Juul, the leading manufacturer of e-cigarettes in the U.S., will pay over $112 million to New York state as part of a sweeping multistate settlement centered on claims that the company drove a public health crisis among children.
Six states and Washington, D.C. will receive $462 million total to settle allegations that the company deliberately targeted minors in the promotion of its products, spurring what Attorney General Letitia James called a “nationwide youth vaping epidemic.”
“This is the largest multistate settlement with Juul and includes the most stringent restrictions on the company’s marketing and sales to protect and to prevent minors from vaping,” James said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The settlement also includes California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico and Colorado.
Under the terms of its deal with New York, the company will be barred from targeting young people in the promotion of its products. Restrictions also include a ban on using cartoons or people under the age of 35 in its promotional materials. Juul also cannot advertise on mass transit in New York under the deal.
“Juul targeted youth by glamorizing vaping with colorful ads, featuring young models at flashy parties in New York City and the Hamptons — all while downplaying the harmful effects of vaping,” James said.
The company has been facing a number of legal battles in recent years amid a surge of minors who took to vaping under the pretense that it is a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes. New York City and state each banned the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in legislation that took effect in 2020.
In a statement posted on its website, Juul said the deal represented “another critical part in our ongoing commitment to resolve issues from the company’s past.”
“With this settlement, we are nearing total resolution of the company’s historical legal challenges and securing certainty for our future,” the company said in a statement. “We have now settled…
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