JUUL settlement announced, reforms will be implemented
On Tuesday, April 12, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that JUUL must pay $22.5 million to resolve Ferguson’s lawsuit against the e-cigarette company. The lawsuit asserts that JUUL violated the law when it designed and marketed its products to appeal to underage consumers and deceived consumers about the addictiveness of its product.
In addition to the payment, JUUL must stop its unlawful conduct and implement a slate of reforms, including:
- Stopping all its advertising that appeals to youth
- Stopping most social media promotion
- Accurately marketing the content and effects of the nicotine in its products
- Strict practices to confirm the age of consumers who purchase JUUL products — including a robust secret shopper program and online purchase age verification. JUUL is required to conduct no fewer than 25 secret shopper checks per month at Washington-based JUUL retailers for at least two years, and perform at least one check in every Washington county per year. The company is required to send a regular report to the Attorney General’s Office detailing the results of the secret shopper program every 90 days.
For prevention practitioners, these reforms should help further reduce you access to these products. Over time reforms like this will improve public health outcomes across the state, reducing need for costly physical and behavioral health services in the future.
For complete details, visit this page on the Attorney General site: AG Ferguson: JUUL must pay Washington $22.5 million over its unlawful advertising practices | Washington State
