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North Carolina has become the first U.S. state to reach an agreement with Juul on the company’s role in popularizing e-cigarettes among young people.
Juul will pay $ 40 million and make “drastic changes in the way he conducts his business” as part of the consent order, according to a statement Monday from the office of Josh Stein, North Carolina’s attorney general.
“For years, Juul has targeted young people, including teenagers, with his highly addictive e-cigarette. It ignited the spark and caused the flames of a steam epidemic among our children, which can be seen at any North Carolina high school, ”Stein said.
Juul helped popularize the use of e-cigarettes as an alternative to traditional cigarettes, but has been affected by claims that it has led to an increase in the use of e-cigarettes among younger people by orienting their marketing towards them and that has not warned about potential damages.
In addition to North Carolina, attorneys general from 13 states and the District of Columbia have also sued Juul for his marketing claims, including California and New York. A group of 39 states last year announced a coordinated investigation into Juul’s marketing practices.
Juul said in a statement that the agreement with North Carolina was “consistent with our continued effort to re-establish our business and its relationship with our stakeholders, as we continue to combat the use of minors.” age and advancing the harm reduction opportunity for adult smokers. “
As part of its deal, Juul will pay $ 40 million over six years to fund programs to help people quit smoking e-cigarettes and prevent addiction, along with other research.
Juul has also pledged to change its business practices in the state to avoid appealing to young people, including no marketing aimed at people under the age of 21 and stricter verification restrictions and requirements for online sales, as well. as in physical stores.
In recent years, Juul has faced a political backlash and regulatory control on the marketing and health effects of their products. According to a person familiar with the situation, litigation concerns were one reason why the PMI tobacco group was in 2019 he walked away from the conversations for a $ 200 billion merger with rival Altria, which had paid $ 12.8 billion for a 35% stake in Juul by the end of 2018.
After the breakup of the merger talks, Juul reviewed his leadership, and Altria, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, was later forced to collect the repayments of its multimillion-dollar investment.
The 2020 national youth tobacco survey, conducted by the U.S. drug regulator and the country’s top public health agency, showed that of the 4.47 million young people who consume any tobacco product, a 3, 6 million “relatively high” young people used e-cigarettes. Still, there were 1.8 million fewer young Americans using e-cigarettes compared to 2019.
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