Minnesota Sues Vaping Manufacturer JUUL
The State of Minnesota is going after tobacco giant JUUL. Vaping has quickly become an epidemic in Minnesota and across the U.S. Wednesday at the Capitol, some powerful politicians made a blockbuster announcement to try and stop the crisis across.
“We’re using the power of the Minnesota attorney general’s office to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the state and the people of Minnesota,” said Attorney General Keith Ellison.
“Vapes became popular,” said Hopkins High student Will Gitler. “It was marketed as the safe alternative and it seemed like that to me. That’s what everyone was saying, so I bought into that.”
Lawsuit Claims JUUL Deceptive and fraudulent
The State of Minnesota claims that tobacco giant JUUL deceived the public about its product. The lawsuit alleges that Juul used a deceptive and fraudulent marketing strategy to hook kids into vaping.
Gitler was at the jam-packed news conference to tell his story. Gitler and other students jump started this discussion in October with Governor Tim Walz. They told him about the downside of vaping.
The students clearly made an impact on Walz. When talking about JUUL, the governor did not mince words.
“Trace back to who owns JUUL,” Walz said. “There’s a new name for Big Tobacco and it’s JUUL and it’s vaping. It’s that simple. But my message to JUUL as they’re listening today is, you can hire your attorneys, you will have your day in court, but we will bring the righteous justice of the State of Minnesota down on JUUL.”
Ellison says the state of Minnesota does not know what the dollar amount of the lawsuit will be, and they are still gathering data to decide on a damages claim.
State politicians compared this lawsuit to the successful one that Minnesota filed against Big Tobacco 20 years ago. If you’d like to read the civil complaint, click here.
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