Nevada to receive $14.4M in settlement with e-cigarette maker Juul

RENO — Nevada will receive $14.4 million as part of a settlement with e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs after a two-year investigation into the company’s marketing practices, Attorney General Aaron Ford’s office announced Tuesday.

“For years, Juul Labs knowingly marketed its product to underage users, directly working to expose minors to nicotine use and abuse,” Ford said in a statement. “This settlement will help Nevada’s youth by curbing these harmful marketing tactics and holding the company accountable for its breach of public trust.”

The multistate agreement involves 33 states and Puerto Rico and will see the electronic cigarette manufacturer pay out a total of $438.5 million over the next six to 10 years.

Juul Labs will also be required to limit its marketing and sales practices after the investigation found the company had intentionally released advertising targeted at underage youth, according to a statement from the attorney general’s office.

Those restrictions include a ban on depicting people younger than 35 in their marketing, using cartoons in marketing materials and using paid influencers, among other rules.

It could be a couple of weeks before the settlement is official, but the move is “a very big deal,” said Senior Deputy Attorney General Laura Tucker.

“We’re very proud of the injunctive terms that we managed to get out of this settlement,” said Tucker, who works in the attorney general’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “It goes above and beyond what many of the other litigating states that have settled throughout the last few months have received. We also feel that this is a good amount of money that we have received that’s compensatory toward the harm that Juul has caused to Nevadans.”

It’s the latest blow to the company, which was ordered to pull its e-cigarettes from the market in June by the Food and Drug Administration, a ruling which was later suspended while the agency conducts scientific review of its products.

Tucker said it will be up to the Legislature to determine how the money is used.

Contact Taylor R. Avery at TAvery@reviewjournal.com. Follow @travery98 on Twitter.