HARRISBURG – Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Monday a $38.8 million settlement with JUUL Labs, Inc. for violating Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law and jeopardizing the health of Pennsylvanians, in particular the young people that JUUL targeted with their products.
“JUUL knowingly targeted young people with tactics similar to the tobacco companies’ playbook,” said Attorney General Shapiro. “They disregarded their growing audience of young users, taking no action, as their market share skyrocketed on the backs of American kids. About thirteen percent of Pennsylvania students have vaped in the past 30 days – this settlement is only the beginning of keeping our kids safe from the dangers of vaping.”
“The progress we’ve made over the years to prevent youth nicotine addiction was at risk of being totally undone by JUUL starting what FDA has called a youth vaping epidemic,” continued Attorney General Shapiro. “We can’t undo that harm overnight, but actions like this settlement and other steps being taken by state and federal partners are making progress in protecting kids and public health.”
This settlement provides the following key terms, among others:
- JUUL is prevented from targeting JUUL sales to youth within Pennsylvania
- JUUL will begin to disclose the amount of nicotine content in milligrams per milliliter and as a percentage in terms of the total volume of a JUULpod.
- JUUL will not make any claims or representations that compare the nicotine content to combustible tobacco products
- JUUL will not sponsor events in Pennsylvania unless at an Adult-Only facility
- JUUL advertising in Pennsylvania will be limited to media or outlets with audiences comprised of at least 85% adults
- JUUL will be prevented from using billboards and placing or renewing placement of any outdoor advertising within 1,000 feet of any elementary, middle, high school, or public playground in Pennsylvania
- JUUL will not publish any marketing, promotional, or advertising materials on any social media platform accessible in Pennsylvania with the exception of testimonial videos of people over 35 years of age or older and non-promotional communications.
- JUUL will not use any testimonials or other advertising materials that make a claim or representation that JUUL products are safer than combustible tobacco products
- JUUL will maintain a retailer compliance program to conduct unannounced compliance checks at Pennsylvania retailers to ensure they are compliant with state and federal laws regarding the minimum age to buy tobacco products and JUUL’s bulk sale restrictions
- JUUL will limit online sales of JUUL products to no more than two JUUL devices a month, 10 JUUL devices per calendar year, and 60 JUULpods per month, and JUUL will take reasonable steps to limit retail sales to one JUUL device and/or 16 JUULpods per transaction.
- JUUL will have a compliance officer responsible for addressing enforcement of the terms of the agreement and responding to concerns presented by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Office of Attorney General.
Concerned adults who confiscate a JUUL device from an underage user may report the device serial number to https://www.juul.com/trackandtrace. Every six months that data will be provided to the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.
$38.8 million in settlement funding will be paid to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Health Promotion and Risk Reduction to fund programs aimed at reducing the harms alleged by this office in the 2020 lawsuit. This will include programs that will reduce or eliminate tobacco-related death and disease in Pennsylvania through innovation, utilization of resources, and promotion of smoke-free environments and tobacco-free lifestyles. Finally, the funding will be used to prevent youth and young adults from beginning to use tobacco products and to provide quitting options for adults and youth.