Multistate Settlement Underscores Juul’s Culpability in Driving Youth E-Cigarette Epidemic and Urgent Need for FDA to Take Juul Off the Market

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Juul today agreed to pay $438.5 million in a settlement with 34 states and territories over its blatant marketing to kids. This settlement underscores Juul’s culpability in driving the youth e-cigarette epidemic and demonstrates why the FDA must move forward without further delay in ordering all Juul products off the market. The FDA in June denied marketing applications for all current Juul products, but issued an administrative stay after Juul filed a lawsuit. Juul’s history shows that it has acted with reckless disregard for the health of our nation’s kids and cannot be trusted to act responsibly.

The two-year investigation that led to today’s settlement details the many ways that Juul manufactured, marketed and sold its products to appeal to kids. As Connecticut Attorney General William Tong stated, “JUUL’s cynically calculated advertising campaigns created a new generation of nicotine addicts. They relentlessly marketed vaping products to underage youth, manipulated their chemical composition to be palatable to inexperienced users, employed an inadequate age verification process, and misled consumers about the nicotine content and addictiveness of its products. 

While this settlement is a positive step forward, our kids will remain at risk as long as Juul products remain on the market and other companies continue to market flavored e-cigarettes, including menthol-flavored products. To truly end the youth e-cigarette epidemic, the FDA must take immediate action to remove these products from the market.