Minnesota Settles With Juul

The state of Minnesota has announced a settlement in its lawsuit against Juul Labs and tobacco company Altria. This is the first of many cases against Juul to reach trial, and the announcement comes just before the closing arguments. Juul recently made its largest settlement to date, addressing the way it marketed its highly addictive products. The terms of the settlement will remain confidential until they are publicly filed with the court in 30 days, according to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. If it's similar to Juul's other settlements, it could involve a multimillion-dollar payment and restrictions on the marketing, sale, and distribution of vaping products.

Ellison had originally sought over $100 million in damages. Ellison stated that after three weeks of trial, which exposed the actions taken by Juul and Altria that contributed to the youth vaping epidemic, a settlement was reached in the best interest of Minnesotans. Juul has said that it will work with the state to finalize the details in the coming weeks. The company has settled with 48 states and territories, providing over $1 billion to participating states to combat underage use and develop cessation programs.

Additionally, Juul has reached a global resolution of U.S. private litigation, covering more than 5,000 cases brought by roughly 10,000 plaintiffs. During the trial's start, the state's attorneys argued that Juul unlawfully targeted young people with vaping products to get a new generation addicted to nicotine. Juul's attorneys countered that their purpose was to convert adult smokers of combustible cigarettes to a less-dangerous product and not to lure kids.

While facing thousands of lawsuits nationwide, Juul has settled most, including dozens with other states and U.S. territories. Last week, Juul Labs announced its largest settlement of $462 million with six states and the District of Columbia to settle lawsuits related to its marketing tactics. As part of the deal, Juul pledged not to market its products to anyone under the age of 35 and to limit the amount customers can purchase in retail stores and online.

Minnesota was the first state to take Juul to trial, which won a landmark $7.1 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998. It filed its lawsuit in 2019 and added Altria, which formerly owned a minority stake in Juul, as a co-defendant in 2020. While the specifics of the Minnesota settlement may not differ significantly from previous settlements, some attorneys say having a trial served a greater purpose by making things public that were not otherwise public.

Juul's rise was fueled by teenagers on the popularity of flavors like mango, mint, fruit medley, and creme brulee, and some became addicted to Juul's high-nicotine pods. The company dropped all U.S. advertising and discontinued most of its flavors in 2019, losing popularity with teens. Currently, Juul's share of the now multibillion-dollar market has fallen to about 33% from a high of 75% in 2018. In September, Juul agreed to pay nearly $440 million over six to 10 years to settle a two-year investigation by 33 states into the marketing of its high-nicotine vaping products to young people. The settlement amounted to about 25% of Juul's U.S. sales of $1.9 billion in 2021. Recently, the company agreed to pay West Virginia $7.9 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that it violated the state's Consumer Credit and Protection Act by marketing to underage users.

Juul is currently appealing the Food and Drug Administration's rejection of its application to keep selling its vaping products as a smoking alternative for adults.