North Carolina’s attorney general is suing a popular e-cigarette maker, asking a court to limit what flavors it can sell and ensure underage teens can’t buy its vaping products.
RALEIGH, N. C. — North Carolina’s attorney general is suing a popular e-cigarette maker, asking a court to limit what flavors it can sell and ensure underage teens can’t buy its vaping products.
Josh Stein, the top law enforcement official in the traditionally tobacco-friendly state, said Wednesday he’s the first state attorney general to take the maker of Juul to court. The Massachusetts attorney general last year announced an investigation into Juul’s sales and marketing.
Juul’s marketing practices are causing an « epidemic » among young people through « unfair and deceptive » marketing practices, Stein said at a news conference Wednesday.
« Juul entered the market with the highest nicotine potency of any product, » Stein said. « Meanwhile Juul understated the strength of the nicotine in each pod, downplaying its risks. »
Juul, which launched in 2015, now controls nearly three-quarters of the $3.7 billion-dollar retail market for e-cigarettes. The explosion of underage vaping has alarmed public health officials and lawmakers. Last year, one in five U. S. high school students reported vaping in the previous month, according to a government survey .
Stein said Juul’s use among teens is higher than Juul’s supposed targeted demographic. He said that’s probably because of marketing practices aimed at young people, such as using « fruit and dessert-like flavors that serve to entice children to the product. »
Holding up a Juul device, he pointed out that it looked like a flash drive, « making it cool and easy to hide.
