Governments got huge payouts from a 1998 settlement deal with tobacco companies but have spent little of it to prevent or treat people’s smoking addictions. In Kentucky, groups hope state lawmakers will do the opposite with funds coming from electronic cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs.

Kentucky and other states, including Indiana, settled a joint case against Juul in 2022, after state officials investigated and found the company’s marketing enticed kids to try its tobacco products.

Juul denied wrongdoing in its settlement with the states but agreed to pay close to $440 million to resolve the case. It also promised to follow certain rules on how it markets and sells e-cigarettes.

Juul’s overall payout to Kentucky totals over $14 million. Typically with settlements, a portion is used to recoup litigation-related costs while the rest is freed up for other priorities.

With several million dollars in payouts still to come, groups focused on fighting cancer and protecting youth want the Kentucky Legislature to spend the money on efforts to help young people either avoid picking up a vaping habit or quit tobacco if they’ve already started one.

“Use the money from the company that has addicted a new generation to tobacco and e-cigarettes … to help these kids get out of the cycle,” said Kim Lindgren of Bowling Green, who volunteers with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

The settlement laid out a plan for annual payments starting in 2022, with Juul sending about $4.1 million to Kentucky by the end of 2024. The rest will be paid out over several more years.

Two bills would change how the next payouts get spent

Two Republican lawmakers are proposing legislation that would direct future payments from Juul toward youth-focused programs.

Rep. Robert Duvall, from Bowling Green, proposed House Bill 187 to devote the funds to the Kentucky Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program to support youth anti-vaping initiatives.

Research shows vaping is associated with health problems. It isn’t as dangerous as smoking cigarettes, but vapes can contain carcinogenic chemicals and pose other risks. E-cigarette use is a relatively new phenomenon, so there’s still research to do on the long-term health effects.

Duvall said he’s concerned about high rates of Kentucky high-schoolers using vapes and about the state’s low health rankings. He wants to see improvement.

“And one of the best ways to start is to invest in programs that seek to prevent bad habits and to discontinue bad habits, and that is exactly what House Bill 187 does for destructive vaping habits,” he said in a statement. “Without intervention, we will continue to see the harmful effects on our students and increasing cost of healthcare to our state.”

The other proposal for how to use the Juul settlement is House Bill 218, sponsored by Rep. Rebecca Raymer of Morgantown. Raymer did not respond to a request for comment.

Her bill would split future Juul payouts between two priorities:

• Half would support programs to help youth quit vaping, distributed through the Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse Policy and its local boards.
• The other half would go to the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to enforce restrictions on tobacco sales, including vapes, that could curb kids’ access to them. 

Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, said his nonprofit supports the intent of both Duvall and Raymer’s bills.

“There’s nuances, but they both have the same rationale,” he said. “All we're asking for is: Let's use the Juul money for what it was intended, and that is to support kids around tobacco and vaping issues. … I think it's common sense and common ground.”

A potential roadblock for Raymer’s proposal, Brooks said, is it would fund the enforcement of vape restrictions set up under a 2024 law, also sponsored by Raymer, that’s being challenged in court.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network supports HB 187 because it would put all future Juul money toward anti-tobacco youth programs.

Lindgren, from Bowling Green, said her volunteer work is fueled by her experience of losing her mother, Pat Troupe, to breast cancer.

“I'm the only child of two parents who smoked. My father worked for Philip Morris up until the day he died,” said Lindgren, who grew up in Louisville and remembers childhood visits to the factory run by the powerful tobacco company.

“I love Kentucky. I wouldn't live anywhere else,” she said. “I think we have the capacity to do great things, but those great things are being diminished by the fact that our youth are getting addicted to these products that are cutting their future short.”