‘NEFARIOUS’

State AGs Slam Juul With $462 Million Fine for Marketing to Kids

Under the terms of the settlement, the popular e-cigarette maker will be forbidden from running ads that feature anyone under 35.

Juul Labs was finally hit hard the same way tobacco companies were decades ago, with the company on Wednesday agreeing to pay nearly half a billion dollars to six states that claimed the popular e-cigarette maker targeted kids and got them hooked on nicotine. In announcing the $462 million settlement, New York Attorney General Letitia James said Juul’s intense marketing to teens made the tiny, electronic devices a mainstay on playgrounds and in schools, and “put them in the hands of minors who thought they were doing something harmless.” Juul is now forbidden from running ads that feature anyone under 35. The company will pay $112 million to New York over eight years, $175 million to California, and split the rest among Illinois, Massachusetts, D.C., and others. In a statement, Juul reiterated that it admitted no wrongdoing, claiming that the underage use of Juul products has declined by 95% since a “company-wide reset” in 2019, emphasizing the company line that its devices actually “advance tobacco harm reduction.”