The mother of a teenager addicted to e-cigarettes has taken it upon herself to warn other parents about the health risks of vaping.

According to an article on Yahoo Lifestyle, Dorian Fuhrman’s son Phillip started vaping when he was 14 years old after a friend let him borrow a JUUL e-cigarette. “I just tried it,” Phillip told Yahoo Lifestyle. “I tried it because they were doing it. I started with the mint flavor and liked it because it felt cool in my throat. It didn’t really burn or hurt.”

This eventually led Phillip to buy his own JUUL pods and other products online, but eventually he started buying them in physical stores. It was “easy,” he said. “Not many places would check your ID.”

When Dorian’s mom first noticed her son smelled different because of the e-cigarettes he was smoking. She says she thought he smelled unusually sweet, but attributed this to something like a new shampoo. But then she noticed that her son began experiencing severe mood swings.

Teenagers are, of course, known for their moodiness. But, Dorian told Yahoo Lifestyle, “it was darker and more intense. He had a quick temper, trouble sleeping, and night sweats.”

Dorian eventually found her son’s JUUL vape device, which looked innocuous to her because it looked similar to a flash drive; a “stealth by design,” Dorian told Yahoo Lifestyle. Still, she says didn’t know exactly what vaping was or the health risks of vaping.

Dorian and a friend of hers, also a mom of a teenager at Phillip’s school, reportedly started researching what the sons were doing and the health risks of vaping.

It wasn’t until Phillip’s mom took away his JUUL that he first noticed that his casual use of JUUL had turned into an addiction. “The first time my mom found it and took it away from me—I went a few days without doing it and I first noticed how dependent I was on it,” he told Yahoo Lifestyle.

Later, he also noticed that he couldn’t manage the physical activities he used to participate in. According to Yahoo Lifestyle, he had been a junior lifeguard and tennis player, but he found himself extremely winded when he tried out for his school’s basketball team.

JUUL has been mired in controversy over allegations that it markets its products as safe, particularly to teens. Reports show that teens do not know that vaping is unsafe. Phillip told reporters that on one occasion came home from school and told Dorian that a representative from JUUL Labs had come to speak to the students about mental health and anti-addiction—and also told the teens that the product was “totally safe,” and would soon get FDA approval.

According to the Wall Street Journal, JUUL is not FDA-approved, and the company is actually being investigated by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to determine if its marketing practices have targeted minors.

When Dorian couldn’t find an anti-vaping organization for concerned parents like her, she started her own, according to Yahoo Lifestyle. Called Parents Against Vaping E-Cigarettes, or PAVe, the organization was co-founded along with two other moms and their teen sons as well to educate people about the health risks of vaping.

There is plenty of research that shows the dangers of vaping, and organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider the e-cigarettes to be “unsafe” for children, teens, and young adults.

If you or someone you love has suffered from side effects of vaping, such as e-cigarette addiction, you may be able to file a lawsuit and pursue compensation.

Learn More

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.