E-cig producer faces legal action in US on teen use

‘Ban flavored vaping products’

WASHINGTON, Nov 27, (Agencies): Attorney General of Washington D.C. Karl A. Racine on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against JUUL Labs, Inc – a major e-cigarette manufacturer, and its original parent company, for marketing nicotine products to teenagers and misleading consumers.

In its lawsuit, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) alleges that Juul deliberately targeted underage consumers; failed to verify ages of purchasers; and deceived consumers about the content, strength, and safety of its products.

Juul has created a public health emergency in the District and nationwide by marketing its highlyaddictive nicotine products to children, and failing to warn consumers about the harmful effects of e-cigarettes – all in its pursuit of profit, according to the lawsuit.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have recently reported a total of 2,290 cases of vaping associated lung injury (EVALI) as of Wednesday, Nov 20. Out of these cases, 47 deaths have been confirmed.

The lawsuit also says that Juul misled consumers about the potent nicotine levels contained in its flavored pods.

The move follows similar lawsuits filed last week by California and New York. North Carolina became the first state to sue the San Francisco startup in May.

Underage

A Juul spokesman said Tuesday the company’s products are intended for adults and that it is committed to combating underage vaping.

Under intense legal pressure, Juul recently suspended its US advertising and halted sales of all but two of its flavors, menthol and tobacco. Additionally, the company closed its social media accounts, tightened age verification for online sales and replaced its CEO.

Juul, which launched in 2015, now controls roughly two-thirds of the US retail market for e-cigarettes. The company also faces separate investigations by Congress, the FDA and other federal regulators.

Juul rocketed to the top of the vaping market based on the popularity of its high-nicotine pods, fruit and dessert flavors and early online marketing, which featured youthful, attractive models.

Racine said Tuesday the company’s practices “unfairly and unconscionably dragged a new generation into nicotine addiction.”

The lawsuit, filed in D.C. Superior Court, also alleges that Juul previously:

made unsupported claims that its e-cigarettes are a safer alternative to traditional smoking,

failed to adequately verify customers’ ages before selling e-cigarettes through its website, and

failed to implement a “secret shopping” program and other steps touted by the company to deter underage use.

The district also said it sent subpoenas to eight other vaping companies seeking information about their business and marketing practices.

Underage vaping has reached what health officials call epidemic levels. In the latest government survey, 1 in 4 high school students reported using e-cigarettes in the previous month, despite federal law banning sales to those under 18.

Meanwhile, New York City lawmakers voted Tuesday to ban flavored electronic cigarettes after a lawsuit halted a statewide ban.

“We are acting to protect our kids by banning the e-cigarette flavors that have been hooking them for years,” Democratic City Council member Mark Levine said before the Council voted 42-2 to adopt the ban on flavored vaping products.

Advocates for the vaping industry jeered and threw dollar bills from the balcony after the vote, and industry supporters said the ban will hamper efforts to curb smoking.

“All the New York City Council did today was make it harder for adult smokers to quit, shut down small businesses, and create a new black market that will inevitably lead to Constitutional violations by the New York City Police Department,” Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, said in a prepared statement.

The measure, which Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he supports, bans all e-cigarette and e-liquid flavors except tobacco. It is expected to take effect on July 1, 2020.

The legislation is likely to face a legal challenge. Spike Babaian, a vape shop owner and board member of the New York State Vaping Association, said the organization is “pursuing legal options”. A 90day ban on the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes that New York state health officials planned to start enforcing is currently held up after a state appeals court blocked that effort last month when vaping industry representatives sued.

Consumers

Advocates for the e-cigarette industry say vaping products save lives by helping smokers quit.

Cheryl Richter, executive director of the New York State Vapor Association, said her group represents “hundreds of thousands of consumers who rely on vapor products to keep them from smoking cigarettes in New York.” She called the New York City bill “an overreaching infringement of their constitutional right to choose a product that improves their health.”

The move to ban flavored ecigarettes comes amid nationwide concern about the growth of teenage vaping and fears about health risks.

Republican President Donald Trump promised two months ago that he would ban most flavored ecigarettes but later backtracked. He said Friday that his administration would announce a plan to curb teen vaping “very soon.”

E-cigarettes first appeared in the US more than a decade ago and have grown into a multi-billiondollar industry despite little research on their long-term effects.

Researchers generally believe they are less harmful to smoke than cigarettes, which kill hundreds of thousands of Americans annually, and they were initially promoted as a way to help tobacco users switch to something less harmful.