United States: New York initiated legal action against the leading vapor distributors because they allegedly contributed to America’s vaping problem among young people.
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Attorney General Letitia James from New York announced legal actions against 13 prominent vape manufacturers, distributors, and retailers due to their illegal promotion of Puff Bar and Elf Bar vaping products targeted at minor consumers.
The ban on selling flavored nicotine vapes to New York residents has remained effective since 2020, yet residents can purchase these products from shops throughout the city.
According to James, “The vaping industry is taking a page out of Big Tobacco’s playbook: they’re making nicotine seem cool, getting kids hooked, and creating a massive public health crisis in the process,” Fox News reported.
“For too long, these companies have disregarded our laws in order to profit off of our young people, but we will not risk the health and safety of our kids,” James continued.
What are the experts stating?
Surgeon General Jerome Adams declared suicidal vapor-ratio the “epidemic” affecting teenage Americans in 2018 after warning it would create a new generation addicted to nicotine.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse data, 8th graders reported using nicotine vapes at a rate of 10 percent, whereas 10th graders reached 15.4 percent and 12th graders reached 21 percent within the last twelve months up to December.
The court case maintains that middlemen selling e-cigarettes broke state and federal laws by advertising their products to children through attractive names such as “Strawberry Donut” alongside “Cotton Candy” and “Tropical Rainbow Blast.”
New York State, together with multiple other states, previously filed litigation against Juul Labs due to similar violations that produced a USD 462 million payout.
The company Juul continues its sale of vapes, with only menthol and tobacco flavors available on the market.
What does the lawsuit state?
“Defendants are illegally perpetuating a cycle of harm from the old tobacco industry playbook: hide the harm and use appealing colors and flavors to hook kids for life,” the lawsuit stated.
“As a result, the youth vaping epidemic is unwinding the decades of work combatting youth cigarette use, which successfully resulted in a dramatic reduction in youth smoking rates,” it continued, Fox News reported.
The lawsuit demands financial penalties and seeks two main requirements from defendants regarding the sale of flavored nicotine vapes in New York state.
The requirements mandate defendants to issue health warnings connected to vaping and to restrict their product availability across all state retailers.