Juul Labs has agreed to pay $438.5 million in a settlement following a two-year investigation by 33 states into the e-cigarette maker’s marketing of vaping products containing high levels of nicotine.
These products have been blamed for an increase in vaping among U.S. teens, According to the Associated Press.
Connecticut Attorney General William Town revealed the settlement on Tuesday. Thirty-three states, along with Puerto Rico, joined forces in 2020 to investigate Juul’s promotional plans and its claims about the safety and other advantages of its technology as an alternative to smoking.
Juul remains the target of nine other lawsuits from other states, as well as hundreds of individual lawsuits filed on behalf of teens who believe they have become addicted to vaping products.
The state investigation found that Juul attempted to sell vaping to teens through parties, giveaways, advertisements and social media posts.
“Through this settlement, we receive hundreds of millions of dollars to help reduce nicotine use and force Juul to accept a set of strict injunction terms to end teen marketing and crack down on underage sales,” Mr Tong said in a statement. .
The settlement will be paid within 6 to 10 years, The Associated Press reports. At least $16 million in payments to Connecticut will go toward vaping prevention and education efforts, according to Mr. Tang.
Juul has settled several lawsuits before, including in Arizona, Louisiana, North Carolina and Washington.
Most of the restrictions imposed by the lawsuit won’t affect the company’s actions as it stopped using parties, giveaways and other marketing techniques after it came under fire a few years ago.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a surge in teen vaping following an “epidemic” of underage vaping among teens after Juul’s launch in 2015.
Juul has been holding back since 2019, when it began scaling back advertising and removing flavors like fruit and candy from stores.
More to follow…
