North Carolina will receive an additional $7.8 million from Juul as part of his first-in-the-nation agreement to hold the e-cigarette maker accountable for its role in marketing and selling e-cigarettes to young people.
In all, the state will receive $47.8 million, said Attorney General Josh Stein in a release. North Carolina has settled its original lawsuit with Juul Labs for $40 million.
“The vaping epidemic is far from over, and these additional funds will help us keep more kids healthy,” said Stein. “Vaping is dangerous to kids’ health, and we must continue to do everything in our power to keep them nicotine-free.”
Stein was the first attorney general in the nation to file a suit against Juul Labs for allegedly sparking a vaping epidemic among teenagers.
His agreement required the company to make far-reaching changes to how Juul Labs conducts business, including not marketing to people under 21, not using social media advertising, and verifying the ages of people who buy its products.
The money from the settlement is being used by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to prevent e-cigarette addiction, help those who are addicted quit, and fund important e-cigarette research.
As part of Attorney General Stein’s agreement, Juul Labs must also make public a large number of documents it produced in the lawsuit.
The first batch of documents from that document depository will be available through a partnership between the University of North Carolina and the University of California, San Francisco in early 2024.
The documents reportedly will shed light on Juul’s marketing and research and will help prevent other companies from using the same playbook.