This week, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced that she “took legal action against JUUL Labs, Inc. alleging that Juul’s advertising practices willfully targeted children in an attempt to induce them to use the company’s nicotine products.:
Moody insisted “that Juul relentlessly marketed to underage users with launch parties, advertisements using trendy and young models, social media posts and free samples” and filed suit in the Circuit Court of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County.
“Exploiting our children and jeopardizing their health for financial gain is illegal and immoral. Juul cannot sweep its role in creating the teen vaping epidemic under the rug. As Florida’s attorney general, and a mother, I will not allow Juul, or any other vaping business, to violate the law and target our children with products that are addictive and particularly harmful to their still-developing minds and bodies,” said Moody.
“Attorney General Moody’s legal action alleges that Juul created a technology-focused vaping device that could be easily concealed from parents by children and sold its nicotine products in flavors known to be attractive to underage users. According to the filing, Juul also manipulated the chemical composition of its product to make the vapor less harsh on the throats of the young and inexperienced consumers it courted. To preserve the company’s young customer base, Juul relied on age-verification techniques that it knew, or should have known, were ineffective. Juul’s actions allegedly kindled an underaged vaping epidemic reversing decades of progress in combating underage nicotine use and addiction,” noted Moody’s office. “Today’s action seeks to permanently enjoin Juul from targeting children through their marketing and product design. The legal action also seeks to ensure Juul does not deceive consumers with respect to the products’ nicotine concentration, as well as to disgorge Juul’s illegal profits and impose civil penalties.”
Juul pushed back against Moody’s claims in a statement.
“At a time when underage use of JUUL products has been cut by 95 percent, while usage of illicit disposable vapes from China is skyrocketing, it is disappointing to see the Florida attorney general direct her state’s resources to suing Juul Labs. Here are a few facts that should be understood,” Juul responded. “First, Florida’s attorney general initially led the negotiations between the state attorneys general and Juul Labs. For reasons that have not been explained to the public, she ultimately decided not to participate in a settlement to which 48 states and territories are now party to. Had she done so, like all those other jurisdictions, Florida would have its share of millions of dollars to help combat underage use and develop cessation programs. Instead, the Florida attorney general has now embarked on a drawn-out, expensive and uncertain legal process.
“Second, Florida today suffers from the highest sales in the nation of illicit and potentially harmful disposable products emanating from China. These products are not in compliance with the FDA’s regulatory regime and, in many cases, are flagrantly targeting the state’s children. By contrast, over the past four years Juul Labs has taken meaningful steps, including ceasing distribution of non-tobacco, non-menthol products in advance of FDA guidance on flavors, halting mass market product advertising, and restructuring our entire company with an emphasis on combating underage use. In part, due to these efforts, we have seen underage use of Juul products cut by 95 percent,” Juul continued.
“Florida has the highest sales of these mostly-foreign-made products in the United States with over 60 percent of vapor sales dominated by disposables whose companies often disregard responsible practices with inappropriate flavor names and questionable marketing. Over the past months, we have been engaged with the attorney general’s office to help create a best-in-class program to combat illicit products. Even though Juul Labs plans to fight this case vigorously, the company remains ready to help Florida stem the tide of the proliferation of Chinese-made disposable products that have found what amounts to be a safe haven for foreign-made illegal vapor products,” Juul concluded.
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