Illinois To Receive $67.6M In Settlement With E-Cigarette Manufacturer

ILLINOIS — Illinois is among seven states that will receive a portion of a $462 million settlement that has been reached by one of the country’s most prominent e-cigarette manufacturers, which prosecutors say have done harm to youth based on its marketing practices.

The settlement was reached with Juul Labs and provides critical injunctive relief to prevent the company from marketing and selling its products to young people, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a news release on Wednesday.

Illinois was one of the first states to sue to e-cigarette manufacturer after prosecutors said in 2019 that the company was marketing harmful products to youth. As part of the settlement announced on Wednesday, Illinois will receive $67.6 million.

“Juul has intentionally targeted minors for the sale of its e-cigarettes. After inappropriately marketing its product as a smoking cessation device, Juul products actually served as a gateway to cigarette use for youth who had never smoked before,” Raoul said in a statement issued after the settlement was announced.

“This settlement is a step toward holding Juul accountable, and I am committed to continuing to partner with advocates, lawmakers, and state and federal regulators to enact policies that protect minors from e-cigarettes and other addictive tobacco products.”

The settlement resolves Raoul’s 2019 lawsuit, as well as lawsuits filed by six other states against Juul. Raoul’s office co-led negotiations, especially those centered around obtaining injunctive relief, resulting in a settlement with Juul that includes the most stringent restrictions under any state settlement on Juul’s marketing, sales and distribution practices to protect and prevent minors from underage smoking, according to a news release.

The settlement’s injunctive provisions also bind Juul’s former directors and executives. The settlement also prohibits Juul from target Illinois young people with marketing campaigns or social media accounts. The company also cannot use billboard advertising in Illinois and cannot include anyone under the legal age for purchasing tobacco products on mailing lists.

The settlement requires that documents produced by Juul and the other defendants be made public through a document repository. Juul is also required to pay up to $5 million for the costs of the repository.

“Vaping and e-cigarette-related deaths and illnesses quickly became a nationwide epidemic that no user is immune to — no matter how young they are,” Illinois State Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Lake Forest) said in a statement issued on Wednesday. “It’s about time the very people responsible for the prevalence of this outbreak are held accountable.

“While this won’t bring back the lives who have been taken by the harmful effects of e-cigarettes, this serves as a positive step forward to protecting future generations of young people from the dangers. I will not stop fighting against the big tobacco industry until no other child has access to these deadly products.”