Common Sense, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of kids, launched a national public education and advocacy campaign to counter “big tobacco’s dangerous and deceptive tactics.”
In a release, Common Sense says big tobacco has convinced young people that “JUULing” is essential to a cool lifestyle in an era when high school smoking rates had dropped to historic lows.As part of its effort, Common Sense will look into regulatory solutions at all levels of government and attempt to ensure Juul and other manufacturers of electronic cigarettes are treated the same as any other tobacco company.
Common Sense will also be creating a series of public service announcements, host house parties and town halls around the country to mobilize the public, and leverage the Common Sense Media platform with its 110 million users to provide parents with independent research, advice, and trustworthy information about vaping.
The organization also plans to work with the 68,000 schools and 513,000 teachers in the Common Sense Education community to provide new information and curriculum to help students think critically about Juul’s marketing messages and manipulative tactics used to addict them to nicotine, according to a release.
“Big Tobacco modernized and rebranded its products and leveraged social media, YouTube, and other unregulated tech platforms to attract and addict a new generation of smokers, trading the health of young people for billions in riches,” said James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense. “Juul profited $1 billion last year and has shown that it will use its deep pockets to fight any efforts to slow its rise. Just like with the problems of Big Tech, the government has been slow to respond with regulation, and it’s going to take strong action by advocates and parents to protect our children.”