Credit: Anna Maria Barry-Jester/KHN
A $38.8 million settlement with the vape manufacturer JUUL Labs Inc. for breaking Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law was revealed by the state’s top law enforcement official on Monday.
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The firm, according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office, endangered Pennsylvanians’ health, particularly that of young people that JUUL targeted with its products.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health Bureau of Health Promotion and Risk Reduction will receive $38.8 million in settlement funds to support programs that lessen the impacts claimed by Shapiro’s office in the 2020 lawsuit.
The funding will be used on initiatives that, through resource use, innovation, and the promotion of smoke-free settings and tobacco-free lifestyles, will reduce or completely eradicate tobacco-related disease and death in Pennsylvania. The money will also be used to give adults and young people the choice to quit smoking and to stop youth and young adults from starting to use tobacco products, according to the attorney general’s office’s statement.
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Shapiro, a Democrat who will become governor next month, said: “JUUL knowingly targeted young people with tactics similar to the tobacco companies’ playbook. They disregarded their growing audience of young users, taking no action, as their market share skyrocketed on the backs of American kids. About thirteen percent of Pennsylvania students have vaped in the past 30 days – this settlement is only the beginning of keeping our kids safe from the dangers of vaping.”
“The progress we’ve made over the years to prevent youth nicotine addiction was at risk of being totally undone by JUUL starting what FDA has called a youth vaping epidemic,” Shapiro further said. “We can’t undo that harm overnight, but actions like this settlement and other steps being taken by state and federal partners are making progress in protecting kids and public health.”
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According to the attorney general’s office, the settlement with JUUL provides the following key terms:
• JUUL is prevented from targeting JUUL sales to youth within Pennsylvania
• JUUL will begin to disclose the amount of nicotine content in milligrams per milliliter and as a percentage in terms of the total volume of a JUULpod
• JUUL will not make any claims or representations that compare the nicotine content to combustible tobacco products
• JUUL will not sponsor events in Pennsylvania unless at an adult-only facility
• JUUL advertising in Pennsylvania will be limited to media or outlets with audiences comprised of at least 85% adults
• JUUL will be prevented from using billboards and placing or renewing placement of any outdoor advertising within 1,000 feet of any elementary, middle, high school, or public playground in Pennsylvania
• JUUL will not publish any marketing, promotional, or advertising materials on any social media platform accessible in Pennsylvania with the exception of testimonial videos of people over 35 years of age or older and non-promotional communications.
• JUUL will not use any testimonials or other advertising materials that make a claim or representation that JUUL products are safer than combustible tobacco products
• JUUL will maintain a retailer compliance program to conduct unannounced compliance checks at Pennsylvania retailers to ensure they are compliant with state and federal laws regarding the minimum age to buy tobacco products and JUUL’s bulk sale restrictions
• JUUL will limit online sales of JUUL products to no more than two JUUL devices a month, 10 JUUL devices per calendar year, and 60 JUULpods per month, and JUUL will take reasonable steps to limit retail sales to one JUUL device and/or 16 JUULpods per transaction.
• JUUL will have a compliance officer responsible for addressing enforcement of the terms of the agreement and responding to concerns presented by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Office of Attorney General.
Bloomberg News reported last Friday that JUUL would spend $1.2 billion to settle about 10,000 legal claims that the manufacturer of vapes and e-cigarettes are a key cause of the teenage vaping epidemic.
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The report continued that the pre-trial deal presented to a federal judge in California aims to satisfy personal injury, class-action, and school district claims made against JUUL.
Concerned adults who confiscate a JUUL device from an underage user may report the device serial number to https://www.juul.com/trackandtrace. Every six months that data will be provided to the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.
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