Millions in JUUL settlement money making its way to New York counties and BOCES

Millions of dollars are flowing into the North Country, Mohawk Valley, and Southern Tier as part of the $462 million multistate settlement with JUUL Labs Inc. for its role in the youth-vaping epidemic. New York will receive a total of $112.7 million through the settlement, according to New York Attorney General Letitia James, who announced the funding distribution in a series of press releases. The state’s portion of the settlement will be distributed to every county, Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), and the five largest cities in the state to support programs to reduce and prevent underage vaping. “JUUL intentionally used deceptive marketing to hook a generation of young people on their addictive products,” James said in one of the press releases. “Our children now face a severe public health crisis, battling addiction to dangerous e-cigarettes.” The more than $3 million headed to the North Country will be split between six counties and four BOCES. Clinton County will receive $398,962.14, Essex County will get $278,594.49, Franklin County will be allocated $372,792.31, Hamilton County will receive $181,640.73, Jefferson County will be distributed $531,347.19, Lewis County will receive $261,994.63, and St. Lawrence County will be allocated $383,711.63. Clinton-Essex-Warren-Washington BOCES will receive $226,598.54, Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES will be allocated $128,101.19, Jefferson-Lewis-Oneida-Hamilton-Herkimer BOCES will receive $368,831 and St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES will get $232,632.83. The Southern Tier will receive more than $4.5 million divided between eight counties and four BOCES. Broome County will be distributed $596,588.77, Chemung County will be allocated $509.170.60, Chenango County will get $351,784.56, Delaware County will receive $315,519.52, Schuyler County will be allocated $216,589.36, Steuben County will receive $450,048.88, Tioga County will get $323,674.26, and Tompkins County will be distributed $473,932.88. Broome-Delaware-Tioga BOCES will receive $463,006.41, Delaware-Chenango-Madison-Otsego BOCES will be provided $184,030.60, Greater Southern Tier BOCES will get $439,444, and Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES will receive $183,380.64. More than $3.4 million will be distributed to six counties and five BOCES in the Mohawk Valley as part of the settlement. Fulton County will receive $377,149.09, Herkimer County will get $338,122.50, Montgomery County will be distributed $302,440.88, Oneida County will receive $849,282.44, Otsego County will get $257,184.58, and Schoharie County will be allocated $255,547.66. Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES will receive $244,033.35, Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES will get $146,946.02, Madison-Oneida BOCES will be distributed $231,265.86, Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES will be allocated $355,157.99, and Otsego-Delaware-Schoharie-Greene BOCES will receive $123,038.86. According to the press release, after JUUL launched in 2015, e-cigarette use among the state’s high-school students skyrocketed. By 2019, vaping-related illnesses led to more than 2,500 hospitalizations. In November 2019, James sued JUUL for deceptive and misleading marketing targeted at young people, securing the multistate settlement agreement in April 2023. Funds from the settlement will be used for evidence-based measures to combat underage vaping and e-cigarette addiction. Counties and BOCES must dedicate the settlement funds they receive to public education campaigns to prevent e-cigarette use among young people; community, school, and university-based anti-vaping programs; vaping-cessation services in communities, schools, and colleges; enforcement of vaping laws and regulations; public-health research into e-cigarette use among young people and the effectiveness of anti-vaping programs. The settlement also required JUUL to make significant changes to its sales and marketing practices.