Vape pens, most commonly JUULs, are being used in epidemic proportions by adolescents who do not understand the damage they are causing to their bodies. Our Dallas based vape pen lawyers are ready to assist you or a loved one.
What Are Vaping Pens?
This makes sense because vaping uses heat to dispense oil into the lungs, optionally containing a much higher level of nicotine (or THC) than typical cigarettes. This oil, which also includes color, flavor, and other potentially hazardous ingredients, is not required to face any Food and Drug Administration review process to ensure safety. To make it worse, there are no labeling requirements or composition requirements so every brand and flavor uses different chemicals and isn’t even required to state which ones on the vape pods.
Another big issue is that there are major areas of the vaping industry that the FDA can’t even reach to regulate. First, supporters of vaping point to the black market and individual consumers dumping vape pod oils and adding their own. But, since even commercial vape pods aren’t regulated, this isn’t a very strong defense. Second, some states have legalized marijuana but it is not legal federally. This means that, even with regulation in place to test the chemicals and combinations for safety, the FDA can’t reach vape pods containing THC (the ingredient in marijuana that makes a person high) which is a rather larger part of the market.
Do I Have a Vaping Injury Case?
We are Dallas Vape lawyers accepting certain cases where consumers have suffered serious injuries after using a vaping device or young people under the age of 26 who have become addicted to nicotine after using JUUL e-cigarettes.
Please read below for additional information.
Youth Vaping and Nicotine Addiction
Vaping was originally advertised as an alternative to cigarettes, even as a way to stop smoking completely. Now it’s completely normal to walk through a cloud of coconut, tropical mango, or Strawberry Shortcake on your way into a grocery store. Vaping has increased in popularity, rising to over 20% of America’s young adults who admit to regular use. Youth vaping is an epidemic, and JUUL vape pens are at the epicenter.
The number of people smoking in the United States was going down. Now, 40% of school aged kids have tried vaping and the number of regular users increased by 1.5 million just in the last year. “JUULing” has become commonplace for today’s youth. School bathrooms have become JUUL rooms, high school sports teams bond over vaping, and students JUUL in class as a badge of honor.
Easily mistaken for a USB flash drive, JUUL vape pens or e-cigs” are engineered to be discrete and easy to hide from parents and teachers.
Since the oils smell and taste like candy, dessert, fruit, and other sweet flavors, younger and younger children are drawn to try them. Older kids and adults also prefer the flavors but still don’t realize how dangerous they really are.
Additionally, JUUL e-cigs are smooth to inhale and deliver nicotine at rate
nearly double that of traditional cigarettes, making them highly addictive and particularly damaging to adolescent brain development.
The CDC, US Surgeon General, and the FDA have all recognized the dangers of JUUL vape pens and taken various actions to curb JUUL usage among adolescents.
Serious Vaping Injuries and Death
What Can I Do To Protect Myself and My Family?
This is an ongoing situation that will continue to evolve. However, many of the deaths and injures have been traced to black-market pods, especially those used for marijuana oil.
The best action people can take right now to protect themselves are not to vape at all, avoid vaping black-market, homemade, or street sold products, and to avoid oil based vaping pods.
What Injuries are Common from Using Vaping Pens?
This diagram highlights the likely damage caused over time by the continued use of vape pens. Our vape pen lawyers understand both the immediate and long-term physical impact of JUUL usage.
What makes JUUL different from cigarettes?
JUUL e-cigs are uniquely dangerous because they use patented nicotine salts instead of the “freebase nicotine” found in traditional cigarettes. Specifically, these nicotine salts deliver nicotine at a high concentration and without the harsh effects of traditional cigarettes. This removes the body’s natural physiological response to the dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes. As a result, minors can now consume nicotine at a faster rate than ever before.
These benefits are particularly appealing to teens and young adults who are first-time smokers. Whereas adult cigarette smokers are accustomed to the tobacco flavor of cigarettes and the associated throat burn, JUUL is smoother on the throat and offers fruity flavors that appeal to young people.
Filling “Big Tobacco’s” Shoes
JUUL picked up where the “Big Tobacco” industry left off. In 2011, 1.5% of high school students reported using e-cigarettes. In 2018, that percentage skyrocketed to 21%. This meteoric rise followed a 40-year decline in cigarette usage among young people—thanks in part to the success of tobacco litigation in the 1980s and 1990s.
The CDC attributes this rise in youth tobacco usage specifically to JUUL and their marketing efforts targeted at teens and young adults. JUUL advertised in ways that “big tobacco” no longer could, utilizing billboards, social media, and celebrity endorsements. Specifically, the use of influencers, launch parties, and marketing at college events worked to normalize tobacco among young people.
Much of the reason that JUUL was able to advertise is these ways was due to regulatory loopholes. Eventually, these loopholes were closed, but the damage was already done. Accordingly, earlier this year, both the House and Senate investigated JUUL, and the Food and Drug Administration launched a campaign to curb its sales to teens.
How We Can Help You
Here at Van Wey, Metzler & Williams, we can help if you or a family member was severely injured by a vaping-related condition or if you or your loved one under the age of 26 has experienced nicotine addiction after a using JUUL e-cigarette or other vape pen.
To determine if you might be able to receive compensation for your losses, call us for a confidential, no-cost consultation. We have the experience necessary to help you with your e-cigarette addiction or vaping pen injury case.
We are here for you. Call us today!