By Matthew Perrone and Dave Collins
Associated Press
E-cigarette maker Juul Labs will be required to pay nearly $440 million to settle a two-year, 33-state investigation into the marketing of its high-nicotine vaping products, which have long been blamed for causing a rise of vaping among teens
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced the agreement Tuesday on behalf of the rest of the states and Puerto Rico, which came together in 2020 to investigate Juul's promotions about the safety and benefits of its product as an alternative to tobacco.
The settlement resolves one of the biggest legal threats facing the company, which still has nine lawsuits from other states.
In addition, Juul is facing hundreds of personal lawsuits filed on behalf of teenagers and others who say they have become addicted to the company's vaping products.
The state investigation found that Juul marketed its e-cigarettes to underage teens with parties, product giveaways and ads and social media posts using young models, according to a statement.
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“With this settlement we have secured hundreds of millions of dollars to help reduce nicotine use and have forced Juul to agree to a series of strict conditions to end marketing to youth and crack down on sales to minors. ”, Tong said in a press release.
The 438.5 million dollars will be paid over a period of six to ten years.
Tong said Connecticut's payment of at least $16 million will go toward tobacco prevention and education efforts.
Juul previously settled lawsuits in Arizona, Louisiana, North Carolina and Washington.
Most of the limits imposed by the agreement will not affect the practices of Juul, which stopped throwing parties, giveaways and other promotions after coming under scrutiny several years ago.
Teen e-cigarette use spiked after the launch of Juul in 2015, prompting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to declare underage smoking an “epidemic” old.
Health experts said the unprecedented increase risked hooking a generation of young people on nicotine.
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But since 2019 Juul has largely withdrawn, abandoning all advertising in the United States and removing its fruit and candy flavors from store shelves.
The biggest blow came earlier this summer when the FDA moved to ban all Juul e-cigarettes from the market.
The company went to court, and the FDA has reopened its scientific review of the company's technology.
The FDA review is part of a broader effort by regulators to bring the multibillion-dollar vaping industry under scrutiny after years of regulatory delays.
The agency has licensed a handful of e-cigarettes for adult smokers looking for a less harmful alternative.
Although Juul's initial marketing focused on young, urban consumers, the company has moved on to market its product as an alternative nicotine source for older smokers.
"We remain focused on our future as we fulfill our mission to steer adult smokers away from cigarettes - the number one cause of preventable death - while combating underage use," the company said in a statement.
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Juul has agreed to refrain from a number of marketing practices as part of the settlement.
These include not using cartoons, not paying social media influencers, not showing people under the age of 35, not advertising on billboards or public transportation, and not placing ads at any point of sale unless 85 % of your audience is adults.
The deal also includes restrictions on where Juul products can be placed in stores, age verification of sales, and limits on online and retail sales.
Juul initially sold its high-nicotine pods in flavors like mango, mint and cream.
The products became a scourge in high schools, where students consumed them in bathrooms and hallways between classes.
But data from a recent federal survey shows that teens have been drifting away from them.
Most now prefer disposable e-cigarettes, some of which are still sold in sweet and fruity flavors.
Overall, the survey showed a nearly 40% drop in the rate of teen smoking, as many kids were forced to learn from home during the pandemic.
Still, federal officials cautioned against interpreting the results, since for the first time they were collected online, rather than in classrooms.