Juul entered a ninth grade class and described his device as "totally safe", say teens | News from the United States and the world

(CNN) – A Juul representative told a ninth grade clbad that the company's e-cigarette was "totally safe" before showing the device to underage students, according to two teenagers who testified under oath before Congress Wednesday.

The comments were made during the first of two hearings organized by the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy Monitoring [Juul’s] The responsibility for the epidemic of nicotine addiction among young people. "The leaders of the company, including the co-founder of Juul, will testify Thursday.

Caleb Mintz, 17, one of the teenagers who testified on Wednesday, said a Juul representative had spoken to her clbad as part of a "mental health survey". [and] seminar on addiction "where teachers were asked to leave the room.

The representative mentioned his relationship with Juul, said Mintz. Comments on the safety of the electronic cigarette sparked a "sigh of relief" among his clbadmates who were already running out of steam.

"Very disturbing behavior, it's the least we can say"

In a statement, Juul said the presentation was part of an "ephemeral Youth Education and Prevention Program that ended in September 2018 after aiming to educate young people about the dangers of nicotine addiction – was clearly misinterpreted ".

But experts say Juul himself has contributed to the teenage levels of teenage vaping, partly by increasing nicotine levels and triggering an "arms race" for the addictive chemical.

"I think the presenter sent conflicting messages stating that Juul was" totally safe "and following every totally secure statement with" but we do not want you as customers, "" said Mintz. "I think the presenter was playing on the rebellious side of teenagers," he added, "when teenagers are asked not to do something, they are more likely to do so."

Phillip Fuhrman, a 16-year-old friend of Mintz, testified that he was addicted to Juul at the time of the incident, which occurred in April 2018. The two boys spoke with Juul's representative at the End of the presentation, they said, and Mintz asked what he should do if he had a friend addicted to nicotine.

Democratic Republic, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chair of the House Subcommittee on Oversight, asked Fuhrman [Mintz] asked the presenter what he should do if he had a friend addicted to nicotine, did Caleb refer to you? "

"He was there," Fuhrman said. "Since Caleb did not know the type of nicotine he was addicted to, whether it was an electronic cigarette or cigarettes, the speaker thought that he was talking about cigarettes and he said that he should talk about Juul to his friend. "

The product was "a safer alternative than smoking cigarettes and it would be better for the child to use it," said Juul's representative, according to Fuhrman. "He did not use it but he took it and we showed it," Fuhrman added.

Krishnamoorthi sighed before calling the company's action "very disturbing behavior, it is the least that can be said". He summed up the testimony by stating that "a person related to Juul took out a Juul device to demonstrate his safety to the teens, and then lied to the fact that the product was perfectly safe."

The Juul representative also "mentioned that the FDA was about to say that Juul was 99% safer than cigarettes, and he said it would happen very soon, and that it was under the approval of the FDA during the talks "according to Fuhrman.

In the year following the incident, Juul did not receive FDA approval as a smoking cessation device.

"Under the pretext of education"

Phillip's mother, Dorian Fuhrman, testified that after his son began to vape, he "changed overnight." He had started spending a lot of time in his room in the dark. in a bad mood, we had a very conflictual relationship. "

She worked with Mintz's mother, Meredith Berkman, to create a group called "Cigarettes Against Vaping Electronic Cigarettes" after the incident occurred in clbad.

Berkman testified that "Juul sent a representative to talk about his products to our children on the pretext of education". She pointed out that an outside group had arranged the presentation at her son's school, but that "the school was totally unaware that the outside group had brought a Juul representative to school. ".

She said she believed the outside group "was naive, certainly, but in good faith." Berkman said that she had called the group and that one staff member had answered the phone. Berkman testified that when she was interviewed about the presentation, the collaborator stated that she had conducted research on anti-Juul education and that she had discovered the name of Juul employee quoted online as the coordinator of the company's youth prevention.

The Juul employee contacted her to tell him that she had "the ideal person" and sent Juul's representative to school, according to Berkman.

"Human guinea pigs for the Juul experience"

Later at Wednesday's hearing, Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib told Berkman that "as a mother, I can feel your frustration … I just want you to know that you have the truth on your side, and be stronger for that. "

Democratic representative Ayanna Pressley then echoed this statement, telling Berkman that "we thank you for your ferocity and your advocacy."

"If we take no action now," said Berkman at the hearing, "we face an entire generation of nicotine-dependent children, human guinea pigs from the Juul experiment in his together".

Public Health Analyst Rae O 'Leary, who represented the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, also attended the hearing. According to her, Juul "targeted the Indians by exploiting tribal sovereignty, which will ultimately have a negative impact on Amerindian youth."

She recounted a visit from representatives of Juul earlier this year, during which they offered the tribal council a "switching program" and free starter kits as part of a harm reduction effort and from a public health study. The tribe was "unfairly exploited," said O. Leary.

Republican Rep. Michael Cloud told the audience that e-cigarettes could play a role in quitting, but said, "We need to be clear on one point: Nobody wants kids to use tobacco, no one wants kids to smoke we want vaping companies to target kids with commercials. "

Pressley said that "many of Juul's tactics seem to come out of the Big Tobacco game book," noting that for decades, tobacco companies have targeted black communities, particularly with menthol cigarettes.

"It's extremely disturbing," she said. "We have been here before, we do not need any studies, the only studies we need are the millions of victims who are behind us and we are likely to see in front of us."