New York joined five other states and the District of Columbia to reach a $462 million settlement Wednesday with the JUUL Labs electric cigarette and vaping company accused of marking its alternate smoking devices and vaping to teenagers.
New York will receive $112.7 million as part of the settlement that was reached with California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico and the District of Columbia, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Wednesday.
New York’s share will fund anti-vaping programs and help teens quit vaping, officials said.
The settlement requires JUUL to secure its vaping products behind counters and verify that products are not sold to any customers under 21 years old. JUUL agreed not to sell or promote products online.
New York officials called it “the largest multistate settlement with JUUL” and sets the strictest regulations on JUUL’s marketing and sales to minors to deter underage vaping.
“JUUL lit a nationwide public health crisis by putting addictive products in the hands of minors and convincing them that it’s harmless — today they are paying the price for the harm they caused,” James said in a statement. “Too many young New Yorkers are struggling to quit vaping and there is no doubt that JUUL played a central role in the nationwide vaping epidemic.”
A statement from Juul said that with Wednesday’s settlement, “we are nearing total resolution of the company’s historical legal challenges and securing certainty for our future.”
The company said underage use of Juul products has declined by 95% since 2019 based on the National Youth Tobacco Survey. According to the CDC though, since surveys were administered online instead of on school campuses during the pandemic, the results cannot be compared to prior years.
The attorney general’s office sued JUUL in November 2019 accusing the company of marketing to teens with fruity and sweet flavors that misled nicotine content, claiming…
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