Minnesota goes head to head with e-cigarette manufacturer Juul

Now all eyes are on Minnesota today when it comes to the fight against kids in tobacco. Minnesota is now the first state to go to trial against e-cigarette manufacturer Jewel and tobacco giant Altria, accusing them now of deceptive marketing targeting youth. Heidi Wigdahl with our sister station in Minnesota reports. Minnesota is going up against e-cigarette manufacturer Jewel and the tobacco company Altria in court. This comes more than three years after Attorney General Keith Ellison first filed a lawsuit against Jewel, accusing the company of quote deceptive marketing targeting youth. It's a pretty significant case. The case comes down to two or three basic issues.

First it's about the claim that Jewel marketed to minors. Second it did nothing in terms of trying to prevent minors from accessing their product. And third it was about the fact that they did not make appropriate disclosures regarding the health and safety risks surrounding the use of vaping in some of these smokeless tobaccos. U of M law professor David Schultz says this isn't new territory for the state. In 1998, a first when Minnesota won a landmark settlement against tobacco companies for among other things, marketing cigarettes to kids. Now the state is taking on vaping. The FDA reported last year about one in ten or more than 2.

5 million middle and high school students in the U.S. used e-cigarettes. If the state wins, what would it mean for Jewel, Altria and other companies like it? It could very well mean a big dent in their pocketbook. Second it's to get them to compensate the state which means help the state pay for the cost of people having become addicted, having developed several different types of illnesses perhaps cancers as a result of it. But if the state loses Schultz says it could embolden companies marketing to youth for vaping and beyond. I think this case has implications not just looking backward with Jewel but going forward tobacco, recreational use of marijuana, THC products, perhaps a whole bunch of other things.

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