Juul Labs, a vape producer notorious for its troublemaking antics, has reluctantly agreed to fork over $15 million to the District as part of a settlement. The company has been accused of sneakily marketing its products to teenagers while glossing over how addictive they can be. D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb (D) announced the settlement on Wednesday, quipping that Juul must have thought they were in a 90’s sitcom ranked alongside New York, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Colorado in the $462 million drama series.
“Juul’s actions were like a rerun of the Big Tobacco playbook that state [attorneys general] binged on in the ’90s,” said Schwalb, comparing Juul to a less furry version of Joe Camel. He believes Juul’s flashy, manipulative social media marketing was an attempt to make vaping the newest trend for kids.
Juul, the rebellious Silicon Valley start-up, takes pride in its bad-boy status and is widely credited for the vaping craze among youths circa 2019. Swearing off its wild party days, the company then announced a “reset” aimed at winning back the public trust, pulling the plug on its television, print, and digital ads.
Wednesday’s statement from Juul suggested that the company is ready to put its legal woes behind it and start adulting. “With this settlement, we are nearing total resolution of the company’s historical legal challenges and securing certainty for our future,” the company said. They settled with 47 states and territories, doling out over $1 billion to participating states to atone for their rebellious past. “Since our company-wide reset in the fall of 2019, underage use of JUUL products has declined by 95% based on the National Youth Tobacco Survey.”
As part of the settlement, Juul has been issued a strict curfew of advertising on social media channels frequented by the youths, as well as a ban from billboards and public transport. The company must also refrain from including anybody under 35 in their commercials.
D.C. accused Juul Labs in a 2019 lawsuit of peddling its products to underage users and facilitating sneaky online purchases through an age-verification system filled with loopholes. The allegations from this lawsuit echoed those made by other states, claiming Juul also downplayed its products’ nicotine content while overstating their effectiveness as an alternative to traditional cigarettes.
New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) announced that the funds from the settlement will be used to educate the youths on the dangers of e-cigarettes, as well as fund anti-vaping programs nationwide. “Today, Juul is paying for the widespread mischief it caused,” said James.
The settlement is Juul’s latest legal escapade. The company agreed in September to pay $438.5 million to settle a lawsuit involving 33 states and Puerto Rico, which was also related to their teen-focused marketing tactics. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration briefly ordered Juul’s e-cigarettes off the market but suspended the ban for further review.
D.C. Attorney General Schwalb summed up the situation, saying, “Using deceptive practices, putting profits over people, and putting people’s health at risk are not cool, kids.” It seems Juul has learned its lesson and is on its way to embracing the straight and narrow path.
