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The Massachusetts Attorney General is investigating Juul Labs Inc. and other online sellers of electronic cigarettes to determine if they are illegally selling vaping products to minors.
Attorney General
Maura Healey & # 39; s
The bureau said Tuesday it also sent letters of termination and discontinuance to two companies that manage three websites: www.directeliquid.com, buyjuul.com and eonsmoke.com, ordering retailers to stop selling Juul and other vaping products in Massachusetts without having the required age. verification system required by state regulations. These two companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment
"Juuling and vaping have become an epidemic in our schools with products that seem targeted for young people to be addicted to nicotine," Ms. Healey said. in a press release. 19659003] The move comes as Juul faces increasing pressure to curb the widespread use of his devices in teenagers. In April, the Food and Drug Administration said it had requested information at the start of San Francisco about its marketing and health effects research. The agency also asked if the features and design ingredients were of interest to specific age groups.
Juul Labs said that he welcomed the opportunity to work with the Attorney General "because we, too, are committed to preventing the use of Juul minors", according to the spokesperson.
Matt David.
The company uses online tools to block under-21 purchase attempts, including a unique technology for matching identity and age verification, "he said. declared. "In addition, we have never marketed to minors."
Juul sprays were introduced in 2015. Sales of these devices took off last year, becoming a status symbol for teens and a growing problem in schools. According to a Wells Fargo analysis of Nielsen's sales data, Juul Labs captured 68% of the $ 1.9 billion US market for electronic cigarettes. This figure does not include Internet sales.
The Juul device, which looks like a USB key, delivers nicotine, derived from tobacco, in a patented saline solution. Its nicotine concentration of 5% is significantly higher than most other electronic cigarettes available commercially.
Juul reseller agreements include monitoring and penalties for non-compliance with restrictions on minors. With a $ 650 million injection into his last round of financing, Juul is stepping up its marketing with storefront posters, roadside ads, radio ads and social media. adult cigarette smokers, according to Morgan Stanley analyst
Pamela Kaufman.
The explosion of Juul's popularity has raised questions among investors about the potential impact of the startup on the tobacco giants
Altria Group
Inc.
and
British American Tobacco
PLC
Ms. Kaufman estimates that 22% of Juul sales were at the expense of cigarette sales in the United States, and that by 2022 its cannibalization rate could increase to 40%
. based, we believe that its growing awareness, its wider distribution and its more and more targeted marketing to adult smokers are likely to result in higher cannibalization rates of cigarettes, "she wrote in a note. Tuesday.
Cowen and Co.
Vivien Azer
projects a more discreet effect on Altria, the US leader in the cigarette market, cigarette smokers picking up Juul but continuing to smoke and smoke at the same time.
Write to Jennifer Maloney at [email protected]
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