JUUL Labs has agreed to pay North Carolina $40 million and restructure its business practices to settle one lawsuit among dozens brought by states. Lawsuits allege the vape giant used unscrupulous marketing practices to lure youth to its e-cigarettes, creating a youth vaping epidemic.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein filed the lawsuit against JUUL in 2019 alleging that JUUL had targeted its vapes to children by selling candy- and fruit-flavored e-liquids, disguising e-cigarettes to look like sleek thumb drives, and hiring social media influencers popular with teens and tweens to promote their products. North Carolina also blamed JUUL for misleading the public about the risks associated with its vapes. Vape pods can contain as much nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes.
Settlement Terms
The settlement restricts JUUL sales in the state and provides funds to help those addicted to e-cigarettes. It also requires the company to institute a barcode age-verification system of IDs where it sells its products. The system must be tested through a retailer compliance program using mystery shoppers at 1,000 stores per year. Online sales will be restricted for individuals to no more than two devices per month, 10 devices per year, and no more than 60 pods per month.”
“JUUL must abandon all marketing strategies and content that appeals to young people. JUUL will be prohibited from influencer advertising, outdoor advertising near schools, sponsoring sporting events and concerts, and most importantly, most social media advertising,” Stein said in a news briefing.
“I commend the incredible efforts of the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office. This settlement is an important landmark, but the broader litigation against JUUL is far from over. Beasley Allen will continue to fight on behalf of our clients and our nation’s youth to hold JUUL accountable for creating a youth vaping epidemic.”
— Joseph VanZandt, Principal
JUUL Lawsuit
JUUL used stealthy marketing techniques to lure young people to its products, then got them hooked. The company’s actions created a youth vaping epidemic. Beasley Allen’s JUUL litigation team is fighting for individuals and organizations that JUUL and its vape products have negatively impacted.
We have also filed JUUL lawsuits on behalf of school districts and public entities across the country which seek to protect students and recover resources spent fighting the vaping epidemic.
Our firm has the resources to represent clients throughout the country while never losing sight of the individual. If JUUL has negatively impacted your life or organization, we can help.
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Let us put our resources to work for you. If you are an attorney, we can competently and conscientiously assist you in handling any group of cases, no matter how large.
