly successful and opened addictive opioids like OxyContin to patients who did not have any medical need for it. You are doing the same thing.

    You are putting profit ahead of lives, and it’s disgusting. What you are doing is indefensible. You need to be held accountable and be disgorged of your profits. Your profits should be used to compensate the people that have become addicted to your products, the people who have developed lung disease in just a few months after using your products, and the families of those that you have killed with your products.

    And… as I end most of my posts (rants or tirades)…

    TO THE VICTIMS OF THE VAPE INDUSTRY: If you are 25 YEARS OR YOUNGER and ADDICTED to a JUUL device, you may be entitled to compensation. My name is Paul J. Molinaro, M.D., J.D., and I am a California physician and attorney. If you live in California and your first experience with nicotine was through a Juul device and you are now addicted, please contact me for a free / no-obligation consultation. I want to hear your story. I want to tell your story to a judge. (www.888mdjdlaw.com).

    * The above text may be considered an ad from a California law firm.

    #ecig #vape #addiction #nicotine #toxin #poison #epidemic #lawyer #attorney #lawsuit #ecigarette #vapelife #vapenation #vapeon #vapecommunity #vaping #vapefam #vapers #vaper #vapestagram #vapetricks #vapor #vapelyfe #ejuice #vapedaily #instavape #eliquid #vapelove #vapeshop #vapepics #vapes #vapesociety #ecig #vaporizer #vapestore #liquid #vapefamily

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Working Mom Warrior,
        The cases in which I am involved are not class actions but MDLs (multidistrict litigation). Bradley Colgate, et al. v. Juul Labs, Inc., et al. (Case MDL No. 2913) is the case in California which took similar cases, and like it does with many “mass torts / multidistrict litigation” cases, the federal court system has consolidated the cases into one courtroom, and that courtroom is in the United Stated District Court for Northern California. With this development, I believe that things have taken a major, and positive, turn for the victims of the vape and e-cigarette industries. The major advantage for plaintiffs is that class actions get pennies for victims and millions for lawyers… MDLs get significant money for victims (not millions, because the company only has so much and there are usually thousands of victims). My firm’s site has a lot of information on it about this stuff. (http://www.fmtrialattorneys.com/blog/).
        The only way to change behavior of corporations that are making BILLIONS of dollars is to take away BILLIONS of dollars. Going after that kind of power requires attorneys from all over to work together, and that is what we are doing.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Not only did you open mail addressed to someone else, you’ve also been living under a rock about vaping. I don’t smoke nor have I ever vaped and even I knew of its popularity before you knew it existed.

    Why is it Juul’s responsibility to pay up for your lack of awareness of what’s going on in the world or for what you deem to be bad judgment on your son’s part? Why is everything someone else’s fault? Should a company like Netflix have to pay up for your addiction to its content, in turn making you stay up late at night, then being late for work the next day? Do you see where I’m going with this?

    I appreciate wanting to protect your family, but we know very well of the dangers of anything consumed in excess, let alone “adult” products.

    Adults know the dangers of too much alcohol but it’s still a choice for which the distilleries should bear no responsibility should you turn into an alcoholic.

    I’m very tired of society moving ever more towards a daycare mentality where everything is being “baby proofed” because companies are afraid of lawsuits for the choices people make and in fact only end up limiting my own.

    Like

    1. I am not blaming the companies for making the vapes. I am blaming them for illegal practices — targeting children for a product that is supposed to be sold to adults, making a vape that doesn’t take nicotine-free juice in order to addict non-smokers like kids, and allowing underage people to purchase the products online with no legitimate age verification. Netflix and alcohol companies are not breaking the law in their advertising as far as I know. Most parents and teens were not aware of vaping until a couple years ago. Its popularity has exploded in the past few years. I was not living under a rock. I was busy being an active parent and dealing with all the other issues of raising children and running a household. When I first saw a vape three years ago, I took the time to learn about it to keep my child safe.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. And I have more to say… I always have more to say…

        Let me be clear here… If you are or were a current tobacco smoker and are using a vape device, Juul or other, as a means to quit smoking,,, then, that’s great… as a person, I am happy for you… as a physician, I applaud your wise actions… and you are not someone who I would represent in a case such as the ones being brought against Juul… Alternative nicotine delivery devices like gum and patches have been great tool to help tobacco smokers quit… that’s pretty much a given… I bet the same could be said for this new nicotine delivery system we call a vape or an e-cigarette or whatever (there are technical differences and such)… but when the manufactures of these new devices realized that there are only a limited number of tobacco smokers and that if the goal was to quit altogether, that would be bad for long term business as opposed to getting new users hooked for life… the difference is many billions of dollars.

        Liked by 1 person

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