Back in 2018, the State of Massachusetts had launched an investigation in order to determine whether renowned e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs Inc and two online retailers had violated state law, by failing to prevent minors from purchasing the vaping devices.
Upon answering questions about the investigation, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, had explained that her office was sending cease-and-desist letters to Direct Eliquid LLC and Eonsmoke LLC, demanding that the online companies stop selling Juul and other devices, to Massachusetts residents without adequate age verification systems. “The bottom line, this is about keeping young people safe and healthy,” she said at the time.
Accused of advertising on educational websites
The result of this investigation, is a lawsuit accusing Juul Labs of working through online ad buyers to purchase space on websites that were “highly attractive to children, adolescents in middle school and high school, and underage college students.” According to the suit, these included educational websites such as coolmath-games.com and socialstudiesforkids.com.
The attorney general’s office said that these purchases began when the device was launched in 2015, and continued through 2016. In response to these allegations, a Juul spokesman pointed out that the company is doing its best to prove it is trustworthy. “While we have not yet reviewed the complaint, we remain focused on … earning the trust of society by working cooperatively with attorneys general, regulators, public health officials … to combat underage use.”
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