Overall, about 4.5 percent of adults use e-cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An annual survey typically given in middle and high schools found that in 2022, 2.5 million middle and high school students, or about 9 percent, reported using e-cigarettes in the last 30 days. In that survey, about 14 percent of high school students reported vaping — about half the rate in the survey taken at the peak of the crisis in 2019.
While the recent decline has been viewed as a victory, some who oppose e-cigarette use have been troubled by data showing the frequency of use among nearly half the high school students who reported vaping, who said they did so on 20 to 30 days in a month.
Last year, Juul resolved thousands of lawsuits by individuals and other plaintiffs.
In December, the company agreed to pay $1.7 billion over lawsuits by more than 5,000 individuals, school districts and local governments. In September, the company settled lawsuits filed by more than 30 states for $438.5 million.
This month, Juul settled claims filed by West Virginia for $7.9 million.
In the Minnesota trial that began a few weeks ago, Keith Ellison, the state attorney general, opened the proceedings by accusing the company of getting teenagers hooked on e-cigarettes “so they could make money.”
“They baited, deceived, and addicted a whole new generation of kids after Minnesotans slashed youth smoking rates down to the lowest level in a generation,” Mr. Ellison said.
Like other settlements, the latest requires Juul to refrain from marketing to youths. The agreement also requires Juul to stop offering free or “nominally priced” products to consumers, and from using the marketing technique of “product placement” in virtual reality systems.
Meanwhile, Juul’s business continues to struggle to find its footing. In 2018, the company dominated the vaping space, with revenues of nearly $1 billion that year. These days, Juul has fallen behind in market share to Vuse, its competitor, which is owned by British American Tobacco. Juul does not disclose its revenues, but B.A.T. said its vapor category in the United States, which includes its popular Vuse Alto product, had about $1 billion in revenues last year, up more than 60 percent from the year earlier.
