Apr. 12—The Boulder Valley School District and Boulder County are among some 1,500 government entities included in settlements with electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs over marketing practices aimed at teenagers.

"I'm very pleased that the evidence in this case led to a quick settlement," Boulder Valley Superintendent Rob Anderson said. "We look forward to using the funds from this settlement to continue to address this issue in our community."

The Denver Post reported that Juul Labs also agreed to pay Colorado nearly $32 million to settle its claims that the company illegally marketed its electronic cigarettes to young people and misrepresented the health risks associated with vaping. The Colorado Attorney General's Office announced the settlement Wednesday.

"This settlement is a victory for the state of Colorado and everyone who fell victim to Juul's reckless, deceptive and unconscionable marketing tactics," Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a news release.

To date, Juul has settled lawsuits brought by 47 states and territories, agreed in December to pay $1.7 billion in four national settlements. The $31.7 million payment to Colorado is part of the $462 million that Juul Labs agreed to pay to six states and the District of Columbia.

The state sued Juul Labs in 2020 after a nearly yearlong investigation into the company's practices. The state found Juul targeted "cool kids" who would want to vape their products through ads and social media campaigns, used ambassadors to give out free samples at convenience stores and leveraged influencers to reach kids and young adults, contributing to Colorado's e-cigarette epidemic.

Locally, the Boulder County commissioners agreed to accept Juul Labs' settlement in February. After legal fees are deducted, the county expects to receive about $700,000. Boulder Valley spokesman Randy Barber said the school district also signed off on a settlement, but doesn't yet know the amount the district will receive.

Lawyer Dean Kawamoto, who represented Boulder County in the lawsuit, said the money from the settlement will help address the ongoing public health needs around youth vaping.

"By resolving these cases, Juul is contributing to the solution," he said. "Boulder County will use these funds to combat e-cigarette use among youth."

Both Boulder County and Boulder Valley joined federal lawsuits filed against Juul Labs in 2019, alleging the e-cigarette company marketed its products to minors and helped create a public health crisis. The two cited high rates of vaping among area teens.

At the time, Boulder County teens were vaping at a higher rate than the state average — and Colorado teens were vaping more than those nationwide, based on the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey.

The lawsuit also claimed a Juul representative contacted Nederland Middle-Senior High School in 2018 to offer free classes to teach students alternative ways of dealing with stress, an offer that was seen as being made in bad faith.

Along with joining a class action lawsuit, Boulder Valley School District officials and parents urged the Boulder City Council to ban the sale of flavored vaporized products and raise the age to buy tobacco and nicotine products to 21. The City Council approved those restrictions in 2019.

Teen use of e-cigarettes skyrocketed in the years following Juul's 2015 launch, leading the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to declare an "epidemic" of underage vaping among young people. Health experts said the unprecedented increase risked hooking a generation of young people on nicotine.

But since 2019, Juul has dropped all U.S. advertising and pulled its fruit and candy flavors from store shelves. Federal data also shows a drop in teen vaping rates.

As a condition of the Colorado settlement, Juul will be prohibited from using similar marketing tactics going forward and must hire a compliance officer to ensure the settlement terms are followed, according to the Colorado Attorney General's Office. The company also will be forced to disclose "millions" of internal documents.

The payout to Colorado will be used to fund youth-focused anti-vaping and anti-tobacco campaigns, and to pay for legal fees. It also will be used for other programs focused on youth mental health, according to the Colorado Attorney General's Office.

The Denver Post and The Associated Press contributed to this report.