HONOLULU – Hawai'i Attorney General Clare E. Connors today announced Hawai'i has joined a bipartisan, multistate investigation of JUUL Labs. The 39-state multistate coalition is investigating JUUL’s marketing and sales practices, including targeting of youth, claims regarding nicotine content, and statements regarding risks, safety and effectiveness as a smoking cessation device.
“The vaping epidemic in our schools has set back many of the health gains Hawai'i achieved in the wake of the tobacco war,” said Attorney General Connors. “The statistics for our state are staggering, and my department is working with other states and our local counterparts to investigate the role of JUUL Labs in purposefully targeting our youth and creating a devastating health threat to our community.”
While traditional cigarette use has plummeted among youth, vaping is skyrocketing. 2017 data from the Hawai'i School Health Survey and national surveys found that:
3% of Hawaii’s public high school students had used electronic vaping products.
27% of Hawaii’s public middle school students had used electronic vaping products.
9% had first tried using electronic vaping products before the age of 13.
In 2017, high school teens in Hawaii were vaping at double the average rate nationally.