Tag: Juul Labs

Altria and Juul Support New Age-Verification System
Altria Group Distribution Co. and Juul Labs have announced their support of TruAge, a new digital solution that enhances current age-verification systems and protects user privacy.
Developed by the National Association of Convenience Stores and Conexxus, TruAge makes it easier and more accurate to verify a customer’s age when purchasing age-restricted products. At the same time, the system makes identity theft difficult. One-time-use tokens are used to share only the most important elements to confirm the purchaser is of legal age, which also protects the user’s privacy.
TruAge is free to retailers, consumers and POS providers, and its relevant intellectual property will be placed in the public domain—removing barriers to adoption.
“We are excited to join this important initiative because TruAge deepens our trade partners’ support of underage prevention and helps establish retail as the most trusted place to responsibly sell tobacco products,” said Scott Myers, president and CEO of Altria Group Distribution Co., in a statement.
“Over the past few years, we have worked closely with our retailer partners across the United States to implement enhanced access controls for the sale of Juul products, automatically requiring electronic ID scanning to verify the purchaser is at least 21 years of age and limiting the amount of product sold to reduce social sourcing,” said Parker Kasmer, vice president of regulatory engagement for Juul Labs.
“We are eager to support TruAge and the extension of technologically based age-verification solutions across all vapor and other age-restricted products to combat underage use and support a more responsible marketplace.”
TruAge is also supported by more than 130 retail companies that represent 22,000-plus convenience store locations in the United States, plus four industry point-of-sale providers.
October 21, 2021
Long Awaited Juul2 Device Launches in U.K. Market

Photo: steheap
Juul Labs has unveiled its JUUL2 device in the U.K.
The device features a more consistent vapor experience, a longer battery life and anti-counterfeit technology.
Launching initially on the Juul.co.uk website on Sept. 30, the JUUL2 system has been updated from previous versions with new technology and features based on feedback from smokers.
Among other features, the JUUL2 features a more consistent vapor experience, a longer battery life and a smart light system communicating e-liquid level and battery life.
The JUUL2 also comes with newly designed tobacco and menthol JUUL2 pods (18 mg/mL nicotine strength) and technology to prevent unauthorized use. The device will not work when it detects counterfeit pods.
“We are pleased to launch the next-generation JUUL2 in the U.K.,” Juul Labs’ EMEA vice president, Dan Thomson, said in a statement. “A key part of our mission is to transition adult smokers away from cigarettes, the leading cause of preventable death in the world, killing some 90,000 Britons annually.
“We believe the best method to switch adult smokers from combustible cigarettes to a potentially less harmful noncombustible alternative is to provide a product that closely resembles the consistency and experience of smoking. With JUUL2, we believe we are taking another step in that direction as we aim to transition even more adult smokers.”
A retail roll-out is planned for early 2022, and all U.K. retailers stocking JUUL products will continue to uphold the company’s Challenge 25 age verification policy, which includes continued mystery shopping audits.
September 30, 2021
Juul Settlement to Fund Research Against Vaping

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North Carolina will use the $40 million settlement with Juul Labs, announced in June by Attorney General Josh Stein, to help fund research to stop the use of electronic cigarettes among young people, reports The Fayetteville Observer.
“For years, Juul targeted young people, including teens, with its highly addictive e-cigarette,” said Stein. “It lit the spark and fanned the flames of a vaping epidemic among our children—one that you can see in any high school in North Carolina. This win will go a long way in keeping Juul products out of kids’ hands, keeping its chemical vapor out of their lungs and keeping its nicotine from poisoning and addicting their brains.”
Juul Labs will pay North Carolina $13 million in the first year, $8 million the second year, $7.5 million the third year, $7 million the fourth year and $2.25 million the fifth and sixth years. The payout is set to fund programs conducting research and prevention of electronic cigarettes, according to Travis Greer, regional tobacco control manager for the Cumberland County Health Department.
September 29, 2021
Report: FDA Seeking More Time for Some PMTA Decisions
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to ask for more time before deciding whether some “e-cigarettes from market leader Juul Labs Inc” and others can be sold in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported today, citing people familiar with the matter. The FDA is expected today to announce the fate of more than 2 million vaping products that had submitted a premarket tobacco product application (PMTA).
Many businesses have already received marketing denial orders (MDO) from the FDA. Many companies have gone out of business, filed a lawsuit, or switched to synthetic nicotine after receiving MDOs.
Concerning the FDA asking more time for a Juul Labs PMTA review, Greg Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, tweeted, “I want Juul’s five applications to be authorized. I want Reynolds’ two or three dozen applications to be authorized. But to see them likely get more time from FDATobacco after good small businesses spent the last month getting wrecked … Just wrong. Good job, FDA.”
He also tweeted: “If I had the choice between 50,000 flavored vaping products being available or Juul surviving, I’d walk Juul over the plank myself. But that’s not the choice we have.”
After news of the FDA request was reported, Guy Bentley, director of consumer freedom research at the Reason Foundation, tweeted, “The FDA couldn’t get it together to make a decision on one of the biggest companies in this space. Complete shambles.”
No further information was provided. The FDA did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
September 9, 2021
Juul Labs to Open Research Facility in North Carolina

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Juul Labs plans to open a research facility in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA, reports WRAL.
The new facility is expected to create 35 full-time jobs, according to a company spokesman.
“We will continue to seek to earn the trust of key stakeholders, including local officials, as we advance the potential for harm reduction for adult smokers while combating underage usage,” Juul said in a statement.
In June, Juul Labs settled a lawsuit brough by North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, who accused the company of marketing its product to young people. Juul agreed to pay $40 million but denied wrongdoing or liability. North Carolina was the first state to take legal action against Juul.
At least 13 states, including California, Massachusetts and New York, as well as the District of Columbia have filed similar lawsuits. The central claim in each case is that Juul knew, or should have known, that it was hooking teenagers on pods that contained high levels of nicotine.
A lawsuit brought against Juul by North Carolina’s Wake County Public School System is currently ongoing.
In 2020, e-cigarette usage decreased by 19.6 percent in high schoolers and among middle-schoolers by 4.7 percent according to the U.S. Federal Drug Administration. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contends nicotine can harm adolescent brain development.
September 8, 2021
Former Juul Labs CEO Takes Lead at Digital Pharmacy
Kevin Burns, who resigned in 2019 as chief executive officer of Juul Labs Inc. amid growing controversy over the marketing of e-cigarettes, was named CEO of online service Alto Pharmacy, according to Bloomberg.
Burns, who joined Alto a year ago as chief operating officer, replaces co-founder Matt Gamache-Asselin as CEO, according to a memo sent to employees Thursday. Gamache-Asselin plans to remain involved, leading the product and technology organization.
Burns joined Juul in 2017, when the e-cigarette maker enjoyed a heady valuation and was seen as one of the leading companies in the burgeoning industry. But growing use of vaping devices by teens and young non-smokers drew an outcry from public health officials, and the company announced the day Burns departed that it would stop advertising and lobbying.
Alto, part of a crop of hot startups in the online pharmacy space, was founded in 2015. The company has explored the idea of going public via a blank-check firm, Bloomberg reported in May, and was projected then to have revenue of about $700 million this year. Burns worked at yogurt maker Chobani and at private equity firm TPG Capital before joining Juul.
August 14, 2021
Juul Labs Class Action Inches Closer to Trial

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An expansive class action lawsuit against Juul Labs inched closer to trail when a federal judge advanced conspiracy and fraud claims against the company’s founders, board members and biggest investor, Altria Group, reports Court House News Service.
On July 22, U.S. District Judge William Orrick III refused to dismiss the bulk of claims filed by 19 plaintiffs in 14 states. The suit accuses Juul and its leaders of intentionally using deceptive ads and marketing campaigns to get young people hooked on vaping to create a new generation of nicotine addicts.
The plaintiffs say Juul failed to warn consumers that its e-cigarette products were highly addictive and that the company falsely claimed in ads and labels that its prefilled pods contained 5 percent nicotine, the same amount in a pack of cigarettes, when the pods contained much higher levels. They also say Juul fraudulently marketed its vaping products as a “safer alternative” to combustible cigarette smoking.
The plaintiffs seek to hold Juul and Altria Group, liable for fraud, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, strict product liability and medical monitoring.
Judge Orrick rejected requests by Juul founders and top executives James Monsees and Adam Bowen to dismiss the claims against them, finding the plaintiffs “adequately alleged that both Monsees and Bowen engaged in acts that had the intent and impact of misleading the public and plaintiffs about the dangers of Juul.”
Orrick also rejected Altria’s motion to dismiss, citing meetings that occurred between Altria and Juul in California regarding the development of “business agreements and arrangements through which Altria supported [Juul]’s manufacturing, regulatory, marketing, and distribution efforts and how Altria’s efforts through [Juul] in California achieved their common goals.”
Orrick found many of the arguments made by Altria and Juul’s founders and directors cannot be adequately evaluated until a later stage of litigation when more evidence is available for a jury or judge to scrutinize.
July 23, 2021
Juul Labs Pays to Publish 11 Studies in Medical Journal
Juul Labs paid $51,000 to buy out an entire issue of the American Journal of Health Behavior (AJHB) and make it publicly available, the New York Times reported.
The AJHB’s May/June issue published 11 company-funded studies that promote the health benefits of Juul devices in helping smokers quit traditional tobacco products.
“Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) represent a significant opportunity to realize tobacco harm reduction at the population level around the world,” the authors write in an introduction to the journal.
Juul Lab’s five-figure buyout of the journal issue is part of a public influence campaign that the Center for Responsive Politics tallied at more than $3.9 million in 2020 alone.
Juul Labs recently reached a legal settlement with the state of North Carolina in which it will pay $40 million to avoid a jury trial over the question of whether it illegally marketed nicotine products to teens.
July 8, 2021
First Juul Labs Lawsuit Settles for $40m in North Carolina
North Carolina has settled its lawsuit with Juul Labs for $40 million. The lawsuit is the first decision of numerous lawsuits that have been brought by states claiming the e-cigarette maker’s marketing practices was the catalyst to what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has called an “epidemic” of youth use. The money will fund programs to help people quit e-cigarettes, prevent e-cigarette addiction, and research e-cigarettes.
Credit: Zimmytws
“This settlement is consistent with our ongoing effort to reset our company and its relationship with our stakeholders as we continue to combat underage usage and advance the opportunity for harm reduction for adult smokers,” said Joshua Raffel, a Juul spokesperson, in a statement. “We seek to continue to earn trust through action. Over the past two years, for example, we ceased the distribution of our non-tobacco, non-menthol flavored products in advance of FDA guidance and halted all mass market product advertising. This settlement is another step in that direction.”
The settlement was announced on Monday by Josh Stein, the North Carolina attorney general, who said that Juul agreed to avoid marketing that appeals to those under the age of 21. The company will curtail its use of “most social media advertising, influencer advertising, outdoor advertising near schools, and sponsoring sporting events and concerts,” Stein said.
North Carolina sued the company in May of 2019, the first state in the country to file suit against the e-cigarette manufacturer. In the agreement, the company denies any wrongdoing or liability. Juul Labs will ensure its products are sold behind counters, the attorney general said. Juul Labs will also use third-party age verification systems for online sales. The order also commits Juul to sending teenage “mystery shoppers” to 1,000 stores each year, to check whether they are selling to minors.
It also bars the company from using models under age 35 in advertisements and states that no advertisements should be posted near schools. “For years Juul targeted young people, including teens, with highly addictive e-cigarettes,” said Stein in a statement. “It lit the spark and fanned the flames of a vaping epidemic among our children — one that you can see in any high school in North Carolina.”
Thirteen states, including California, Massachusetts and New York, as well as the District of Columbia, have filed similar lawsuits. The central claim in each case is that Juul knew, or should have known, that it was it was hooking teenagers on pods that contained high levels of nicotine.
“This win will go a long way in keeping Juul products out of kids’ hands, keeping its chemical vapor out of their lungs, and keeping its nicotine from poisoning and addicting their brains. I’m incredibly proud of my team for their hard work on behalf of North Carolina families,” Stein said. “We’re not done – we still have to turn the tide on a teen vaping epidemic that was borne of Juul’s greed. As your attorney general, I’ll keep fighting to prevent another generation of young people from becoming addicted to nicotine.”
June 28, 2021
Altria, Juul Labs Antitrust Suit Continues This Week
The Altria Group antitrust trial continues this week over allegations made by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that company participated in anticompetitive practices ahead of its 2018 investment in e-cigarette startup Juul Labs.
Credit: Steheap
In opening remarks on Wednesday, the FTC argued that Altria pulled its vaping products off the U.S. market illegally at the insistence of Juul as the two companies were discussing a deal. Altria argued that its e-cigarettes were failures, and it jettisoned them amid regulatory pressure and an internal reckoning about the company’s inability to develop a vaping product that consumers liked, according to the Wall Street Journal.
If the FTC prevails, it could unwind Altria’s 35 percent interest in Juul Labs, which Altria bought in December 2018 for $12.8 billion. The agency is seeking to force Altria to divest its stake and terminate the companies’ noncompete agreement. The case is being heard by an administrative law judge, who will make an initial decision; the agency’s commissioners will then vote on the matter.
The FTC in April of last year sued to unwind the deal. The trial is taking place via teleconference at the agency’s office of administrative law judges. A key question at trial is why Altria, when it was in talks with Juul, stopped selling its own e-cigarettes. Altria’s explanations for exiting the e-cigarette market were pretexts, FTC attorney Stephen Rodger said in his opening remarks Wednesday. “But for the transaction, Altria would still be competing with [Juul] today.”
June 7, 2021