Wyoming Gets Hunk of Money in JUUL Settlement

Thirty-four states, including Wyoming, will get part of a $440 million JUUL settlement.

The Natrona County School District Board of Trustees announced on Monday that NCSD will be included in the payouts, and while they don't know an exact amount yet, they are estimating the school district will receive between $50,000 to $100,000.

Prosecutors claimed that JUUL marketed its e-cigarettes to middle and high schoolers in the United States through advertisements featuring young people. They claim JUUL ads often failed to illuminate the negative side effects of vaping. The company bought ads with Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.

Their flavors were also a topic of concern for investigators, including cucumber, creme, and mint -- for their candy-like appeal to youngsters.

On Nov. 18, 2018, Juul CEO Kevin Burns released the following statement:

"JUUL Labs is committed to improving the lives of the world’s one billion adult smokers, with the ultimate goal of eliminating cigarettes. While we have been working to solve that problem, another unintended and serious problem has developed – underage use of e-cigarettes, including JUUL.

"We don’t want anyone who doesn’t smoke, or already use nicotine, to use JUUL products. We certainly don’t want youth using the product. It is bad for public health, and it is bad for our mission. JUUL Labs and FDA share a common goal – preventing youth from initiating on nicotine. To paraphrase Commissioner Gottlieb, we want to be the off-ramp for adult smokers to switch from cigarettes, not an on-ramp for America’s youth to initiate on nicotine. We won’t be successful in our mission to serve adult smokers if we don’t narrow the on-ramp.

"Our intent was never to have youth use JUUL products. But intent is not enough, the numbers are what matter, and the numbers tell us underage use of e-cigarette products is a problem. We must solve it.

"For us to successfully fulfill our mission of helping adult smokers, we must be trusted – and we must earn that trust. That starts with action, not words."

Read the action plan here.

Despite that, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that 1 in 10 middle and high-schoolers reported using e-cigarettes last year.

Co-founder of Parents Against Vaping E-Cigarettes Meredith Berkman said:

“Adults did not realize, but all the kids knew what Juul was because it was being marketed to them in their own schools. Also, on social media platforms that were for young people where adults were not.”

JUUL maintains that the claims against them are meritless but have agreed to the settlement to avoid a lengthy legal process.

The court has yet to determine whether or not JUUL can continue to sell its products.