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State attorneys announced a settlement agreement Monday morning that subjects e-cigarette giant Juul Labs to pay $40 million and forces it to change how it does business in North Carolina. “North Carolina is now the first state in the nation to hold Juul accountable for its instrumental role in creating a youth vaping epidemic, “ said Attorney General Josh Stein after a Monday morning court hearing on the settlement. (Bridges, 6/28)

The consent order also imposes several marketing restrictions, including barring the company from engaging in most social media advertising, having outdoor advertising near schools, and sponsoring sporting events and concerts. Juul has been voluntarily adhering to many of those restrictions, but the consent order gives them the force of law in North Carolina. (McGinley, 6/28)

Teen use of e-cigarettes skyrocketed more than 70% after Juul’s launch in 2015, leading the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to declare an “epidemic” of underage vaping among teenagers. Health experts said the unprecedented increase risked hooking a generation of young people on nicotine, an addictive chemical that is harmful to the developing brain. “Juul sparked and spread a disease — the disease of nicotine addiction. They did it to teenagers across North Carolina and this country simply to make money,” Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, said after a brief court hearing. “Today’s court order will go a long way towards ensuring that their e-cigarettes product is not in kids’ hands, its chemical vapor is out of their lungs, and that the nicotine does not poison or addict their brains.” (Robertson, 6/28)