California arraigns e-cigarette firm ‘Juul’ for targeting teens

California announces to bring an action against Juul, the United States’ largest electronic cigarette manufacturer, for allegedly targeting minors with its marketing campaigns.

E-cigarettes have soared in popularity among young people since they were introduced about a decade ago.

California law prohibits the sale of vaporizing products to persons under the age of 21.

A joint lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and his Los Angeles counterpart alleges that Juul Labs failed to meet its obligations to verify the age of its customers.

Talking to press, Becerra noted that the number of high school students vaping in 2019 is 27.5 percent, up from 11.7 percent in 2017.

Becerra blames that, in part, on vaping products sold in “child-friendly fruity flavors,” like those previously sold by Juul.

“Today, we take legal action against the deceptive practices that Juul and the e-cigarette industry employ to lure our kids into their vaping web,” said Becerra.

The San Francisco-based firm also retained the email addresses of customers it had identified as minors in order to send them advertisements, according to the lawsuit.

Juul sales represent more than 64 percent of all e-cigarettes in the US.