- Published: Wednesday, April 12, 2023 01:32 PM
SPRINGIFELD – State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Lake Forest) released the following statement after an announcement that Illinois is receiving $67.6 million from a settlement with Juul, the e-cigarette maker. The troubled company has been largely accused of contributing to the rise of vaping among youth.
“Vaping and e-cigarette-related deaths and illnesses quickly became a nationwide epidemic that no user is immune to — no matter how young they are. It’s about time the very people responsible for the prevalence of this outbreak are held accountable.
“While this won’t bring back the lives who have been taken by the harmful effects of e-cigarettes, this serves as a positive step forward to protecting future generations of young people from the dangers. I will not stop fighting against the big tobacco industry until no other child has access to these deadly products.”
Morrison has been an advocate for putting an end to tobacco use in teens since entering the General Assembly. In 2019, she successfully passed a law that increases the age to legally purchase tobacco to 21. After the success of that law, Morrison passed the Preventing Youth Vaping Act last year and is working to ban the use of e-cigarettes indoors during the current legislative session.
