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New York State Sues Juul Over Marketing Products to Kids

The lawsuit comes one day after California filed a similar complaint against Juul, alleging the company marketed and sold e-cigarettes to teens.

New York filed a lawsuit against Juul on Tuesday, accusing the vaping company of targeting teenagers with deceptive and misleading marketing of its e-cigarettes. The lawsuit, filed in New York County Supreme Court, alleges that “JUUL took a page from Big Tobacco’s playbook by engaging in deceptive business practices when marketing and advertising its products, and illegally sold its products to minors through its website and in third-party retail stores throughout the state, causing large numbers of New York youth to become addicted to nicotine.”

The suit, which comes one day after California filed a similar complaint, also alleges that the vaping company’s advertising campaign misled its customers by failing to warn them that e-cigarettes contain nicotine—instead implying Juul is a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes. “By glamorizing vaping, while at the same time downplaying the nicotine found in vaping products, JUUL is putting countless New Yorkers at risk,” New York State Attorney General Letitia James said in a press release. California’s lawsuit also said the company’s age-verification system is inadequate and allows minors to buy e-cigarettes from the company’s online store.