Juul Payout Will Help SF Schools Fight Teen Vaping

San Francisco public schools will get a cut of whatever Juul Labs pays to settle litigation that blames the e-cigarette giant for marketing nicotine to young people.

How big of a cut remains to be seen. But the San Francisco Unified School District said Thursday it will use what it gets to prevent kids from vaping.

Juul’s money will bolster existing efforts to combat tobacco and e-cig use through school nurses, staff training, health curriculum and peer-led anti-vaping campaigns, a district spokesperson added.

Superintendent Matt Wayne applauded the legal win. 

“San Francisco public schools are champions of tobacco prevention and education,” he said, “and we are very pleased with the outcome of this litigation.”

The settlement doesn’t get Altria Group—the parent company of Juul-backer Philip Morris—or other co-defendants off the hook, though, and SFUSD said it supports continued litigation against the companies.