Press Releases
06/07/2023
Attorney General Tong Praises Unanimous Passage of Legislation Directing JUUL Vaping Settlement Funds to Regional Behavioral Health Action Organizations
(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong today praised unanimous votes in both the state House of Representatives and Senate advancing legislation directing funds received through the $438.5 million multistate vaping settlement with JUUL to Regional Behavioral Health Action Organizations (RBHAOs) to combat youth vaping and nicotine use. The legislation, backed by the Office of the Attorney General, also supports updating the existing reporting requirements for opioid settlement funds to make clear that municipalities must comply with the same reporting requirements already in place for state-administered funds. The legislation now heads to Governor Ned Lamont for his signature.RBHAOs are created in statute and funded primarily through federal block grant dollars administered by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. They provide a range of planning, education and advocacy initiatives related to mental health and substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery. Connecticut is divided into five RBHAOs representing each region of the state.
Connecticut led 34 states and territories last year in brokering a $438.5 million settlement with JUUL, resolving a two-year bipartisan investigation into the company’s marketing and sales practices. Connecticut is due to receive approximately $16 million through the settlement, which is to be used for cessation, prevention, and mitigation. Over the past four years, Connecticut has led nationwide efforts to hold the entire addiction industry accountable for the opioid epidemic, securing more than $50 billion for treatment and prevention and $600 million for Connecticut alone. Those funds must be used to support evidence-based treatment, prevention, and recovery programs.
“Through our multistate settlements with JUUL Labs and the addiction industry, Connecticut will see hundreds of millions of dollars over the next several years to combat the opioid epidemic and curb youth vaping and nicotine use. I thank the legislature for their unanimous support of this legislation to erect strict safeguards to ensure these funds are used to support evidence-based treatment, prevention, and recovery,” said Attorney General Tong.
“Studies show that more than 2 million U.S. middle and high school students reported currently using e-cigarettes, with the relentless marketing of vaping products to underage youth undoubtedly contributing to these statistics,” said DMHAS Commissioner Nancy Navarretta. “Thanks to Attorney General Tong and the Connecticut General Assembly, these settlement dollars will be directed to the RBHAOs for evidence based, community-level programs that will drive down underage tobacco use.”
“I am grateful to the Attorney General for working collaboratively with the legislature to assure the most effective use of our opioid and JUUL settlement funds, and assuring our Tobacco Health Trust fund can be used to prevent the use of combustible cigarettes, along with all nicotine devices. This work means our Regional Behavioral Health Action Organizations will have more resources to make sure our young people never start smoking or vaping, therefore improving health outcomes and saving lives,” said Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, House Chair of the Public Health Committee.
“I’d like to thank the Attorney General and his office for their leadership as well as the House for passing this bill. This should be a message to anyone who is trying to target children and youth for lifelong addiction to nicotine and other addictive chemicals: there will be consequences for their actions. We take the health and well-being of our residents very seriously,” said State Senator Saud Anwar, Senate Chair of the Public Health Committee.
"Anything we can do to limit tobacco and opioid use, especially with our youth, and to educate, prevent and explain to them the negative effects and the long-term effects that can happen with the use of these drugs is a win for our state," Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria, House ranking member of the Public Health Committee said.
“This legislation injects transparency and accountability into the disbursement of JUUL settlement funding,” said Sen. Heather Somers, Ranking Senator on the Public Health Committee. “This funding must be used for cessation, prevention, and mitigation programs in Connecticut and not for other purposes. This policy will ensure that this will in fact happen, and we are pleased to see it receive unanimous support in the House and Senate.”
"The most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey indicated that 27 percent of youth in Connecticut are 30-day users of vaping products. The Regional Behavioral Health Action Organizations and the local prevention councils they fund have been on the front lines of the teen vaping epidemic in our schools and communities, working to implement the same strategies that reduced youth smoking decades ago. From implementing anti-vaping curricula, to educating parents to changing perceptions and behavior among users and enacting local ordinances to control marketing to kids – we have undertaken these efforts on a shoestring. The funds from the JUUL settlement will enable our organizations to implement a science-based, consistent, coordinated strategy, that integrates across communities and across the state. Vaping is a significant public health problem with lifelong consequences for our kids and young people and these JUUL settlement dollars represent a unique opportunity to address the vaping crisis in a holistic way,” said Pamela Mautte, Chair of the Connecticut Prevention Network.
Click here for Attorney General Tong’s full testimony in support of House Bill No. 6914.
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