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ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY is suing eight online electronic cigarette retailers, alleging they violated a law passed less than a month ago barring the sale of flavored tobacco products to Massachusetts residents.

Healey’s office apparently purchased flavored tobacco products from the retailers and had at least one person under 21 buy e-cigarettes as well. “We did an undercover investigation,” she said on WGBH’s Boston Public Radio. “We caught them, we sued them, and we’re taking them to court,” she said.

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The complaint was filed Friday in Suffolk Superior Court, three weeks after legislation took effect banning the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. Healey’s office said the companies also failed to protect against delivery of their products to minors. She is seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent all flavored tobacco sales to Massachusetts while the case proceeds.

“These companies are in flagrant violation of our new state law that was put in place to protect young people from the serious harms caused by vaping,” said Healey in a statement. “Our state has been a leader in fighting this public health crisis, and we will continue to go after companies that ignore our laws and put young people at risk.”

The companies named in the suit are:

Ej

uiceconnect.com, LLC, based in

Florida; Fuggin Vapor Co.,

also of

Florida; Lan & M

ike International Trading Inc

.

and

VaporDNA,

of California,

Level Up Vapor, located in Kansas; Next Day Vapes, LLC, located in New Jersey; IPurchase Online, Vape Society Supply,

and

Vape Society Supplies, located in Nevada;

Suorin USA, located in

California; and 2nd Wife Vape,

located in Texas.

None of the companies responded to a request for comment.

The companies sold vaping products in “flavors that appeal to young people,” including “Unicorn Frappe,” “Gingerbread Dude” and “Cake,” according to the complaint. The complaint said the companies did not use a method of mailing or shipping of the products that requires the signatures of a person who is of the legal minimum age of 21 years or older.

The Bay State is the first in the country to ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. Other states previously banned flavored e-cigarettes.

A hearing on Healey’s motion for a preliminary injunction is set for Jan. 7.

Healey previously sued Eonsmoke LLC for marketing and selling products to youth, and has an ongoing investigation into JUUL Labs Inc. over marketing to minors.

Meet the Author Sarah Betancourt Reporter , CommonWealth About Sarah Betancourt Sarah Betancourt is a bilingual journalist reporting across New England. Prior to joining Commonwealth, Sarah was a reporter for The Associated Press in Boston, and a correspondent with The Boston Globe and The Guardian. She has written about immigration, social justice, and health policy for outlets like NBC, The Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, and the New York Law Journal. Sarah has reported stories such as a national look at teacher shortages, how databases are used by police departments to procure information on immigrants, and uncovered the spread of an infectious disease in children at a family detention center. She has covered the State House, local and national politics, crime and general assignment. Sarah received a 2018 Investigative Reporters and Editors Award for her role in the ProPublica/NPR story, “They Got Hurt at Work and Then They Got Deported,” which explored how Florida employers and insurance companies were getting out of paying workers compensation benefits by using a state law to ensure injured undocumented workers were arrested or deported. Sarah attended Emerson College for a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Communication, and Columbia University for a fellowship and Master’s degree with the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism. About Sarah Betancourt Sarah Betancourt is a bilingual journalist reporting across New England. Prior to joining Commonwealth, Sarah was a reporter for The Associated Press in Boston, and a correspondent with The Boston Globe and The Guardian. She has written about immigration, social justice, and health policy for outlets like NBC, The Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, and the New York Law Journal. Sarah has reported stories such as a national look at teacher shortages, how databases are used by police departments to procure information on immigrants, and uncovered the spread of an infectious disease in children at a family detention center. She has covered the State House, local and national politics, crime and general assignment. Sarah received a 2018 Investigative Reporters and Editors Award for her role in the ProPublica/NPR story, “They Got Hurt at Work and Then They Got Deported,” which explored how Florida employers and insurance companies were getting out of paying workers compensation benefits by using a state law to ensure injured undocumented workers were arrested or deported. Sarah attended Emerson College for a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Communication, and Columbia University for a fellowship and Master’s degree with the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism.

Spring 2019 data from the Massachusetts Youth Health Survey show that the percentage of state high school students who have used vape products is at an all-time high, at over 50 percent, with over 30 percent reporting that they had used vape products in the month before the survey was implemented.

State and public health officials say that

youths are

often unaware that

vaping

products contain nicotine.

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