North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein filed eight lawsuits against eight separate e-cigarette companies on Tuesday, alleging that the companies are"unlawfully targeting children" and not requiring appropriate age verification when selling products.
The companies included in the complaints are Beard Vape, Direct eLiquid, Electric Lotus, Electric Tobacconist, Eonsmoke, Juice Man, Tinted Brew and VapeCo, Stein said during a media conference call with reporters on Tuesday."There is a vaping epidemic among high schoolers and middle schoolers in North Carolina and the United States," he said."I, as attorney general of North Carolina, refuse to stand by as e-cigarette companies entice thousands of children to use their products.
Students aim to stop vaping 'epidemic' 02:15Anti-tobacco advocacy groups are applauding these lawsuits.The nonprofit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids tweeted"thank you" to Stein for his"leadership in addressing the youth e-cigarette epidemic."Read MorePro-vaping groups said the lawsuits were unnecessarily punitive.
Dozens hospitalized with lung problems after vaping 02:30The new lawsuits come just days after the first known death in the United States attributable to vaping was reported in Illinois. The death was reported last week amid a growing number of lung illnesses across the country that doctors have said could be connected to e-cigarettes."Every day we're learning additional negative health consequences of these e-cigarette products," Stein said Tuesday.
"One look at their marketing materials demonstrates just how egregious their sales tactics are -- with flavors like cotton candy, gummy bear, unicorn, and graham cracker, they're clearly targeting young people. To teenagers, the health and addiction risks of vaping are simply too high. That is why my office is asking the court to protect our kids by shutting down these operations in our state," Stein said in a press release following his call with reporters Tuesday.
Josh Stein? Doesn't he belong in New York or California with the other Democratic quackjobs..
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Home of big tobacco! Hahaha! Need to make tobacco illegal!