CA To Get $175 Million From Juul Lawsuit Settlement

LOS ANGELES — California will receive more than $175 million in a settlement with electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs related to allegations that the company’s marketing harmfully targeted young people, according to the state’s attorney general.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the $462 million multistate settlement, which was negotiated by the California Department of Justice and six other states.

The settlement resolves multiple lawsuits — including one filed by the state justice department, Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and County of Los Angeles — alleging Juul violated state laws by focusing on a young demographic with its advertising and promotions.

“Today is another step forward in our fight to protect our kids from getting hooked on vaping and nicotine,” Bonta said Tuesday in a news release. “By using advertising and marketing strategies to lure young people to its products, Juul put the health and safety of its vulnerable targets and the California public at risk.”

Of the $462 million, California will receive $175.8 million, the highest amount of any state settlement yet reached with Juul, according to Bonta’s office. The money will help California fund research, education and enforcement efforts related to e-cigarettes. Juul will also be prohibited from targeting youth in its advertising and promotion under the terms of the deal.

"This settlement holds Juul accountable for knowingly targeting our kids to hook them on flavored nicotine vaping products simply to boost their bottom line," Los Angeles County Supervisor and Board Chair Janice Hahn said in the news release. "The county will use funds from this settlement to continue our work to address youth nicotine addiction and the ongoing impacts Juul’s products have had on public health.”

Smoking remains the top preventable killer in the United States and causes over 480,000 deaths per year, according to Bonta’s office. Studies have shown that many Juul users continue to smoke cigarettes and that children who were not likely at risk to start smoking cigarettes have done so due to their use of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes.

“As vaping by young people surged in the late 2010s, with its highly addictive products and appealing flavors, Juul became associated with the youth e-cigarette epidemic,” according to the news release. “Researchers looking into Juul’s sales between 2017 and 2019, during the height of its popularity, found that its growth was primarily driven by users under the age of 21.”

In November 2019, the Department of Justice, Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, and County of Los Angeles sued Juul for allegedly violating multiple state laws and regulations, including those on the privacy rights of minors, unfair competition and false advertising.

“This settlement with seven state attorneys general represents another critical part in our ongoing commitment to resolve issues from the company’s past,” Juul said in a statement Wednesday.

“The terms of the agreement, like prior settlements, provide financial resources to further combat underage use and develop cessation programs and reflect our current business practices, which were implemented as part of our company-wide reset in the fall of 2019. Since then, underage use of Juul products has declined by 95% based on the National Youth Tobacco Survey.”

The $175.8 million received by California will be used to support, among other things:

• Programs to educate youth about the harms of vaping and help them quit;
• Enforcement work to implement California's ban on sale of flavored nicotine products;
• Research into the health effects of youth e-cigarette use.

Under the settlement terms, Juul will also be required to stop targeting youth in its advertising and promotion, ensure retailers comply with restrictions on selling to minors, establish minimum price requirements, and make internal documents open and accessible to the public, the news release said.

The settlement was negotiated by California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico and New York. Juul has settled with 47 states and territories, providing over $1 billion to participating states, according to the company, which noted it had also resolved more than 5,000 private litigation cases brought by approximately 10,000 plaintiffs.