The Fond du Lac County Tobacco Control Program Coordinator says she is pleased with an agreement reached between the Wisconsin Department of Justice and 32 other states with JUUL Labs. The $435 million agreement resolves a two-year bipartisan investigation into the e-cigarette manufacturer’s marketing and sales practices. Fond du Lac County Tobacco Control Program coordinator Johanna Brotz tells WFDL news the agreement has been a long time coming. “We’ve known since Juul came out with e-cigarettes that this was a ploy to get our youth hooked on these products,” Brotz told WFDL news. Wisconsin’s allocated share of the agreement is more than $14.7 million. Brotz says in addition to the financial terms, the settlement would force JUUL to comply with a series of strict terms severely limiting their marketing and sales practices. JUUL was, until recently, the dominant player in the vaping market. The multistate investigation revealed that JUUL rose to this position by willfully engaging in an advertising campaign that appealed to youth, even though its e-cigarettes are both illegal for them to purchase and are unhealthy for youth to use.
