Juul To Pay $22.5 Million To Settle Washington Vaping Suit

E-cigarette giant Juul Labs will pay Washington state $22.5 million and has agreed to a variety of reforms to prevent underage use and sales under a settlement announced Wednesday by state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. From a report: Ferguson filed a consumer protection lawsuit in September 2020, saying the country's largest e-cigarette company targeted underage consumers and deceived consumers about the addictiveness of its product. "Juul's conduct harmed Washingtonians," Ferguson said at a news conference in Seattle. "They harmed the youth of our state." Ferguson said that upon the product's launch in 2015, the company flooded social media with colorful ads, fueling a spike in use and nicotine addiction among teenagers. The percentage of vaping high school sophomores in Washington rose from 13% in 2016 to nearly 21% by 2018, according to Ferguson's office.

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