ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A jury trial began on Monday for a lawsuit the State of Alaska filed against JUUL Labs, Inc. and the Altria Group, Inc. for what the state is calling those company’s roles in causing an increased use of e-cigarettes by youth.
According to a press release from former acting Attorney General Ed Sniffen dated Nov. 24, 2020, the state alleges that JUUL “successfully employed the marketing strategies previously used by Big Tobacco, with updates for the digital era, including youth-oriented social media campaigns and paid ‘influencers.‘”
The suit further alleges that Altria then conspired with JUUL to maintain and expand the youth e-cigarette market JUUL had created, working to cover up JUUL’s youth marketing just as Big Tobacco tried to cover up its own youth-targeted marketing in the past.
“According to the 2019 Alaska Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 45.8% of Alaska high school students have tried e-cigarettes, with 26.1% reporting e-cigarette …