Not to imply that they aren’t already, but stores selling e-cigarette supplies should be extra careful about carding customers from now on.
The state’s recent settlement with Juul, the purveyor of nicotine-laced vaping liquids, comes with more than its healthy price tag of $22 million for marketing its products to the state’s youth.
No guilt was admitted, which is how settlements work, but there’s more than just a cash payout involved.
It also requires the company to conduct “secret shopper” programs at e-cigarette retailers in all of the state’s 39 counties at a rate of 25 “stings” per month over two years, making sure the person behind the counter checks the age of the purchaser and follows the legal limits on the number of devices and pods.
These will be in addition to checks the state Liquor and Cannabis Board conducts.
In announcing the settlement earlier this month, Attorney General Bob Ferguson accused Juul of taking a page from the marketing playbook that Big Tobacco used for decades to get youngsters hooked on its products. But there was a definite 21st century twist, with flavors like mango and crème brûleé.
In the days of Joe Camel, most teens wouldn’t have known how to pronounce crème brûleé, let alone what it tasted like.
Juul, it should be noted, has been a player in Washington legislative campaigns over the last three years, with about $120,000 in contributions to legislators and political caucus committees on both sides. The Leadership Fund, which supports Senate Republicans and the Reagan Fund, which supports House Republicans, have each banked $30,000, and the Truman Fund, the House Democrats’ coffers, took $25,000. The Kennedy Fund, which supports Senate Democrats, got a relatively paltry $5,000.
Jim Camden – Spokesman-Review – 2022-04-24.
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