Tag: Juul Labs

Juul Settles North Carolina Vaping Lawsuit

Photo: steheap
North Carolina has settled its lawsuit with Juul Labs for $40 million, reports The New York Times. The lawsuit is the first decision in of a series of lawsuits brought by states that claimed the company’s marketing practices fueled widespread addiction among young people to its e-cigarettes. The money will fund programs to help people quit e-cigarettes, prevent e-cigarette addiction and research e-cigarettes.
“This settlement is consistent with our ongoing effort to reset our company and its relationship with our stakeholders as we continue to combat underage usage and advance the opportunity for harm reduction for adult smokers,” said Juul spokesman Joshua Raffel in a statement.
The settlement was announced on June 28 by North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, who said that Juul agreed to avoid marketing that appeals to those under the age of 21. The company will curtail its use of “most social media advertising, influencer advertising, outdoor advertising near schools and sponsoring sporting events and concerts,” Stein said.
North Carolina sued Juul Labs in May 2019, becoming the first state in the U.S. to file suit against the e-cigarette manufacturer. In the agreement, the company denies any wrongdoing or liability. Juul Labs will ensure its products are sold behind counters, the attorney general said. Juul Labs will also use third-party age verification systems for online sales. The order also commits Juul to sending teenage “mystery shoppers” to 1,000 stores each year to check whether they are selling to minors.
The settlement also bars the company from using models under age 35 in advertisements and states that no advertisements should be posted near schools. “For years Juul targeted young people, including teens, with highly addictive e-cigarettes,” said Stein in a statement. “It lit the spark and fanned the flames of a vaping epidemic among our children—one that you can see in any high school in North Carolina.”
Thirteen states, including California, Massachusetts and New York, as well as the District of Columbia have filed similar lawsuits. The central claim in each case is that Juul knew, or should have known, that it was hooking teenagers on pods that contained high levels of nicotine.
“This win will go a long way in keeping Juul products out of kids’ hands, keeping its chemical vapor out of their lungs and keeping its nicotine from poisoning and addicting their brains. I’m incredibly proud of my team for their hard work on behalf of North Carolina families,” Stein said. “We’re not done—we still have to turn the tide on a teen vaping epidemic that was borne of Juul’s greed. As your attorney general, I’ll keep fighting to prevent another generation of young people from becoming addicted to nicotine.”
June 28, 2021
Altria Executives Scorn Their Vapor Products During Trial

Photo: Paul Brady | Dreamstime.com
Altria Group Executives have been describing in detail their failure to come up with a marketable vapor product during an antitrust trial, reports The Wall Street Journal. Products leaked, generated high formaldehyde levels and lacked the nicotine smokers were looking for, according to their testimonies.
In April 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued to unwind Altria’s 35 percent interest in Juul Labs, which the cigarette maker acquired in December 2018 for $12.8 billion.
A key question at trial is why Altria ended production of its own e-cigarettes in late 2018, shortly before announcing its investment in Juul.
Altria in October 2018 announced it was halting the sale of its pod-based and fruity-flavored e-cigarettes in response to a call by the Food and Drug Administration for e-cigarette makers to help stem a surge in vaping among children and teens. Then in December of that year, two weeks before the Juul agreement was signed, Altria pulled its remaining e-cigarettes off the market.
The FTC alleges Altria did so because of an illegal side deal in which it agreed to close its own e-cigarette business so it could take a stake in Juul. Altria and Juul both deny they had any such agreement.
Altria says it halted its e-cigarette sales amid pressure from regulators to curb youth use and an internal reckoning about the company’s inability to develop a successful vaping product. Juul says it didn’t see Altria’s e-cigarettes as a threat, didn’t ask Altria to shelve them and was surprised when Altria did so.
Juul and Altria argue that since the deal was struck, competition in the e-cigarette market has increased not decreased. Juul’s market share has fallen as have e-cigarette prices.
The FTC is seeking to force Altria to divest its stake and terminate the companies’ noncompete agreement. The case is being heard by an administrative law judge, who will make an initial decision; the agency’s commissioners will then vote on the matter.
June 24, 2021
Bates: Juul Publication Complaints Absurd

Clive Bates
Recent complaints about The American Journal of Health Behavior “Special Issue on Juul” are absurd, anti-scientific and somewhat disturbing, according to Clive Bates, director of The Counterfactual.
In a letter to the editor, Bates said the Juul Labs monograph provides highly salient information on changes in smoking status, drivers of transition, population health impact and retailer behaviors. “The summary for the introduction to the series should be enough to whet the appetite of the genuinely curious and scientifically engaged,” he wrote.
According to Bates, the fact that research is done by a company in the nicotine-delivery business does not invalidate the findings. In his view, Juul’s scientists have done excellent work that stands on its merits and has now been published after thorough peer review in a reputable journal with transparent disclosure of its provenance.
“The real question here is why these tobacco control activists show so little curiosity about the changes that are reshaping the U.S. tobacco and nicotine market,” he wrote. “As Juul rose in popularity, we saw unusually rapid declines in cigarette sales and smoking prevalence in both adults and adolescents.
“The right response to that is to want to know more. The wrong response is to try to suppress or discredit informative data and analysis just because it tells a story that is at variance with a narrative about the evils of both e-cigarettes and the companies that make them.”
May 20, 2021
Academic Journal Criticized for ‘Juul Issue’

Photo: Tada Images
Academics and anti-smoking charities have criticized The American Journal of Health Behavior for publishing its “Special Issue on Juul,” reports BMJ.
The papers in the special issue focus on the implications of switching to Juul products from combustible cigarettes as well as dual use of combustible cigarettes and Juul products.
The special issue was sponsored by Juul Labs. Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris USA, has a minority stake in Juul. The issue was coordinated and edited by Saul Shiffman, a Pinney Associates consultant. Pinney Associates has provided consulting services to British American Tobacco and Reynolds American.
May 18, 2021
Altria, Juul Likely to Face Suit Over Deal

Photo: jessica45 | Pixabay
Altria Group and Juul Labs will likely face a proposed antitrust action seeking to unwind a $12.8 billion deal that gave the tobacco giant a 35 percent stake in the vapor company, reports Bloomberg Law, citing a “tentative” ruling by a federal judge in San Francisco.
Judge William H. Orrick indicated Wednesday that he’s inclined to let most of the lawsuit move forward in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where it was consolidated after dozens of antitrust plaintiffs sued over deal clauses calling for Altria’s exit from the vaping market.
The Federal Trade Commission has also sued over the Altria-Juul transaction.
April 23, 2021
Juul Leaves Canadian Industry Association

Photo: Juul Labs
Juul Labs is leaving Canada’s Vaping Industry Trade Association (VITA), citing nonalignment on critical policy issues.
“While we have appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with VITA, we will not be renewing our membership as we are not aligned on too many critical policy issues,” Juul Labs wrote in a statement. “For example, we support Tobacco 21 legislation—raising the minimum purchase age of tobacco and vaping products to 21—enhanced access controls at retail and limiting flavor options.”
Juul Labs Canada said it will continue to focus on combating underage usage of vaping products while preserving the historic opportunity to switch adult smokers off of combustible cigarettes.
Tobacco Reporter’s sister publication Vapor Voice profiles VITA in its current issue.
April 12, 2021
U.S. Customs Seize Unapproved Juul Pods
U.S. Customs and Border Protections (CPB) officers in Indianapolis seized six shipments containing more than 10,000 unapproved Juul Pods. All the shipments originated from an individual in Ontario, Canada, and were headed to various locations in New York and New Jersey.
The shipments arrived separately and were all seized on April 8. The packages were mismanifested as electrical apparatus, a common practice used by smugglers. A total of 10,464 pods were seized. The pods had an MSRP over $156,000.
“Our officers are dedicated to identifying and intercepting these types of shipments that could potentially harm communities,” said Kerry Carter, acting port director for Indianapolis in a statement. “Our officers and specialists enforce hundreds of laws for many partner agencies and are committed to ensuring the health and safety of American citizens.”
Last year, the Food and Drug Administration announced an increased enforcement priority of electronic nicotine-delivery systems and issued detailed guidance to the industry of these new enforcement priorities that regulate the unauthorized importation of tobacco products.
April 12, 2021
Juul: Dual Use Often a Transition to Switching

Photo: Juul Labs
Juul Labs announced findings from its science and research program at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco (SRNT), which was held virtually. The studies presented covered a wide range of topics that contribute to the growing body of scientific evidence on ENDS products, including information about their harm reduction potential as well as rates of complete switching to ENDS among adult smokers.
To better understand patterns of tobacco product use among adult smokers, Juul Labs has developed an extensive behavioral research program that includes measurements of complete switching from combustible cigarettes to the Juul System among adult smokers. Among the data presented at SRNT are the results of a longitudinal study, which found that more than 50 percent of adult smokers who purchased the Juul system reported complete switching at a 12-month follow-up assessment. Complete switching was defined as no cigarette smoking in the past 30 days.
Another new study presented this week examined trends in dual use of the Juul system and cigarettes among adult smokers who recently purchased Juul products as well as any changes in cigarette consumption among these dual-users. While dual use of Juul products and cigarettes was initially high, it declined over time, and most adult smokers who began by dual-using ultimately switched completely away from cigarettes 12 months after initial purchase. Additionally, over 60 percent of dual users at 12 months substantially reduced their average daily cigarette consumption. Researchers concluded that dual use is often a transitional stage characterized by reductions in cigarette consumption followed by complete switching away from cigarettes.
February 25, 2021
Illicit Juul Products Uncovered in Florida

Photo: Steveheap – Dreamstime.com
About 3.3 percent of surveilled retail outlets in Miami-Dade County and Broward County were found to be selling illicit Juul Labs products during a recent enforcement campaign by the company.
Juul Labs’ Brand Protection Team investigated 917 retailers in the Florida counties, which are near a U.S. port of entry and international mailing facility—known entry points for the importation of illicit products. With the support of a third-party compliance auditor, the team conducted product surveillance and obtained samples across retailers. The samples were then evaluated to determine whether they were illicit products.
Of the 30 outlets in South Florida selling illicit products, six outlets sold counterfeit Juul pods, primarily offered in illegally marketed flavors, while one sold counterfeit Juul devices. Ten outlets sold diverted Juul pods, primarily diverted from Canadian and Russian markets, and 13 outlets sold illegal and unauthorized compatible pods, with most of these compatible brands subject to International Trade Commission exclusion orders.
Juul Labs said it would deliver its findings to law enforcement authorities and support their efforts to bring legal action. “We need to be a responsible and trusted steward of vapor products,” said Adrian Punderson, vice president of brand protection at Juul Labs, in a statement. “As such, it is our obligation to support enforcement against illicit and illegal products as we strive to reset the vapor category and earn a license to operate in society.”
February 22, 2021
China Shuts Down Counterfeit Juul Factory

Chinese authorities have shut down an illicit enterprise involved in the manufacture and international distribution of counterfeit Juul products in China, Juul Labs announced in a press release. The operation resulted in the seizure of more than 110,000 counterfeit products, closure of the production facility and arrest of criminal actors behind the illicit enterprise.
Through its global enforcement operations, Juul Labs was able to identify individuals who were offering suspected counterfeit Juul products at wholesale from China. After in-depth surveillance and monitoring, the company was able to locate a clandestine factory manufacturing counterfeit Juul products for international distribution. Juul Labs then shared this information with Chinese law enforcement and supported its efforts to investigate and raid the illicit factory.
In addition to seizures of counterfeit Juul products, packaging and labeling, officials were able to retain a significant amount of documentation on businesses and individuals with purchase history, which will be used in follow-up investigations and enforcement actions. As a result of the raid, both the factory owner and manager have been arrested and will be subject to criminal prosecution.
The raided factory had thousands of counterfeit packaging for Juul products at 5 percent nicotine by weight in various flavors, with production runs ongoing for counterfeit Juul pods in menthol flavor. Juul Labs suspects the that the products were intended for the U.S. market. In addition, the factory appeared to have been manufacturing disposable vapor products under various brand names.
February 11, 2021