Vape manufacturer Juul Labs has settled a lawsuit brought by the state of North Carolina, agreeing to pay $40 million, and to change some business practices. The money will be spent funding “programs to help people quit e-cigarettes, prevent e-cigarette addiction, and research e-cigarettes,” according to a press release.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein filed the lawsuit against Juul in May 2019, charging that the company marketed to minors and downplayed the dangers of nicotine use. The lawsuit—the first brought against Juul by a U.S. state—claimed that Juul Labs’ marketing practices violated North Carolina law.
“For years, Juul targeted young people, including teens, with its highly addictive e-cigarette,” Stein said today. “It lit the spark and fanned the flames of a vaping epidemic among our children—one that you can see in any high school in North Carolina.”
Stein’s press release claims the settlement will force Juul Labs to “make drastic changes to the way it conducts business.” But most of the changes Juul agreed to as part of the settlement had already been in place for months or years.
Juul no longer uses social media influencers for advertising or sells online without third-party age verification, and the company withdrew its flavored products from the market before removal of flavors was mandated by the FDA. Comparing “the health effects of using JUUL with the health effects of using combustible cigarettes in its marketing materials” is already prohibited by the FDA, as is marketing intended to appeal to those under age 21.
The settlement will also create a public collection of documents from the lawsuit at a North Carolina public university (they didn’t specify which). The documents will become public next year. The attorney general’s office says they will “prevent this kind of epidemic from happening again.”
Smokers created vaping without any help from the tobacco industry or anti-smoking crusaders, and vapers have the right to keep innovating to help themselves. My goal is to provide clear, honest information about the challenges vaping faces from lawmakers, regulators, and brokers of disinformation. I recently joined the CASAA board, but my opinions aren’t necessarily CASAA’s, and vice versa. You can find me on Twitter @whycherrywhy
