Washington To Get $22.5M From Juul In Vaping Suit

Washington To Get $22.5M From Juul In Vaping Suit

Introduction

Juul Labs has agreed to pay $22.5 million to Washington state over its e-cigarette as the company is alleged to illicit marketing and sales of the vaping products to the minors.

In September 2020, Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Juul, alleging that it targeted underage consumers by deceiving them about the addictive nature of the vapes. Juul Labs denied any wrongdoings in the case as per the consent decree filed in King County Superior Court.

The company launched the product in 2015 by flooding social media with catchy ads, which boosted its sale among teenagers resulting in nicotine addiction. As per the AG's office, the percentage of minors using vaping products rose to 21% in 2018 from 13% in 2016.

As per the settlement announced in Washington state, Juul is ordered to stop advertising and marketing vaping products on social media including, Facebook and Instagram. The company is even asked to monitor the sale of its vaping products to minors by implementing the age verification process before delivering the products. Juul also needs to implement relevant practices to prevent minors from buying and using the products.

As per the data provided by Juul on its company's website, the company stopped the sale and advertising of all the flavored products except menthol and tobacco before the AG sued the company in 2020.

The settlement even requires the company to conduct a secret shopper program where Juul needs to make at least 25 compliance checks per month by sending secret shoppers. The secret shoppers should ensure that the company is complying with the requirement to verify a purchaser’s age and ensure the limit of product sales to each consumer. The report of the program needs to be submitted by the company to AG's office every three months.

Earlier, in November, Juul reached a settlement of $14.5 million with the Arizona state just after the $40 million agreement with North Carolina.