New York State Sues E-Cigarette Industry, Accusing It Is Fueling Youth 'Vaping Epidemic'

New York State Attorney General Letitia James will sue 13 e-cigarette manufacturers, distributors and retailers for hundreds of millions of dollars, accusing them of fueling a "vaping epidemic" among young people, she announced Thursday, February 20.

The New York lawsuit accuses the companies of "marketing highly addictive candy- and fruit-flavored nicotine products to underage consumers, misleading customers about the safety and legality of their products, illegally shipping products to New York, and violating health regulations designed to curb youth vaping," all through an aggressive and deceptive marketing strategy.

According to Letitia James, “the vaping industry is taking a page from ‘Big Tobacco’,” meaning the tobacco industry. “They make nicotine seem cool,” but it’s “addicting kids and creating a massive public health crisis,” she says.

The companies targeted by the complaint are accused of not having received any authorization from the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market their fruit- or candy-flavored products. In addition, New York State has banned the sale of flavored products since 2020, Letitia James recalls. Among the companies targeted are American companies as well as the Chinese brand Elf Bar.

In 2022 and 2023, the American electronic cigarette seller Juul agreed to pay nearly 1 billion dollars (950 million euros) to a collective bringing together more than forty states for having targeted young people.

Having enjoyed strong commercial growth over the past ten years, the electronic cigarette does not contain tobacco but a liquid, generally loaded with nicotine and inhaled in the form of vapor. It does not contain tar or carbon monoxide, which are responsible for cancers and cardiovascular diseases linked to smoking.

But the World Health Organization and anti-smoking associations refuse, in the name of the precautionary principle and pending studies that reach consensus, to assert that vaping is less risky than cigarettes.

Fearing that young people will take up vaping en masse, some countries have decided to ban e-cigarettes or at least disposable versions, as in France, or fruity flavors targeting children.