Osceola County, Florida Receives $400,000 from JUUL Settlement to Fund Youth Vaping Prevention Programs

Key Points:

·Osceola County in the United States will receive $400,000 in JUUL settlement money for projects aimed at preventing youth e-cigarette use. 

·The funds will be used for school education, smoking cessation support, and installing e-cigarette detection devices. 

·The local high school e-cigarette use rate is 6.7%, which is lower than the state average. 

·Advocates have shared cases of loved ones who have experienced health deterioration and even death due to e-cigarette use, calling for increased investment in awareness and treatment of the harms. 

【2Firsts News Flash】According to Spectrum News on July 9th, Osceola County in Florida will receive $400,000 of JUUL settlement money as part of a $79 million statewide agreement with JUUL Labs, Inc., aimed at addressing lawsuits regarding the company's past marketing of flavored e-cigarette products.

Osceola County Commissioner stated that they will use this funding to prevent teenage e-cigarette and nicotine addiction. This week, they approved an agreement with the Florida Department of Health to use this funding for various prevention strategies throughout the county.

A county spokesperson said:

"The bill passed on July 7th allows the Health Department to create an e-cigarette prevention project in the Osseola area and allows reimbursing project managers for a maximum amount. The Health Department will develop and implement the project on its own; the county government will simply transfer the funds to the Health Department as the beneficiary."

The county agenda report stated that this will include "school education, smoking cessation support, community outreach, and installing e-cigarette detection devices in schools".

According to a youth tobacco survey by the Florida Department of Health, by 2024, 6.7% of high school students in Osceola County have used e-cigarette products, compared to the statewide rate of 10.4% in Florida.

People in central Florida who are closely involved in combating nicotine and e-cigarette addiction are calling this a major milestone.

Representatives from the Florida Department of Health in Osceola County declined to comment on the matter, stating that they have not received any formal notice regarding an immediate change.

To date, Osceola County has received $294,454.40, the amount owed to them in the settlement agreement.