The Tulalip tribe of Washington, U.S., has sued e-cigarette giant Juul Labs Inc. (JLI), accusing the company and its affiliates of illegally targeting teenagers in the Indian sovereign north of Seattle with deceptive advertising about the addictive properties of its products.

The tribe's 316-page complaint, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Seattle, said JLI and its affiliates used the cigarette industry's playbook to lure a new generation of young tribe members to nicotine.

"Defendants attempted to increase the market share of nicotine-addicted e-cigarette users through two related programs beginning at least in early 2015," the complaint reads. “First, by designing an unsafe product with a high nicotine content that is designed to addictive or exacerbate addiction. most lucrative young people) marketing and mislabeling this potent product.”

As a result, the use of Juul's vaping products has become rampant among Tulalip tribal youth, with nicotine consumption by 12th graders reportedly nearly doubling between 2017 and 2018, according to the lawsuit.

Juul is so effective at delivering nicotine into the bloodstream that the company's engineers explored features that prevent users from ingesting too much nicotine too quickly. One idea, according to former Juul scientist Chenyue Xing, is to turn off the device for half an hour or more after a certain number of puffs.

This concern stems from the fact that Juul - unlike cigarettes - never burns.

"But top management rejected concerns raised by scientists that the company has never produced e-cigarettes that limit nicotine intake," the court filing said.

Cigarette companies have known for decades that flavored products are the key to acclimatizing young people to nicotine, according to the lawsuit. In a 1972 Brown & Williamson memo titled "Cigarettes for Youth - A New Concept," it specifically noted that it was a well-known fact that teenagers had a sweet tooth.

A 1979 Lorillard memo concluded that younger customers would be attracted to products with less tobacco flavor, and even proposed borrowing data from Lifeguard Candy Company to determine which flavors were most popular with young people.

In 2009, the FDA banned flavored cigarettes (except menthol) under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009. "Flavored cigarettes attract and lure kids into addiction," says Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services Howard Koh, MD, MPH.

In January 2020, the FDA banned flavored e-cigarette cartridges other than tobacco and menthol flavors in response to the prevalence of e-cigarette use among teens because these products are so attractive to children.

In addition to using kid-friendly flavors, Juul's design is sleek and high-tech, which makes it appealing to youngsters.

Co-founder Adam Bowen, known as the iPhone of e-cigarettes, draws on his experience as a design engineer at Apple Inc. to make JUUL resonate with Apple's popular aesthetic. This high-tech style makes the JUUL look more like a cool gadget than a drug delivery device.

In 2018, then-surgeon Jerome Adams issued a statement opposing the use of e-cigarettes by young users.

In a prepared statement, Adams said: "The recent surge in e-cigarette use among young people driven by new types of e-cigarettes entering the market is of great concern. We must act now to protect the health of our nation's young people.

In April, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that JLI must pay $22.5 million to resolve Ferguson's lawsuit against the vaping company. The lawsuit alleges that Juul violated the law by designing and marketing its products to appeal to underage consumers and deceiving consumers about the addictive nature of its products.

Juul admitted no wrongdoing, but settled with the state, paying $22.5 million. This is the fourth such settlement the company has reached with states. In November 2021, months after agreeing to pay North Carolina $40 million, Juul settled with Arizona's state attorney for $14.5 million.

In a statement posted online in April, the company said the settlement with Washington and other states is another step in our ongoing efforts to realign the company and address past issues.

"The terms of the settlement are consistent with our current business practices and past agreements to help combat underage use while providing adult smokers with access to our products as they transition from combustible cigarettes," the statement read.