Bucks Co. DA Sues E-Cigarette Makers

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Bucks County's district attorney has filed a lawsuit against some of the leading makers of e-cigarettes, claiming they intentionally tried to get minors hooked on vaping.

The suit, filed in the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas on Wednesday, targets San Francisco-based JUUL, New Jersey-based JUUL pod manufacturer EONSMOKE and two Bucks County JUUL retailers — Gulf Mart, of Quakertown, and Delta Gas, of Warminster.

Both of those stores have been cite for illegal sale of e-cigarettes to minors, according to District Attorney Matthew Weintraub.

The 63-page complaint demands that those companies forfeit profits and put an end to what Weintraub called "pervasive, predatory business practices in Bucks County." It also calls for the companies to help fund addiction treatment and education.

"Through deceptive marketing that targets our children and with its network of retailers, JUUL has created a public health crisis," Weintraub said. "Together, we are sending an unfiltered message to JUUL and to all retailers who knowingly traffic e-cigarettes to minors: your false, deceptive and harmful business practices will not be tolerated in Bucks County."

Weintraub was joined Wednesday by Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, who filed a similar lawsuit last year.

The complaint details what Weintraub's office calls marketing practices that have been long-banned in the tobacco industry to market e-cigarettes to children. It claims the companies' actions are harmful to all Bucks County residents, particularly its more than 100,000 school-age children.

It claims that JUUL has "turned a generation of minors into addicts, constantly craving a hit of nicotine."

A statement from JUUL on the company's website said it acknowledges that youth vaping "has become a serious and urgent problem," saying that it has taken "a series of escalating steps to combat youth access, appeal, and use of vapor products."

In recent months, the company has stopped the sale of mint and other flavored e-cigarettes, which critics, including the White House, have said can make vaping more attractive to youth.