United States Senators have fired off an angry letter to an e-cigarette company accusing it of trying get children addicted to smoking.
Eleven US Senators wrote to Juul Labs early in April demanding answers over the company’s relationship with tobacco giant Altria.
The letter accused Juul being part of a vaping “epidemic” in America and of shrouding its company practices in “immense secrecy”.
According to a CNN report, Altria invested almost $13 billion in Juul last year.
“Altria has a long and sordid history of spending billions to entice children to smoke through targeted campaigns that intentionally lied about the science and health effects from cigarettes,” the letter says.
The letter accused Juul of being “more interested in padding its profit margins than protecting our nation’s children” and requested information about its plans to keep targeting American youth.
The Senators want detailed information on Juul’s sales and advertising spending and a complete list of what they describe as “social media influencers” paid by Juul.
The Senators are taking the issue up with the nation’s Federal Trade Commission.
The Senators want a response from Juul by April 25.
The company has issued an emailed statement saying: “We welcome the opportunity to share information regarding Juul Labs’commitment to curbing underage use of our products while fulfilling our mission to eliminate combustible cigarettes.”
