New York filed a lawsuit Tuesday against e-cigarette company Juul Labs, which the state said engaged in "years-long deceptive and illegal practices" that allegedly misrepresented the addictive nature and safety of its products.

The New York Attorney General's Office claimed in the lawsuit that Juul has targeted its products toward children, effectively creating what it called the "teen vaping epidemic."

"JUUL's aggressive advertising of its multi-flavored products has contributed to a public health crisis that has left countless New Yorkers—many of them teenagers—addicted to its products and fighting for their health," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, is seeking to have Juul set up a so-called abatement fund to be used for efforts to curb vaping among teens and adults who were hooked on the product by the company's allegedly unlawful advertising practices.

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the lawsuit at a press conference in Manhattan Tuesday, one day after California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a similar challenge. North Carolina also has litigation against the e-cigarette company.

James said the state first launched its investigation into Juul last year, but decided to move forward with the lawsuit after the state's first vaping-related death last month.

"As a result of media accounts, we've been reading about this health care crisis, and have been very concerned about this health crisis in the state of New York," James said. "The death of that 17-year-old young gentlemen in the Bronx made up my mind that we needed to move forward."

The cause of death in that case is suspected to be linked to a vaping product containing certain oils and THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. That's been the same conclusion for other deaths in the U.S., though officials have said legal vaping products encourage that use.

It wasn't until about two years ago that Juul started to even mention in ads that its products contain nicotine, the suit said. The Attorney General's Office reviewed Juul's ads, billboards, and online posts after its launch in 2015 and found no mention of nicotine until about 2017.

That was coupled with a sleek design of the company's products that the lawsuit claimed was intended to attract younger users. It could also be concealed it more easily than traditional cigarettes.

The lawsuit also accused Juul of unlawfully marketing its products as smoking cessation devices, even though they haven't been approved as such by the federal government. The long-term effects of electronic cigarettes aren't yet known either, the suit said.

"Additional research is emerging on the negative health consequences of inhaling the chemicals found in JUULpods and other e-cigarettes," the lawsuit said. "Clearly, JUUL's advertising and promotional materials succeeded in misleading young consumers to believe that its products were safe for use."

Aside from its marketing campaigns, Juul was also accused by the New York Attorney General's Office of misrepresenting how addictive and safe its products are, especially to adolescents.

Juul has claimed, both on its products and in public, that one JUULpod, the cylinder loaded into a vaping device, has the same amount of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes. But that message is misleading, the lawsuit argued.

"JUUL's statement that one JUULpod is equivalent to one pack of cigarettes is misleading," the suit said. "Even if one JUULpod contains an equivalent amount of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes, a consumer is likely to ingest more nicotine from the JUULpod for several reasons."

That's because of how vaping products can be used, the suit said. Because the product is a vaporized form of nicotine and liquid, it's easier to inhale and causes less discomfort than a traditional cigarette. That could allow consumers to inhale more than usual, the suit said.

Juul's flavored products make that even easier by masking the bitter taste that's usually associated with nicotine products, the suit said. The devices also don't lose any nicotine between inhales, unlike traditional cigarettes that burn off the chemical.

Opponents of vaping have claimed that certain flavors infused in electronic cigarettes have been geared toward teenagers, who can't legally buy those products in New York. But teenagers have gotten their hands on electronic cigarettes anyway, the suit said.

Juul was accused in the suit of failing to adequately verify the ages of their online customers, which allowed children to purchase their products from the internet.

Until last year, Juul verified the age of their online consumers by matching their personal data with information available on public databases. Identification wasn't required for those users to buy online, meaning that children could enter their parents' information to make a purchase.

"Due to JUUL's inadequate screening procedures to prevent sales to underage consumers, JUUL sold its products to New York consumers who were under 18 years old, and in some cases, as young as 14 or 15 years old, in violation of New York's prohibition on such sales," the lawsuit said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who's been outspoken about the addictive nature of vaping products in recent months and also moved to ban flavored e-cigarettes in New York this year, hailed the lawsuit in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

"It is undeniable that the vaping industry is using flavored e-cigarettes to get young people hooked on potentially dangerous and deadly products, and the predatory marketing practices used by these companies have no place in New York," Cuomo said.

"We will continue using every tool at our disposal to protect young people from forming dangerous lifelong habits," Cuomo continued.

A spokesman for Juul said Tuesday that the company hadn't yet had a chance to take a position on the lawsuit, but that it was focused on preventing underage users from obtaining their products and have ceased all advertising in the United States.

"While we have not yet reviewed the complaint, we remain focused on resetting the vapor category in the U.S. and earning the trust of society by working cooperatively with attorneys general, regulators, public health officials, and other stakeholders to combat underage use and convert adult smokers from combustible cigarettes," said Austin Finan, the spokesman.

Finan said the company intended to target its products only toward adult smokers seeking to transition away from traditional cigarettes, and are investing in research to evaluate the long-term effects of vaping.

New York is also seeking to have Juul pay civil penalties over the alleged misconduct, in addition to the abatement fund. A total amount is expected to emerge later in the case.