Democrats are stepping up efforts to clamp down on e-cigarette makers’ marketing practices that they argue target children, a public health issue that is returning to the political agenda after being pushed to the back burner by the pandemic.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, settled the first state-initiated lawsuit against Juul, the leading e-cigarette maker in the United States, on Monday. The company will pay the state $40 million over six years, money that the state will put toward smoking cessation and addiction recovery programs. Juul will also have to overhaul its marketing practices in the state by ceasing advertisements on social media and outside of schools, as well as banning Juul from sponsoring concerts and other events at major venues. Stein told the Washington Examiner that the case was “fundamentally about protecting kids.”
