LITTLE ROCK—Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced today a $438.5 million agreement in principle between JUUL Labs and 34 states and territories resolving a two-year bipartisan investigation into the e-cigarette manufacturer’s marketing and sales practices. In addition to the financial terms, the settlement would force JUUL to comply with a series of strict injunctive terms severely limiting their marketing and sales practices. Arkansas will receive $13,553,391.88 over five years.
“It is the fault of companies like JUUL who spread misinformation and incentivized youth to buy vaping products that created this epidemic that continue to be a prevalent problem in our schools and neighborhoods,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “After a two year investigation, I am holding JUUL accountable for their actions with the assurance that they will comply with the law in the future because Arkansans deserve to be protective from deceptive business practices.”
JUUL was, until recently, the dominant player in the vaping market. The multistate investigation revealed that JUUL rose to this position by willfully engaging in an advertising campaign that appealed to youth, even though its e-cigarettes are both illegal for them to purchase and are unhealthy for youth to use. The investigation found that JUUL relentlessly marketed to underage users with launch parties, advertisements using young and trendy-looking models, social media posts and free samples. It marketed a technology-focused, sleek design that could be easily concealed and sold its product in flavors known to be attractive to underage users. JUUL also manipulated the chemical composition of its product to make the vapor less harsh on the throats of the young and inexperienced users. To preserve its young customer base, JUUL relied on age verification techniques that it knew were ineffective.
The investigation further revealed that JUUL’s original packaging was misleading in that it did not clearly disclose that it contained nicotine and implied that it contained a lower concentration of nicotine than it actually did. Consumers were also misled to believe that consuming one JUUL pod was the equivalent of smoking one pack of combustible cigarettes. The company also misrepresented that its product was a smoking cessation device without FDA approval to make such claims.
The states are in the process of finalizing and executing the settlement documents, a process that takes approximately 3-4 weeks. The $438.5 million would be paid out over a period of six to ten years, with the amounts paid increasing the longer the company takes to make the payments. If JUUL chooses to extend the payment period up to ten years, the final settlement would reach $476.6 million. Both the financial and injunctive terms exceed any prior agreement JUUL has reached with states to date.
As part of the settlement, JUUL has agreed to refrain from:
Youth marketing
Funding education programs
Depicting persons under age 35 in any marketing
Use of cartoons
Paid product placement
Sale of brand name merchandise
Sale of flavors not approved by FDA
Allowing access to websites without age verification on landing page
Representations about nicotine not approved by FDA
Misleading representations about nicotine content
Sponsorships/naming rights
Advertising in outlets unless 85 percent audience is adult
Advertising on billboards
Public transportation advertising
Social media advertising (other than testimonials by individuals over the age of 35, with no health claims)
Use of paid influencers
Direct-to-consumer ads unless age-verified, and
Free samples.
The agreement also includes sales and distribution restrictions, including where the product may be displayed/accessed in stores, online sales limits, retail sales limits, age verification on all sales, and a retail compliance check protocol.
The investigation was led by Connecticut, Texas, and Oregon. Attorneys General in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin, Wyoming have signed on to the agreement.