‘States Must Use Juul Payouts for Prevention’

Medical groups are urging the U.S. states that recently won a case against Juul Labs to use the money for tobacco prevention and cessation programs, according to Pew. The court case ended in a $438.5 million settlement.

The deal, which resolved an investigation by 33 states into Juul Labs’ marketing practices, requires Juul to pay states over six years to 10 years, prohibits Juul from further marketing to young people, limits where Juul products can be sold and advertised, bans flavors that haven’t been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and prohibits free samples and brand name merchandise marketing.

Groups, including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK), the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights and the Truth Initiative, called on the states involved in the settlement “to both build on the successes of the historic 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with the tobacco industry and avoid some of the mistakes that were made.”

The groups cited a CTFK report showing that of the $27 billion that states collected from tobacco settlements and taxes in fiscal 2022, only 2.7 percent was spent on programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit.

Several attorneys general have expressed intent to use the Juul settlement money for smoking prevention and cessation programs. The health groups urged the officials to “translate that admirable intention into a firm commitment expressed in the text of the final agreement.”