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| Photo Credit: AP. |
Electronic cigarette manufacturer Juul has agreed to pay $438 million in settlement relating to a multistate probe into the company’s marketing of its high-nicotine vaping to teenagers.
How many states are involved in legal against Juul over high nicotine marketing to teens?
33 states have
been conducting a two-year investigation into the company’s marketing strategy
which promoted its vaping products as an alternative to smoking cigarettes,
blamed for a nationwide spike in teens vaping.
“Through
this settlement, we have secured hundreds of millions of dollars to help reduce
nicotine use and forced Juul to accept a series of strict injunctive terms to
end youth marketing and crack down on underage sales," Connecticut
Attorney General William Tong said in a press release obtained by the
Associated Press.
Tong
announced the deal Tuesday on behalf of the affected states plus Puerto Rico,
in a probe of Juul’s early promotions about the benefits of its technology as a
smoking alternative, The Associated Press reports.
The settlement
also includes numerous restrictions on how Juul can market its products but the
company is still facing nine separate lawsuits from other states and hundreds
of personal lawsuits brought on behalf of teenagers and others who say they
became addicted to the company’s vaping products, according to The Associated
Press.
How did Juul market its e-cigarettes to underage teens?
Juul
allegedly marketed its e-cigarettes to underage teens with launch parties, product
giveaways and ads and social media posts using youthful models, The Associated
Press quoted a statement by Tong.
“We think
that this will go a long way in stemming the flow of youth vaping,” Tong said
at a news conference at his Hartford office.
“I’m under no illusions and cannot claim that it will stop youth vaping,” he said. “It continues to be an epidemic. It continues to be a huge problem. But we have essentially taken a big chunk out of what was once a market leader, and by their conduct, a major offender.”
According to
The Associated Press, the $438.5 million will be paid out over a period of six
to 10 years. Connecticut’s payment of $16 million will go toward vaping
prevention and education efforts. The company has reportedly settled lawsuits
in Arizona, Louisiana, North Carolina and Washington.
The settlement
would gulp about 25% of Juul’s U.S. sales of $1.9 billion last year.
The U.S.
Food and Drug Administration declared an “epidemic” of underage vaping among
young people after teen use of e-cigarettes surged in the years following Juul’s
2015 launch.