Juul Labs, the company that makes e-cigarettes, has agreed to pay $462 million to resolve claims brought by six US states after being accused of preying on teens. Numerous states have also charged the company with misrepresenting the addictiveness of its vapes in comparison to cigarettes.

The corporation claimed the most recent agreement was a part of its “commitment to resolve issues from the company’s past” without making any admissions of wrongdoing.

Juul has already resolved disputes for more than $1 billion thanks to the transaction.

In its ascent to become one of the top e-cigarette companies in the US, Juul has been accused of encouraging a spike in teen vaping.

Despite the company’s repeated denials that it targets youth, detractors have cited its vibrant packaging, wide range of flavors, and employment of young models in advertising efforts.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 2.5 million US students smoked e-cigarettes in 2022.

Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, stated this in response to the settlement: “Juul’s lies led to a nationwide public health crisis and put addictive products in the hands of minors who thought they were doing something harmless.”

“Today they are paying the price for the harm they caused,” she added.

“Today is another step forward in our fight to protect our kids from getting hooked on vaping and nicotine,” said Rob Bonta, attorney general of California.

E-cigarettes have significantly improved people’s health by enabling thousands of smokers to quit by eliminating the harmful and toxic tobacco smoke from their habit.

However, the inhaled vapour from an e-cigarette may still include trace levels of substances, such as nicotine, that could pose their own hazards. There are worries that the risk-free perception of vaping among young people is causing them to start using it.

Juul reported that since changing its marketing strategies as part of a “company-wide reset” in the fall of 2019, the use of its products by those under the age of 18 had dropped by 95%.

“With this settlement, we are nearing total resolution of the company’s historical legal challenges and securing certainty for our future,” the company added.

The $462m will be paid by Juul’s over eight years.

The District of Columbia, together with the states of New York, California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Mexico, were all parties to the settlement that was reached on Wednesday.

The company agreed to pay $438.5 million in September of last year to settle an investigation into its marketing to children.

Juul’s marketing was constrained by the agreement with more than 30 states, which prohibited, for instance, the use of people under 35 in its advertisements.

In other places, Juul is still being sued.

(Adapted from TheGuardian.com)