Electronic cigarette company Juul will no longer sell its products on store shelves. The United States Food and Drug Administration officially issued “marketing denial orders” to Juul Labs, Inc. this Thursday, meaning that U.S. retailers must remove all current stock and are prohibited from selling Juul products. Rumors of the shutdown were spreading as early as Wednesday.
Dr. Robert M. Califf, Commissioner of the FDA, said in a statement: “Today’s action is further progress on the FDA’s commitment to ensuring that all e-cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system products currently being marketed to consumers meet our public health standards. The agency has dedicated significant resources to review products from the companies that account for most of the U.S. market. We recognize these make up a significant part of the available products and many have played a disproportionate role in the rise in youth vaping.”
“The FDA is tasked with ensuring that tobacco products sold in this country meet the standard set by the law, but the responsibility to demonstrate that a product meets those standards ultimately falls on the shoulders of the company,” added acting director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, Michele Mital.
“As with all manufacturers, Juul had the opportunity to provide evidence demonstrating that the marketing of their products meets these standards. However, the company did not provide that evidence and instead left us with significant questions.”
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This seems like a nail in the coffin after years of public controversies and restrictions placed on the company, which include a $40 million lawsuit for targeting teenagers with their marketing, removing flavored vapes from their online store, and halting advertisements in the U.S.
The FDA has shown how Juul contributed to an uptick in underage vaping after becoming the most popular e-cigarette product in the U.S. in 2017; Juul agreed to a $40 million settlement last year in North Carolina for its marketing practices.
“For years Juul targeted young people, including teens, with highly addictive e-cigarettes,” expressed North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein. “It lit the spark and fanned the flames of a vaping epidemic among our children—one that you can see in any high school in North Carolina.”