How e-cigarette maker Juul hooked a generation of teens

+ protecting sharks US Edition - Today's top story: E-cigarette maker Juul settled a lawsuit over its practice of targeting teens through social media, parties and models – here’s why the company is paying $438.5 million to dozens of states [View in browser]( US Edition | 17 September 2022 [The Conversation]( The recent announcement that e-cigarette maker Juul had agreed to a nearly $440 million settlement with dozens of states came as welcome news to many people – especially parents of teenagers. After Juul’s sleek and attractive vaping products hit shelves in 2015, teen vaping rapidly rose in popularity, both in the U.S. and globally, to epidemic proportions. Critics have long decried Juul’s targeted marketing strategies, which they claimed were the primary driver behind the company’s ability to reach young people. The settlement is an important step forward in [holding the company accountable](, explains Jon-Patrick Allem, a tobacco control expert at the University of Southern California. He points to a strong body of research that documents how Juul’s aggressive marketing practices helped hook a generation of middle schoolers and high schoolers on vaping. And he describes the risks that e-cigarettes pose for the developing adolescent brain. This week we also liked articles about [how ants crawl on walls](, [Barbara Ehrenreich’s legacy]( and [ideological clashes within the Catholic Church](. One last note: If you find articles like these valuable and interesting, we want to remind you that your support makes our work possible. We hope you will take a moment to [donate to our fall campaign](. Thank you! Amanda Mascarelli Senior Health and Medicine Editor A 2021 survey revealed that more than 2 million youths in the U.S. were using e-cigarettes. Aleksandr Yu/iStock via Getty Images Plus [E-cigarette maker Juul settled a lawsuit over its practice of targeting teens through social media, parties and models – here’s why the company is paying $438.5 million to dozens of states]( Jon-Patrick Allem, University of Southern California The nearly half-billion-dollar settlement orders Juul to tamp down its targeting of the teen market. Walking vertically – or even upside down – is a piece of cake for ants. pecchio/iStock via Getty Images Plus [How do ants crawl on walls? A biologist explains their sticky, spiky, gravity-defying grip]( Deby Cassill, University of South Florida Ant feet are equipped with an array of tools – from retractable sticky pads to claws to special spines and hairs – enabling them to defy gravity and grip virtually any surface. Best-selling author Barbara Ehrenreich in a 2005 photo. AP Photo/Andrew Shurtleff [Barbara Ehrenreich helped make inequality visible – her legacy lives on in a reinvigorated labor movement]( Adia Harvey Wingfield, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis The author, who died Sept. 1, 2022, inspired countless researchers to probe the injustices working people face. - [The Catholic Church is increasingly diverse – and so are its controversies]( Mathew Schmalz, College of the Holy Cross The Catholic Church’s membership numbers are growing fastest outside Europe and the Americas, and Catholics’ priorities look very different across the world. - [How you can help protect sharks – and what doesn’t work]( David Shiffman, Arizona State University Sharks are much more severely threatened by humans than vice versa. 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