Big Tobacco Watchdog Center for Environmental Health Urges Lawmakers to Fight Back Against Underhanded Industry During Respiratory Pandemic
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 14, 2020
Michael Green, CEH’s CEO and Founder, 510-378-7333
Caroline Cox, CEH’s Senior Scientist, 541-654-2626
Ruben F. Diaz, CEH’s Digital Manager, 510-938-2664
OAKLAND, CA—Last week, e-cigarette giant JUUL told the Wall Street Journal it was moving its headquarters from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., signaling a strategic decision to double down on lobbying efforts amid regulatory crackdowns and lawsuits over marketing to children and teens.
The company has long been the focus of the Center for Environmental Health, who reached a landmark settlement with JUUL last year that mandated restrictions on marketing and advertising toxic and addictive products to children. The settlement marked the first time the company agreed to legally binding restrictions on youth marketing.
In response to the news JUUL’s move to the nation’s capital, Center for Environmental issued the following statement:
“If we’ve learned anything in our fight to hold e-cigarette makers accountable over the years, it’s that they always follow Big Tobacco’s playbook. JUUL’s move to Washington, D.C. is no different. With organizations like the Center for Environmental Health holding them accountable for deviously marketing neurotoxins to children, they’ve packed up and headed to the nation’s capital where lobbyists will try to convince lawmakers to ignore science and put the health of our young people further at risk. We condemn JUUL’s underhanded marketing practices and we urge our elected officials resist the lobbying efforts of this unscrupulous company to protect the health of our children.”