Baltimore will get at least $7.5M in settlement with e-cigarette maker JUUL

Baltimore scored millions in a settlement with the popular e-cigarette brand Juul, officials said Wednesday, the latest addition to the city’s pile of cash after a summer of settlements with pharmaceutical companies.

Juul Labs Inc. can pay Baltimore either $7.5 million by the end of 2024 or $8 million over three years, according to a news release. The city sued Juul Labs in 2020, following the lead of other jurisdictions that accused the company of deceptive marketing campaigns aimed at children and teens by offering flavored vaping pens without disclosing their high nicotine content.

Mayor Brandon Scott issued a statement touting the settlement as further evidence of his administration’s commitment to helping the city’s young people reach their full potential.

“Achieving that aim means focusing on every aspect of their lives — including their health,” Scott said. “When there is such a clear case of a company wrongfully targeting them to increase their bottom line, then we have a responsibility to take action and that’s what we did with this lawsuit.”

In suing Juul independently, Baltimore opted of out a larger agreement that former Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh reached along with several other states in 2022. Under that settlement agreement, Baltimore would have received far less money — $1.9 million.

Eschewing large joint settlements has become the Scott administration’s playbook. The city also opted out of Maryland’s deal with pharmaceutical companies as part of widespread opioid crisis settlements. So far this year, Baltimore has received $242.5 million from various pharmaceutical companies, and officials expect the city could receive hundreds of millions more in future agreements or at trial.

“We have and will continue to refuse settlement offers that do not fairly compensate Baltimore City for the harms that the misconduct of these companies bring on us,” City Solicitor Ebony Thompson said in a news release.