Juul has argued for a long time that it is trying to save lives.
One of those times is right now. As reported earlier today by numerous outlets, the once high-flying e-cigarette company just agreed to a $438 million settlement with 33 states that alleged the company marketed its product to young people.
In addition to the financial terms, the settlement will force Juul to adhere to specific marketing and sales practices, such as refraining from depicting anyone younger than 35 in its marketing in film, on billboards or in social media, or to sell Juul.
Even though it spiked this practice years ago, the company agreed to never again fund education programs in schools. A summer camp sponsored by Juul was one of the initiatives that came before and afterwards. As Juul executives were being grilled by a House subcommittee that accused them of targeting schools and youth camps, a Juul spokesman told The New York Times that the company had given out six grants.
The new settlement, to be paid out over six to 10 years, is by far the largest that Juul has ever agreed to. According to the WSJ, since last year, Juul has agreed to pay $87 million in settlements with four other states that brought lawsuits against the company. Juul is facing thousands of other lawsuits.
It's a miracle that the company hasn't dissolved into smoke. The company's sleek, rechargeable vaping devices and nicotinepods with sweet flavors like cucumber, mango, mint and crme brulée became hugely popular with teenagers. Customers sued the outfit because they said they became addicted to the product because of its high nicotine levels.
While earlier ads showed attractive and seemingly very young men and women with Juul devices in hand, the executives of the company denied that they were targeting teenagers. The company argued that its products were designed for adult smokers looking for a safer alternative to cigarette smoking.
The image is called Juul.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the FDA's then-commissioner, declared youth Vaping an "epidemic" in the fall of 2018).
The FDA gave Juul and many other makers a deadline to submit plans to prevent youth use of e-liquids, but they didn't meet it. The FDA ordered the removal of products from the U.S. market. The ban was suspended while the appeal was pending.
Juul is hoping that the new settlement will help it regain the trust of regulators. Even if the outfit ceases to exist under the weight of all these settlement agreements and unresolved lawsuits and continuing opposition, it is not enough to stop what Juul started.
A brand new product is taking the market by storm. The brand is called Puff Bar. According to the WSJ, the two-year-old Los Angeles-based company overtook Juul a full year ago as the most popular e-cigarette among U.S high school students.
About 20% of high school students said they had used an e-cigarette at least once in a 30 day period in 2020, but around 9% said they had used e-cigarettes at least once in the previous 30 days.
Banana ice, cool mint and strawberry are just some of the 16 different flavors of the Puff Bar.
One of its ads depicts a young woman obscured by smoke and the other encourages users to take a "solo break" to escape from parental texts.
According to reports, the FDA has been able to sidestep it because the nicotine in the bar is synthetic. The FDA is considering how to handle the company and other makers of synthetic tobacco.
Current and former Juul executives are interested in what will happen next.
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