RALEIGH, NC (August 27, 2019) — Attorney General Josh Stein today announced that he will be filing lawsuits against eight e-cigarette companies: Beard Vape, Direct eLiquid, Electric Lotus, Electric Tobacconist, Eonsmoke, Juice Man, Tinted Brew, and VapeCo. The suits, which are brought under the North Carolina Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices Act, allege that these companies are aggressively targeting children and do not require appropriate age verification when selling these dangerous and addictive products. In May 2019, Attorney General Stein filed a similar suit against Juul.
“At the same time as our kids are headed off to school, we are hearing new stories about the health risks associated with e-cigarettes on a daily basis,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “Our complaints allege that these eight e-cig companies are helping to fuel an epidemic of vaping among high school and middle school students. One look at their marketing materials demonstrates just how egregious their sales tactics are – with flavors like cotton candy, gummy bear, unicorn, and graham cracker, they’re clearly targeting young people. To teenagers, the health and addiction risks of vaping are simply too high. That is why my office is asking the court to protect our kids by shutting down these operations in our state.”
While tobacco use among teens dropped from 28 percent to just above 5 percent from 2000 to 2017, the rise of e-cigarettes has led the number of high schoolers using tobacco products back up to nearly 30 percent and 7 percent among middle schoolers. Confirmed health risks include nicotine addiction, nicotine poisoning, heart disease, lung disease, behavior changes, and more.
Attorney General Stein’s lawsuits ask for the courts to shut down sales from these companies in North Carolina. In May of this year, Attorney General Stein filed a similar lawsuit against Juul.
Examples of e-cigarette products from these companies are attached.