Lawsuit Against JUUL and Altria in Alaska Dismissed

According to Alaska's News Source on December 17th, a lawsuit filed by the state of Alaska against JUUL Labs, Inc. and Altria Group, Inc. was deemed invalid due to procedural errors.

Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor expressed disappointment in the verdict of the case in a statement. He added that this does not affect the substance of the case, and they are still evaluating various options, including retrying the case.

In subsequent questioning, the media asked the state's Attorney General about specific details of procedural errors and whether they involved jury tampering. The Attorney General responded that although the verdict was invalidated due to procedural issues, the facts remained unchanged—that youth e-cigarette use is still a threat, and companies should be held accountable for the harm their products pose to children.

JUUL's Vice President of External Affairs, Stefanie Miller, released a statement criticizing Alaska for having one of the highest smoking rates in the country, yet continuing to target an American company that provides alternative combustible cigarette products. She hopes that the efforts of the court and jury will be taken into consideration, rather than investing resources into events that happened almost a decade ago.

The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in November and is expected to continue through December. The first oral arguments began on August 27, 2021. According to a press release from former Acting Attorney General Ed Sniffen on November 24, 2020, the state government accuses JUUL of using marketing strategies similar to those used by big tobacco companies in the past, updated for the digital age, including social media campaigns targeting teenagers and paid "influencers.

The lawsuit alleges that Altria conspired with JUUL to maintain and expand the youth e-cigarette market created by JUUL, and attempted to cover up their marketing practices targeting teenagers. According to the 2019 Alaska Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 45.8% of high school students in Alaska have tried e-cigarettes, while 26.1% reported using e-cigarettes. This is a significant increase since 2017, and the state government's lawsuit argues that this is a direct result of JUUL and Altria's marketing strategies targeting youth.