States Settle With Juul for $462M

A half-dozen states announced a settlement Wednesday with Juul, which they accused of designing the marketing for its addictive e-cigarettes to appeal to underage young people. The states' attorneys general said the company agreed to pay out $462 million, the Hill reports, without conceding it did anything wrong. Juul has now settled suits filed by 45 states for more than $1 billion. The deal announced Wednesday is the largest multistate settlement so far, the officials said. It was reached with California, Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, and Massachusetts, as well as the District of Columbia.

"There is no doubt that Juul played a central role in the vaping epidemic today," New York Attorney General Letitia James said, per CNBC. "Juul is paying for widespread harm caused and will undergo severe restrictions on its marketing and sales practices." The restrictions include imposing limits on Juul's sales and marketing abilities. The company's products will have to be kept behind counters in retail stores, and buyers' ages will have to be verified. Juul said that since it changed its marketing practices in 2019, use of its products by people under 18 has dropped 95%, per Reuters. The company said it's close to resolving all such legal battles. Several of the states said their share of the money will support vaping addiction programs. (More Juul stories.)