Pennsylvania Joins Growing List of States Suing Juul Labs for Youth Use

Pennsylvania has joined a growing list of states suing leading e-cigarette maker Juul Labs, whose sleek vape pens and cartridges in fruit, dessert and candy flavors have been blamed for contributing to a sharp rise in e-cigarette use among teenagers and adolescents, according to an article in The Philadelphia Enquirer.

The lawsuit, filed Monday by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, alleges that Juul misled consumers about the health risks and addictive power of its nicotine vaping pods and improperly marketed the products to youth, the article states.

The lawsuit seeks a state-wide ban on all of Juul’s products — including tobacco-flavored ones. If the court does not grant a full ban, the state wants to restrict sales to ban all of Juul’s flavored, menthol and high-nicotine vaping products except for those that are tobacco flavored, according to the article.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this month forbade the sale of flavored vaping pods nationwide. Over the last two years, Juul has phased out sales of flavored pods, except for those with menthol and tobacco flavors.