New York AG sues popular vape brands for 'youth vaping epidemic,' violating flavor ban
Flavored nicotine vapes have been illegal to sell in New York since 2020, but some e-cigarette manufacturers are still marketing them toward minors with flavors like rainbow cotton candy and grape bubblegum, New York Attorney General Letitia James argued in a lawsuit filed Thursday.
The suit, which names popular vape manufacturers including Puff Bar, PVG2, EVO Brands, Demand Vape, Magellan Technology, Midwest Goods, Pod Juice, Safa Goods, Mi-One Brands, Mylé Vape, MVH I, Price Point Distributors, Happy Distro, is the result of an Office of the Attorney General investigation.
Because part of the lawsuit also alleges that the named companies were illegally shipping products to customers in New York State, the CEO, vice president and a major shareholder of Price Point NY - Weis Khwaja, Hamza Jalili and Mohammad Jalili - were also specifically named.
“These companies are responsible for illegally distributing, marketing, and selling flavored disposable vapes,” a statement from the AG’s office issued Thursday read. “An Office of the Attorney General (OAG) investigation found that these companies market highly addictive, candy- and fruit-flavored nicotine products to underage consumers, mislead customers about the safety and legality of their products, illegally ship products to New York, and violate health regulations designed to curb youth vaping.”
The lawsuit seeks to hit the offending parties with hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and penalties for breaking state law. It also seeks to recover profits made from the sales of illegal vapes in the state, create a fund to assist efforts to curb youth vaping in New York and restitution for the public health impact that James has called a “youth vaping epidemic.”
Vape flavors like “Unicorn Cake” target kids, says New York AG
While teen vaping has dropped dramatically from its peak in 2019, it is still the most popular form of tobacco usage among under-18s, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. In 2024, just under 6% of school students use vapes or e-cigarettes, equating to about 1.6 million kids. Of these, 87.6% used flavored products.
The issue has been curbed by a growing body of legislation across counties and states, but James accused the named companies of using “deceptive and misleading” marketing not only to downplay the health risks of e-cigarette use, but to market them specifically toward youth with “bright, colorful packaging, candy and fruit flavors, social media and influencer campaigns.”
In the statement accompanying the release of the lawsuit, James’ office accused the manufacturers and distributors of intentionally creating products, designs and marketing campaigns to attract young people with “cartoonish” packaging and flavors like “Blue Razz Slushy,” “Sour Watermelon Patch” and “Unicorn Cake.”
The lawsuit also alleges that the typical disposable vape has a capacity of 10 mL of e-liquid at 5% nicotine strength, making it the equivalent of more than 10 packs of cigarettes.
“The vaping industry is taking a page out of Big Tobacco’s playbook: they’re making nicotine seem cool, getting kids hooked, and creating a massive public health crisis in the process,” said James in the statement. “For too long, these companies have disregarded our laws in order to profit off of our young people, but we will not risk the health and safety of our kids. Today, we are taking critical steps toward holding these companies accountable for the harm they have caused New Yorkers.”
The suit also alleges the use of other gimmicks, such as vapes with LED touchscreens and Bluetooth connectivity, to appeal to younger, more tech-savvy people. It cited multiple examples of advertising the AG argues is meant to target kids and teens, such as one pandemic-era advert that called its vapes “the perfect escape from back-to-back zoom calls [and] parental texts.”
Vape bans crush small business, hinder smoking cessation efforts, argue proponents
Vaping trade groups, manufacturers and retailers, lobbyists and proponents have long refuted challenges to the safety of their products. Many argue that e-cigarettes are viable harm-reduction alternatives for those seeking to quit or avoid smoking traditional tobacco products.
While James called claims of e-cigarettes being “safe” alternatives to traditional cigarettes “unproven,” studies have shown they can be helpful for harm reduction or cessation aids.
Allison Boughner, the vice president of American Vapor Manufacturer, called the AG’s move “misguided and irresponsible” in a statement shared Thursday, saying it aimed to “crush American small businesses” and “ignores public health benefits of vaping as a smoking cessation aid.”
“AVM strongly denounces the lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James against distributors of flavored e-cigarettes. This misguided action unfairly targets legitimate American businesses that employ thousands and contribute to local economies,” said the statement. “Our members are dedicated to offering adult smokers safer alternatives to combustible cigarettes, supporting a mission of harm reduction backed by science and millions of successful former smokers.”
The statement also accused the litigation and New York’s existing flavor ban of threatening to “dismantle an industry that provides jobs and innovative quitting tools for adults.”
“This lawsuit places undue burden on U.S. companies striving to comply with regulations, risking closures and layoffs at a time when economic stability is paramount,” the statement continued. “Small businesses, from distributors to retailers, face devastating losses, while the livelihoods of their workers hang in the balance.”
The statement ended with urging James to take a less punitive approach, instead calling for collaboration with industry leaders to “craft sensible policies that protect youth without crippling responsible businesses.”Paste BN reached out to each company named in the lawsuit for comment.
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