Another school district joins national lawsuit against Juul

Another suburban Kansas City school district plans to sue a leading e-cigarette maker as the number of vaping-related illnesses in the U.S. climbs to about 1,300 cases.

KMBC-TV reports that the school board for the Shawnee Mission School District voted Monday to join a national lawsuit against Juul. The district is the third-largest in Kansas with more than 27,000 students

The district says its students are being targeted with faulty advertising that puts their health at risk. It says that vaping increased by 48% among middle-schoolers and 78% among high-schoolers in the district from 2017 to 2018.

Several other school districts also are suing, including the nearby Olathe school district. Juul has said it doesn’t market to youth and its products are meant to be an alternative to smoking.