By Deanna Paul Deanna Paul Reporter covering national and breaking news Email Bio Follow May 15 at 2:43 PM North Carolina Attorney General Joshua Stein filed a lawsuit Wednesday against popular e-cigarette maker Juul Labs, making it the first state to take legal action against the company.
And the state is asking the court to apply a marketing and advertising ban that mimics that of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, which went into effect in 1998. It would prevent the company from emails, advertising or social media marketing aimed at minors.
According to Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA commissioner, attorneys general have an important role to play in keeping nicotine products away from children and teens. Last year, Juul Labs’s market presence grew sevenfold, according to a study published by Tobacco Control, with users consisting mostly of individuals under age 21. A study released by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services showed that within the past year, use of e-cigarettes increased among high-school-age youth by 78 percent, and among middle-schoolers by 48 percent.
Seems the North Carolina AG is more concerned about his political career and making sure no one vapes in the bathroom of wealthy private high schools in his state vs. addressing the SMOKING epidemic in North Carolina, with 15,000 reported deaths last year.
What is the North Carolina AG doing about smoking in his state? Over 1,000,000 citizens smoking cigarettes and 12% of ALL NC HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SMOKE - 50% higher than the national average. Half of all smokers will die from it. Lets focus on public health not wealthy health.
Big tobacco is determined to kill us!
You mean the state with Tobacco Road? Yea that makes sense. Vaping is hurting their tobacco tax and MSA revenue. He will lose this case by the way.
Ridiculous
North Carolina would likely prefer that traditional cigarettes maintain the bulk of the youth smoking market share.
Probably just angry they're hurting the state's cancer (ahem, tobacco) business.