RALEIGH — North Carolina's top legal officer says several e-cigarette companies aren't selling their products in the state while his litigation against them is pending.
Attorney General Josh Stein announced in August that he was suing eight more vaping companies under the state's unfair and deceptive trade laws. Stein accuses them of aggressively marketing their products to young people and failing to use proper age verification, and he wants their sales to end.
"We are only beginning to see the harmful, even deadly health impacts vaping has on young people,” Stein said in a news release. “But we absolutely know that their tobacco use is on the rise – and that these companies have aggressively marketed their e-cigs to addict a new generation to nicotine.”
Stein said on Monday that VapeCo. Distribution has agreed not to sell or market vapor products in the state. His office says there are preliminary injunctions or temporary restraining orders stopping sales by Electronic Tobacconist, Electric Lotus, Direct eLiquid and Beard Vape while the lawsuits continue.
Stein sued e-cigarette industry leader Juul in May.
