Colorado to allocate $20 million from JUUL settlement to improve youth mental health

Colorado to allocate $20 million from JUUL settlement to improve youth mental health

Colorado will use the $20 million lawsuit settlement with e-cigarette manufacturer JUUL to set up a youth mental health program and strengthen cooperation between school districts and community organizations to improve youth mental health.

According to Sentinel Colorado on June 4, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced on Tuesday (4th) that he would use $20 million of the $31.7 million lawsuit settlement agreement reached with e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs Inc. to improve youth mental health grant programs.

In an interview after the announcement, Weiser emphasized that they chose to address this root cause of youth smoking.

"We know that people go to smoke because of mental health problems. This is why we have to go to the source and ask: How can we build better connections?"

Weiser also made it clear that school districts will be invited to apply for funding later this year, with the goal of having school districts work with each other and with local community organizations to develop programs that help cultivate connections between young people and trusted adults and each other. Several Colorado foundations have expressed their willingness to help promote these collaborations over the next six months.

Colorado sued e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. in 2020, accusing it of deceptive marketing to teens and downplaying the health risks of e-cigarettes. The state was one of several states to reach a settlement with the company. However, JUUL did not admit any illegal behavior in the settlement.

According to recent data from the Colorado Healthy Kids Screening Survey, 30% of Colorado high school students have vaped at least once, and 16% of students said they had vaped in the past 30 days. The $20 million grant is the largest of three programs Colorado plans to set up with JUUL's compensation. The other two are a $6 million program for nonprofits and government agencies and an $11.4 million program for school districts to address youth e-cigarette problems. The grants have been launched, and Weiser said the recipients will be announced soon.

Weiser believes that schools are free to work with anyone in the community who serves youth, for example, in some communities, it may be a boys and girls club, in other communities it may be a library that teaches children to read. Grant applicants whose districts serve 23,000 or more students will be eligible for $2.5 million over three years, those serving between 7,500 and 23,000 students will be eligible for $1.75 million over three years, and those serving fewer than 7,500 students will be eligible for $750,000.