Juul products are displayed at a smoke shop in New York in December 2018. (AP Photo)

CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced Monday that his office reached a $7.9 million settlement with e-cigarette manufacturer Juul over alleged deceptive marketing and advertising tactics aimed at teenagers.

The lawsuit against Juul Labs Inc. was first filed in October in Putnam County Circuit Court, accusing the company of violations of the state Consumer Credit and Protection Act.

“This settlement puts companies like Juul in check to not copy Big Tobacco’s playbook and gear marketing strategies toward underage people,” Morrisey said in a prepared statement Monday morning. “In Juul’s case, we have alleged it has deceived consumers about its nicotine strength, misrepresented the nicotine equivalency of its products to traditional cigarettes and understated the risks of addiction that occur with such powerful levels of nicotine.”

According to a statement from Juul, funding from the settlement will go towards education and cessation programs to steer children away from e-cigarettes. Monday’s settlement with West Virginia is one of 40 such settlements Juul has made with states and territories, not counting settlements in private litigation cases.

“This settlement with the West Virginia Attorney General represents yet another step in Juul Labs’ ongoing commitment to resolve issues from the company’s past,” a spokesperson for Juul said in an email Monday afternoon. “With West Virginia having the highest cigarette-smoking rate in the U.S., we hope that some funds will go directly to interventions to reduce the use of combustible cigarettes and improve public health in the state.”

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey speaks during a press conference at the state Capitol in Charleston in February 2022. (AP Photo)

The Attorney General’s Office accused Juul of “engaging in unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the manufacturing, designing, selling, marketing, promoting and distributing of e-cigarettes.”

According to Morrisey, Juul underplaying the actual strength of the nicotine used in their e-cigarette products and used social media to advertise to children through the recruiting of influencers and celebrities.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a single pod used in a Juul e-cigarette contains as much nicotine as 20 cigarettes — the standard amount in a pack. Morrisey believes that data is incorrect, accusing the company of producing pods that only contain enough nicotine to equal 1.72 packs of cigarettes.

Juul stressed that it does not manufacture e-cigarette pod flavors aimed at children, such as bubble gum or cotton candy. The company also stressed that usage of Juul products has plummeted since 2019. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey, a majority of e-cigarette users reported that Juul was their preferred brand. In the 2022 FDA National Youth Tobacco Survey, Juul no longer registered as a commonly used brand.

“As we near the end of resolutions to address the company’s past, Juul Labs remains focused on a path forward to secure its future and fulfill its mission to transition adult smokers away from cigarettes — the number one cause of preventable death — while combating underage use,” the Juul spokesperson said.

According to the 2022 FDA National Youth Tobacco Survey, more than 2.5 million high and middle school students reported using e-cigarettes, while one in four youth reported using e-cigarettes daily and 85% of youth users using flavored e-cigarettes.

According to United Health Foundation’s 2022 America’s Health Rankings report, e-cigarette usage in West Virginia was higher than the U.S. average, rising from 5.7% in 2017 to 7.1% in 2021, while the U.S. average rose from 4.6% to 6.7% during the same period of time. Broken down by age, e-cigarette use by West Virginians between ages 18-44 was 13.3%, while the U.S. average was 11.3%.

According to Juul, the company suspended all broadcast, print and digital advertising in the U.S. in 2019.

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com