TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody today announced that a bipartisan group of 39 attorneys general is investigating the vaping company JUUL. The nationwide investigation is exploring JUUL’s marketing and sales practices—including the targeting of youth, claims regarding nicotine content, and statements regarding risks, safety and effectiveness as a smoking cessation device.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “We have an epidemic of underaged vaping, not just in Florida, but nationwide. As Florida’s Attorney General and a mother, I cannot sit on the sidelines while this public health epidemic grows, and our next generation becomes addicted to nicotine. That is why we are acting with a sense of urgency in Florida and leading this multistate investigation into JUUL’s role in the underaged vaping epidemic.”
Today’s announcement comes as the Florida Attorney General’s comprehensive state vaping investigation progresses. In October of last year, Attorney General Moody launched a state vaping investigation looking into the marketing and selling practices of e-cigarette products by more than 20 companies selling in Florida—including JUUL.
For more information on the state investigation, click here.
The launch of the state investigation followed Attorney General Moody’s statewide fact-gathering mission into the dramatic increase in vaping among Florida youth. According to a Florida Department of Health report released in 2019, e-cigarette use among Florida high school students increased 58 percent from 2017 to 2018. The report claimed, nearly one in four Florida high school students now admits to vaping. Another study found two-thirds of young persons did not know vaping products contained nicotine. DOH is now reporting 119 cases of vaping-related pulmonary illnesses statewide.
For more information about the fact-gathering mission, click here.
To further curb the underage vaping epidemic in Florida, Attorney General Moody is working with lawmakers this legislative session on changes to state law to prevent the sale, possession and use of e-cigarette devices by minors.
