Good. Finally some political and market action on this horrible crisis in the united states. Probably the biggest threat to children's safety that has not been seen on this level in any previous generation. This is what happens when you let the science speak for itself and the government comes together in a bipartisan way for "responsibility".
Oh wait, this is about Juul pods, not firearms? Nevermind.
10
For 20 years, I've watched one of my brothers smoke cigarettes. There have been countless times I've encouraged him to stop - to improve his health and live longer. Regardless of the approach I took, my suggestions were always rebuffed.
After a coworker introduced him to Juul, he stopped smoking cigarettes three months ago. He regularly uses flavored pods. I believe he is healthier (he lost 20 lbs. since he gave up smoking) and now he doesn't smell bad all the time. Unfortunately, I do not see him buying the pods online and I hope he does not go back to smoking.
Vaping is not completely harmless - risk of respiratory infections, respiratory irritation, preliminary evidence for cardiovascular risk. However it is a form of harm reduction and I believe the risk is substantially less than that of smoking. Let's hope the decisions by Juul (and those of the FDA) have the intended effect of reducing teenage vaping, without negative consequences for former smokers.
5
Good. Finally. Nip this menace in the bud. This and similar products are being targeted toward kids and you’d have to be a moron not to see it.
And one anecdotal story- my grandmother gave up smoking on the spot after about 70 years of smoking when her doctor told her she would increase her chances of seeing her grandchildren get married.
It did. And what industry boosted the nicotine content in its products?
1
There have always been adults buying booze for teenagers. Now they'll be buying ecigs as well--and probably already are. This is just another hysterical attempt to "do something." Years from now, we'll still have the same number of teens (or greater) reporting that they're using ecigs.
1
@Robert Dad?
5
I see a lot of self dubbed "important people" chiming in with their opinion. ( "journalists" who have "investigated" this industry for YEARS demanding proof. well, I'd like to see some of your years of investigating. but, I digress)
I'm not important. I'm just a former average smoker who started at the age of 12. Thanks to e-cigs and vaping, and to them ALONE, I haven't smoked OR vaped in over 4 years. Not one single puff!
I tried, in vain, all the other tired methods. Gum. Patch. Hypnosis. Etc and so on. ONLY vaping allowed me to walk away. And those flavors played a HUGE role. How? By breaking my association with the flavor of combustion cigarettes.
Once again here come the special interest groups. Wielding their weapon of choice: a spear tipped with children and a gov't agency. PLEASE, for once in my life, stop FORCING law abiding adults to buckle to your demands. Just go away and leave my freedom of choice and my liberties right where you found them, thank you very much!
You know what? I never see these oppressors marching in the front door of a McDonald's demanding that Ronald McDonald, Grimmace, Mayor McCheese and Happy Meals get the old heave ho! That swill has destroyed more lives than e-cigs and vaping ever will.
5
That's OK, Juul. Federal legalization of marijuana is just around the corner. You can make more money from MJ for decades.
Learning from history, it took decades for Big Tobacco to make smoking glamorous and fun for men, women and children, then decades more for the illnesses and deaths from emphysema, heart disease, lung cancer to show up in statistics.
With modern advertising and the mind bending effects of MJ, the time to awareness will likely be much shorter. So make grass now, Juul, while the sun shines.
3
In January 17, 1920 the Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution effectively established the prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States by declaring the production, transport, and sale of alcohol illegal. However, Americans wanted to drink booze so the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution repealed the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Twenty-first Amendment was ratified on December 5, 1933. It is unique among the 27 amendments of the U.S. Constitution for being the only one to repeal a prior amendment and to have been ratified by state ratifying conventions.
Supreme court legalizes recreational marijuana, and soon to follow recreational heroin and recreational cocaine.
Americans want more drugs and alcohol.
2
There's plenty of pod systems still available that work identical to Juul and are actually cheaper than buying Juul pods. This will change nothing except who gets the money.
1
What we need next from Juul and all the other e-cig sellers is a self-inflicted moratorium on radio ads. I hear these ads regularly on both our local new station and several FM music stations. Yes, kids listen to the radio, too, and these ads are a blatant misrepresentation of the health effects of vaping. They start with a mild disclaimer about the effect of vaping on health, then go all over the map talking about vaping, advertising their web site, everything possible to eradicate the early disclaimer from the memories of listeners.
If people want or need nicotine products because of their current addiction to nicotine, that's their health and their business. But, as with cigarettes, let's not push an addictive and health-threatening product on children whose cognitive abilities are not fully developed.
This is a scare-you media campaign. The loss of these and adult consumers has hit Big Tobacco hard, and they are attempting to squash a safer, competing alternative using the FDA. Lets be clear, a certain percentage of teens will smoke/vape, and all this does is take the safer alternative out of their hands. Those convenience stores will STILL be selling tobacco, and if they don’t ID for a JUUL they won’t ID for smokes either. Teens are ordering them online from third-party resellers who you will NEVER catch or shut down.
This is all a hysterical smear campaign intended to limit products adults use, like me, who never had any intent of quitting nicotine, just the combustion process. They want ME back, smoking, and killing myself with emphysema and lung cancer. They are especially unhappy that teens are smoking at rates even lower than adults. They are mad that their unsafe product got banned in all public spaces, but people who vape can do it anyway and no one notices. This is my body and my lungs, I will inhale whatever nicotine or chemically enhanced vapor I choose, wherever I choose. You have no right to an objection so long as I don’t blow out a cloud. And, I hate to break it to the public, but teens will take the same attitude, and ignore these bans and laws. They can run circles around you on the web, you won’t stop this with a silly ban. Perhaps it is time to stop letting big money and big media manipulate your opinions for you, and try some common sense.
7
While I agree with most of your points, big tobacco is also invested in vaping at this point as well and actively lobbying to protect it. The big money at play is from the pharmaceutical industry as evidence is starting to show that vaping is a more effective way to work than their patches, pills, and gum. Sure is the huge loss of tax revenue for NY State takes takes the overwhelming majority of the money spent per pack of cigarettes.
@Kevin I'm sorry that you are addicted to nicotine. It's truly unfortunate. As an adult, you have every right to do whatever you wish to your lungs and bloodstream, for however much longer you will live. But as a parent of a teenager, I have been alarmed by how Juul has stormed her high school with their product. I don't want her and her friends comparing mango and creme brulee flavored Juuls because they are interesting or cool. The result of allowing that is that she will end up where you are now--addicted to nicotine. The government has very effectively reduced our society's addiction to cigarettes, and we have a responsibility to make sure our kids don't get addicted to Juuls. You can call it "hysteria", I call it responsibility.
1
@Kevin you are exactly right. This is all about loss of revenue for governments and big pharma
2
It’s always profits over people in capitalism. Read” The Hacking of the American Mind” by Robert Lustig. It’s the tobacco industry complaining to Congress. Too bad we can’t get government to go after sugar corporations and high fructose corn syrup.
2
How were they able to continue selling their poison for so long?
It’s always profits over people in capitalism. Read” The Hacking of the American Mind” by Robert Lustig.
Ask the kids; they will just go online, lie about being 18, and buy their fixes there.
I had to submit a picture ID and a picture of myself holding my ID for every place that I buy vaporizers and liquids online. Most of the industry outside of gas stations (which will just as readily sell minutes cigarettes) consists of small shops and online retailers that are usually very careful about ensuring the age of users.
It's not as easy as you think for minors to get these things online. Are there a few that might be negligent about it? I'm sure there must be, but it is very far from the norm.
1
The FDA under Gottlieb is doing exactly what you’d hope an agency like that would do. Discouraging future smokers/users and helping current ones with the difficult task of quitting.
For every person who reduces tobacco use with these, we’re getting 10 new nicotine addicts who inhale not only nicotine, but also a soup of organic chemicals, the effects of which remain to be determined.
1
Nicotine is not much more harmful than caffeine, if at all, and while there are other chemicals present, all evidence so far, and there is a significant amount, indicates that vaping is at least 95% less harmful than smoking. While nobody is advocating that teens vape, if the teens that would otherwise be smoking are instead vaping, in objective terms, that is a net positive for public health. This is not only because vaping is less harmful, but some evidence is starting to show that cigarettes are more addictive than vaping. This is not yet certain by any means, and the possible reasons for this are equally uncertain, but it is what the evidence shows.
3
On Instagram, a social media platform used by the majority of the teenage population, JUUL is advertised with mascots and animals. Additionally, the design of a JUUL disguises it as a USB stick, perfect for using it in the classroom or at home. This product is obviously marketed towards kids. As a 16 year old, I have to witness my peers getting addicted to JUULs, and it’s disheartening. Although my school has a very strict substance abuse policy, my peer schools are even worse. Students constantly leave class to JUUL in the bathrooms, and they get very antsy if they haven’t “JUULed” in a while. They also go through multiple pods a week. I really do empathize with the ex-smokes, and I believe that JUUL has helped them, however, JUULs are definitely a problem amongst teenagers that should take precedence over ex-smokers - there are other vaping alternatives besides JUUL.
2
It's just amazing how so many want to demonize the e-cig industry as some kind of dark presence. Regardless of the fact that companies that sell cigarettes that burn chemicals may be considered evil, the vapor from e-cigs is simply much less bad. Further, although nicotine is addictive, there is very little evidence that nicotine has serious health effects. Of course, all things in moderation, and vaping is no different (if you eat too much fried chicken every day, that has serious health consequences) But if you are responsible with your vaping, use reliable products, and resist the urge to smoke normal cigarettes, it is my personal experience that it helps--immensely. And that's good news.
6
But by flavoring the vape juice with flavors that appeal to teenagers, they were clearly trying to get kids addicted to nicotine, which I think we can all agree is a bad thing.
1
@ERT That is a false assumption: MANY adults who are trying to quit combustion tobacco report better results from using flavors - keeping your affinity for the flavor of tobbacco defeats the purpose of the product if used to quit smoking.
In addition, millions of people like me vape now, rather than smoke, with no intent to quit. Nicotine is legal and has no negative health impact for us. We should be allowed to buy and use whatever flavor we want. The idea that a flavor is marketed strictly for kids has been used as a flail to drive the FDA into this specious, ineefective ban, which will only drive users into the online juice market. If I can order real drugs through the mails, do you really think they can stop flavors?
4
I would like to see the evidence - documents or other hard information - relied on by the authors to conclude that the industry developed e-cigarettes "to help smokers quit."
As a journalist who has spent years investigating and writing about the tobacco industry, I challenge that conclusion.
While e-cigarettes are probably safer than cigarettes, the idea that tobacco companies like R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris and their smaller counterparts in the early e-device trade developed e-cigarette products to protect smokers is extremely naive. The industry has been well aware for years that e-cigarettes and other smoking alternatives are just as likely to reinforce nicotine addiction and lead smokers trying to quit cigarettes back to smoking - especially when e-products are not available - as well as provide a stepping stone to what sooner or later becomes an indiscriminate addiction among child starter smokers, who easily evolve into smokers of conventional cigarettes, or use both types of nicotine products.
Juul and the traditional cigarette manufacturers are part of an enterprise that is in the business of selling nicotine delivery systems. The cross-over between them is both intended and inevitable. Starter nicotine users are virtually always minors and these companies are constantly finding new - often covert - ways - to recruit them into the ranks of the addicted.
- - Dan Zegart, author of the book, Civil Warriors: The Legal Siege on the Tobacco Industry
8
@Dan. I strongly disagree. The first innovators were not controlled by big tobacco firms. They only moved in as part of a takeover campaign. They would prefer to control it, but since they obviously cannot, they are attempting to kill the competition with FDA bans. In what world does taking the safer alternative off the shelf, while leaving tobacco readily available, make any kind of sense?
I have been vaping since 2008, and after the first year I knew there was no going back to combustion. The actual rates of recidivism ampng vapers who are vaping for nicotine intake, rather than cessation, almost zero. Of course people fighting an addiction can backslide, but that does not represent the industry. The industry serves people like me, who do not plan to quit using nicotine EVER. This is just an effort to make the safer alternatives unavailable to ADULTS, and make sure teens start smoking tobacco again. It could not be more obvious if it was an elephant in the room.
Are you sure you don’t work for the Tobacco industry in some form? Paid to nano-influence maybe? LOL, of course not - but plenty are.
3
Dan, yes, big tobacco now has a presence in the vape market, but to bundle in the small companies with them is recklessly negligent. Most of these companies are still small and owned by people who are themselves users of these products and enthusiasts/hobbyists themselves, especially in the e-liquid market which is being attached the hardest in NY/NYS. If you were to look at this objectively, you would see two very different sides to this industry and to lump them together is simply unfair.
Are big tobacco and the largest players throwing money at expanding vaping beyond existing smookers? Almost certainly. Are all the small manufactures producing enthusiast great and flavored juices? In the overwhelming majority of cases, absolutely not. Are you forgetting something?
There is anither player here: the pharmaceutical industry, whose smoking cessation products are being very quickly drowned out by a new industry. If you want take a look at how big money is shaping this debate, I strongly urge you consider their role in this debate. Hell... you might even have a subject for a new book.
This whole situation still makes me mad, months after the FDA first announced its 90-day deadline for Juul to figure out a way to get kids to stop buying them.
My question is still: Why is that Juul's problem? Juul isn't selling direct to consumers. Juul isn't running the convenience stores.
When a store sells a can of dip to a minor, we don't fine Altria. When they sell beer to a minor, we don't go after Anheiser-Busch.
This is a point of sale problem. Regardless of whatever marketing or social media presence Juul runs, they aren't the ones selling to kids. How are they supposed to fix a problem that they aren't causing and have no direct hand in?
7
@Mark Neill What a 100% load of guano.
As a simile, what you're saying its that the Colombian cartel that ships the drugs isn't responsible, but the street vendor must accept full responsibility?
1
@Mark Neill it has nothing to do with fixing the problem. The stores who used to sell JUUL pods to high school kids without an ID can now go back to selling them packs of cigarrettes without an ID. Big Tobacco is happy, parents think spmething positive has been done, and they can get those 3million vaping kids back to smoking a far less healthy product, as Gawd intended. You do not reduce an industry’s market share from 67% of adults to just 14% in a few decades without some backlash. This is it.
4
@Chuck Roast that's a terrible simile. The Colombian Cartel doesn't provide a product that's legal in any form.
Juul isn't illegal. It's illegal to sell Juul to minors.
A bit like closing the barn door once the cows are out. According to my 15 year old, EVERYONE juuls. Not vapes, juuls. At her high school, at neighboring high schools. It's epidemic levels. It's not the same as smoking cigarettes. As a reformed 18 year smoker who started in high school and quit cold turkey (hardest thing I've ever done), juuling is worse. You get a huge hit of nicotine, it's socially acceptable and can be done anywhere. Kids are juuling at school in bathrooms (now called the juul room) and classrooms. When I smoked, it became increasingly more difficult to smoke anywhere except in my car and my own backyard. I often had people say to me, "You don't look like a smoker." Nicotine addiction can be more powerful than heroine and it's absolutely criminal that Juul has gotten away with targeting kids for so long. All the adult nicotine addicts who are against this, why would you want kids to become addicts like you? This isn't stopping Juul from selling, it's stopping them from targeting kids.
9
This is certainly anecdotal, but nicotine itself, at least for me, is proving not as addictive as the combination of chemicals in cigarettes. When I was a smoker, I would experience strong cravings and eventually withdrawal if I didn't smoke for a while. With vaping, I can go on long flights, or forget my vape entirely for days and not experience anything worse than instinctively reaching for it only to find it missing. There is limited evidence that pyrazines, chemicals added to cigarettes to alter their flavor, play a significant role in addiction, and my not-scientific guess is that that's probably what is at play here, but more research would have to be done.
3
I am not surprised to see e-cigarette users vehemently defending their use of e-cigs. People this is not personally about YOU but about children. Past research showed that physicians who smoke cigarettes were much less likely to counsel their patients to stop. So the reaction in these comments are akin to those.
6
Since when do you have to "recharge" a flash drive (diligently or otherwise)?
6
While I am totally on board to restrict tobacco products to children, I am equally opposed to having them have access to weapons, alcohol, and being over-medicated by parents who want a quick fix.
What's next...no peach schnapps? No peppermint brandy?
Really?
This is just like the punishing of illegal aliens for working here. They wouldn't have jobs if corporations didn't hire them. And kids wouldn't have tobacco products if people didn't sell to them or faced criminal punishment for doing so.
Let's stop making decisions for adults, and make the people responsible accountable. Kids aren't vaping because there are good flavors....they are vaping because they know it is for grownups and they get access, just like cigarettes and alcohol.
6
Juul needs to branch out into the firearms business, a product the government will protect.
9
JUUL was the ONLY way I was able to quit smoking. Not chantix with is horrifying side effects, nor cold turkey or clunky first generation vape pens. This ban is hysteria and non smokers should politely mind their own business.
15
Woo!
Depression and suicide is no problem here! It's not like many Americans like myself use nicotine to help soothe our minds! LIKE THEY NEED IT.
1
@Cameron — buck up, man. You’re supposed to just suck it up. We’re living in Prohibition 2.0. The 800-numbers for suicide prevention is supposed to be all we need. The only reason pot is being legalized is that proponents managed to put a racial spin on it: if it didn’t disproportionately affect minorities, it would be as demonized as much as prescription opioids are now.
You don't recharge a flash drive.
6
@Frank of course not, but you do need to recharge a Juul that intentionally looks like a flash drive. USB ports are used for data (flash drive) and for charging (Juul, phones tablets etc)
Hiding in plain sight.
1
@Thomas
From the article - "And for all that school officials knew, students were just diligently recharging flash drives on laptops."
And now pot is legal, and not just for medicinal use......
1
@Tony For adults, not children.
@Thomas So...basically the "legal requirements" of buying Juul pods? Surely, both such requirements will keep both Juul pods and pot out of kids hands, just as when the latter was illegal.
Oh, perfect. Just sell the tobacco, menthol, and mint flavors — get the kids’ tastes primed for regular cigarettes.
5
I work at a gas station in a college town. Of all the e-tobacco products we sell (JUUL, blu, Vuse, Mark Ten, and some no-name bottles of vape juice) JUUL is the newest of the bunch, and the only one that's "cool." Customers who buy JUUL pods are all college kids, mostly 18-22ish. Never cigarettes, and they wouldn't be caught dead vaping anything but JUUL. People quitting (or who have quit) smoking go with the other brands because JUUL is so much more expensive. JUUL is absoluely aimed at teens and weed culture (fruity cigarillos for rolling blunts are a very popular side order with pods,) so if you're going to pull JUUL pods...pull them all, or it's just a totally empty gesture. Except maybe not tobacco flavor, nobody buys those.
15
@Guy - perhaps your college town gas station should just stop selling them then. I am 53 and use the JUUL. I don't want a tobacco flavors as I QUIT using cigarettes 8 years ago. I like the small size and convenience. I was also just in Boston and I saw many people my age using them. Maybe start carding people better like you do with alcohol?
4
@Deborah - I am but a lowly cog in a corporate machine. But I agree: If I had a say in what my employer sold, I would indeed ask that we stop selling JUUL products. A company like this that directs their products to an underage market shouldn't be supported by purchasing their products for resale, or otherwise. I would also like to ask that you, and other responsible vapers of legal age to consider switching to a comparably small and convenient device such as is offered by Vuse or Mark Ten. They both have small devices with lots of flavors. For the record, I am certified by the TABC, and sell all tobacco, alcohol, and Texas Lottery products in accordance with Texas law. We
are all adults here, there's no need to be impolite.
9
^^^^^
This.
The reason teens are using these is because stores are selling them to teens. How about we start going after point of sale violators and actually affect the reason kids can use Juuls in the first place?
2
Juul's claim of not wanting underage youth to use their product strains credulity. They made the vaping unit discrete and easily hidden. They produce flavors like mango and watermelon. Most significantly, they have engineered the nicotine component to provide a more significant rush, much like playing with the pH of combustible tobacco increases "bioavailability". That same rush keeps users coming back more frequently and is the same thing the marketing department calls "satisfaction". It is a common factor in addiction.
There is no doubt that vaping represents risk reduction over the combustion of tobacco products, but Juul and other manufacturers cannot dismiss the fact they are creating another generation of people addicted to an expensive and inconvenient drug... for their own revenue and profitability.
8
@Leithauser. High Nicotine levels in various juices containing flavors just as attractive have been on the market for a decade. One can buy as high as 24%. This recent hysteria is only aimed at damaging the vape industry and returning control of the market to Big Tobacco. JUUL is not the only pod system on the market, most are just as tiny, and is only being targeted in order to scare parents and gain leverage to have the entire industry shut down. They would like it if even adults can no longer buy our kits and juice from vape stores, either. That is the goal here, do not be fooled. Only once the industry is completely destroyed will the Big Tobacco firms come out with their own, “approved” systems, and we start the same argument all over again.
1
So much absurdity in today's comments.
No, vaping is not smoking under a different name. In studies, it has been found to be 90-95% safer.
No, there's no evidence that Juul targeted kids. That's speculation.
Really, this called for a proportionate response when e cigarettes were originally introduced, one that would have encouraged smokers to switch to the less harmful alternative while discouraging kids from smoking. But instead we got hysteria about how vaping was going to create a new generation of smokers, how it was just as bad for you as smoking, etc., etc. from public officials and in the press. And now we're seeing attempts at prohibition, and we all know how effective that is at dissuading kids!
A more sensitive, ear to the ground approach would have served better, and still would: you discourage kids from doing something by convincing them that it's undesirable, not by making it a forbidden fruit, or telling ridiculous scare stories.
Remember how we laughed at the scare stories about marijuana? Kids will listen, but once they see that your naive or lying, you've lost them, they just laugh as we did.
That was done successfully with cigarettes, and the same thing could be done with vapes.
36
I find our approach to nicotine regulation to be suspect. Nicotine is highly addictive, and quite lethal. Why do we allow companies to bring new delivery systems for this drug to market without requiring pre-approval from the FDA? Imagine if the wrong amount of nicotine ended up in a cartridge! People could die. Pharmaceutical companies are subject to random inspections to make sure they are following the rules, with internal and external quality assurance inspecting all lots of products. Shouldn't the makers of these devices and cartridges by subject to the same rules as all other drug manufacturers?
6
@Edward Allen Nicotine is neither quite lethal nor highly addicting (see my comments below for the evidence on both counts). Indeed, if it were so lethal why would tomatoes, eggplant not be regulated since they contain nicotine and why would nicotine patches and nicotine gum be available since they produce levels of nicotine comparable to vaping?
8
@Edward Allen nicotine is about as lethal as the caffeine in a cup of coffee. Look it up.
God there is so much misinformation in these comments.
6
"...and quite lethal..."
Yes. If you're an insect.
I'm going to assume most of the readers here are not, in fact, insects, and so would need to intake several ounces of 100% pure nicotine to start closing in on fatal dosages.
4
I would love to have an easy way to commend this company and the CEO’S decisions to listen to the numbers and try to make a change. Just as Amazon is rewarded with tax breaks should maybe a company making moves to change when a serious health problem is identified so they may re brand or come up with new products be supported?
The comments I've read, with one exception, totally ignore the addictive properties of nicotine. Having middle school youth seduced into vaping through social media and various other advertising ploys is nothing short of evil. I am a recovered cigarette smoker and know of whence I write.
I am not proposing that vaping nicotine is a gateway drug (not enough is known at this point) but it is addictive and until we know more about the long term effects that will arise from this addiction in youth, the FDA is taking appropriate and significant action to reduce/prevent sales to kids.
17
I give it about ten seconds before Juul's brand is reverse engineered and sold on the grey market. The secret recipe isn't exactly secret. The copyright and corporate status are the only things protecting Juul's distribution. If minors demand mango vaping, they'll find a way to mango vape.
The entire article sounds naive. Most teenagers aren't interested in nicotine products for the sake of nicotine. That's a side effect. They start using tobacco, or tobacco-like products, as a means to consume marijuana. You do realize a vape pen is essentially a miniaturized bong, right One thing leads to the other. They're complimentary goods.
Vaping is mostly popularized now because it takes the stigma out of both. You can sit in a park in vape a pen in the same way you could once smoke a cigarette. People also sit in the park dapping pens in a way they formerly could not. The anti-smoking crowd got a little too puritan.
If you think banning Juul is going to change youth culture, you're sadly mistaken. Every generation of parents though appears to keep relearning the same lessons. I didn't ever expect I'd need to teach development psychology and physics at the same time. What a strange world.
4
How about regulating the nicotine content of e-cigarrettes? Juul's breakthrough was figuring out how to make a product that was just as addictive as cigarettes, and then worked overtime to create a snappy brand with a big social media presence and a variety of fruity flavors. Juul can rationalize their behavior all they want, but it's dirty money.
16
@J The levels of nicotine in vaping liquid are regulated - 18 mg/mL is the maximum level. The blood serum levels of nicotine generated by vaping are no more than those generated by smoking. And, as I have noted in more detail below along with providing the evidence, nicotine in vaping (or the patch or gum) is much less addictive than the nicotine in smoking. Smoking apparently contains substances that enhance the addictiveness of nicotine, although the identity of these substances is unclear.
4
@Rob-Chemist I believe Juul and similar products use nicotine salts, which can range 25-50 mg/mL, significantly higher than "freebase" nicotine levels
3
@Rorik Due to the delivery system, significantly less of this amount actually reaches tissues
1
Good idea to raise the age for purchasing e-cigarettes to 21, matching the criterion for alcohol.
Now, if the authorities also raise the age to 21 for voting, making legal contracts, and going into combat, they will be able to avoid the accusation that they are hypocrites.
5
Several states already have those sorts of laws on the books. E-cigarettes are treated in the retail marketplace just like any other tobacco products. NC says 18 to buy cigs, or dip, or e-cigarettes.
Of course, if the stores are going to sell them to kids... Well, of course they are going to vape. Just like they'd smoke and drink if stores would sell cigs and beer to them.
1
FYI - Just @ some of the comments here, I have to address some outright falsehoods first and foremost. Vaping does not produce smoke, it produces water vapor. It contains nicotine, not tobacco. Tobacco smoke contains over 7000 chemicals, 70 are known to cause cancer. Eliquid contains only a handful of ingredients (propylene glycol - found in many other health products for decades such as asthma inhalers, vegetable glycerin - which has been deemed generally safe for consumption by the FDA, flavor, and nicotine) and is 95% safer than smoking. (West et al, 2014)
I'm not sure why so many people think "If it tastes good, it must be for kids!". So no adult could possibly like flavor?! Ok then, unflavored tofu and boiled chicken for everyone over 18! I am an ex-smoker, BECAUSE OF VAPING. How about adults that like flavored alcoholic drinks? By this logic, "they are geared towards kids" too right? So I guess take those away. Where does it stop? This is a slippery slope.
Instead of expecting retailers and everyone else to parent your kids, how about parents step up and do the job they chose... being a parent. Inform your kids, take things away you don't want them to have. TALK TO THEM. Why is your inability to be a parent more important than the hundreds of thousands of lives being saved by vaping devices?
Use your brain, do some research. Educate yourselves. Stop giving the government full control over your decisions, health, and life. Take some responsibility.
59
@tizmo You're going to hurt peoples' feelings if you post truths like this. Why would anyone, in 2018, be expected to parent their own child?
12
@tizmo Sure...while we're at, why don't we ban alcohol age limits as well? Point being....parents can only do so much and no one can be around their child 24 hrs a day: it helps when society supports parents' efforts.
And pls. cite non-company- sponsored literature that shows "hundreds of thousands of lives" are being saved by e-cigarette devices.
Recently, a study came out that 15% of adults who otherwise would not be smoking decided to vape because it was deemed "safe". This study is backed up by my conversations with young people, who observe the same thing with their peers. Teens who otherwise would not be smoking are picking up e-cigarettes.
It's too early to know what the consequences of the device and its components will be. Remember in the US, it's not the potential of danger that stops us from putting chemicals in our food, air, much less cigarettes but absolute proof, which often takes time, money, and might not be possible since we cannot randomly assign people to be smokers or non-smokers. By the time we recognize the danger, it's too late. It's the same tactic tobacco companies have used for decades.
3
@ms
Clive Bates
Counterfactual Consulting and Advocacy
February 2015
Version 3.
Survey data commissioned by Action on Smoking and Health in the UK13 also supports a good news story about people quitting smoking. 700,000 vapers are ex-smokers in Britain (~7% of smokers):
ASH estimates that there are currently 2.1 million adults in Great Britain using electronic cigarettes. Of these, approximately 700,000 are ex-smokers while 1.3 million continue to use tobacco alongside their electronic cigarette use. Electronic cigarette use amongst never smokers remains negligible.
So according to this study, 700,000 people plus those affected by the second hand smoke of those 700,00 people have benefitted from vaping devices. Another 1.3 million are reducing their risk of harm.
Please show YOUR citation.
You can find studies done by many researchers on CASAA.org.
6
Back in the dark ages when I quit smokine (pre-patches and meds), they said kicking nicotine is as hard as kicking heroin. So WHY IN THE WORLD has the FDA NOT policed the post-cigarette nicotine delivery systems? Who bought them?
12
This junk should be made illegal for anyone under 25 or available by prescription only from doctors who are helping to wean you off cigarettes.
If you're 25 and still dumb enough to want to use this product go ahead.
11
Drive by any convenience store and see the obviously underage smoking cigarettes in the parking lots. Juul knew what it was doing, just as the cigarette companies know what they are doing. The F.D.A. apparently is the only entity that does not know what is going on.
1
Why are they talking to big tobacco who have expressed interest in snuffing out the vaping industry for their own gain... who good honest vaping businesses who check I.Ds and advocate for education choose to not associate themselves with big tobaccobecause we know they're inherently evil in their sales tactics.
We want a healthier, safer alternative that is enjoyable, we don't want our kids vaping either. Why are these gas stations and convenience stores not doing I.D checks?
This is more than just Juuls problem.
1
As bad as Juul is, it would be lovely if Europe, with it’s underdeveloped smoking prevention, would vape more and smoke less. Litter and cigarette smoking in doorways is like going back to the 90’s in the US.
3
Very relieved to hear at least I can still purchase tobacco flavor in store. I'd hate to have to pick up cigarettes again, but I would in a heartbeat if I couldn't buy my pack of Juul. It also isn't true that adults don't like the other flavors- while initially a tobacco flavor person, I've grown to appreciate the Creme' flavor quite a bit.
The hysteria about children getting addicted would be amusing if it weren't for the attempts to prevent adults from enjoying a stress reliever, and attempting to push them back to cigarettes.
16
@YQ
"I'd hate to have to pick up cigarettes again, but I would in a heartbeat"
You seem to be saying, quite clearly, that vaping is that addictive if you'd go back to cigarettes that easily.
2
@Flo what he is saying is he is a human being and he has a right to consume a less harmful form of nicotine if he wants to. Nobody should be trying to take the less harmful form away from him
5
@flo *Cigarettes* are that addictive. Have you ever tried to quit? Vaping is great because you can slowly reduce the amount of nicotine in your eliquids, down to 0mg. Yes, nicotine is addictive but tobacco is addictive AND harmful. Tobacco smoke is where the problem is, over 7000 chemicals. If a vaper is not ready to quit vaping completely, if they are not at 0mg, and their vaping device is taken away from them by force, then yes, it is highly likely that person would go back to cigarettes.
2
Big tobacco rejoiced when cigarette ads were largely banned. Juul is rejoicing in the mountains of publicity they are receiving. Nicotine in whatever form you seek is a wildly profitable product. It's not going away.
When I was in middle/high school people smoked weed (and to a lesser degree cigarettes) behind their parents/teachers back. I grew up learning about the danger of cigarettes and all that but it didn't change much for a lot of people. Try opening any bathroom door during an assembly or an event and guess what (I went to a 90% Mormon school). Of course the odorless nature of a vape changes the dynamics to a more literal version of 'behind ones back'. But to say that smoking doesn't already have the 'cool guy' image associated with it is to forget one's own teenage experience. With that in mind I think the steps the FDA are taking mentioned in this article are a step in the right direction. Kids will do drugs, but not all of them (myself for example). Anything the government can do to limit the cool person image of smoking and make it harder for kids to enjoy that cool image the better. I don't think raising the age limit will change much at this point because it's become cultural (juuling is a verb). Pretty sure it's already far too late but maybe not? Maybe there exists some new marvel policy that can change the way rebellious teenagers think?
1
In these vaporizers there is no tobacco or burning so the word "cigarette" is a misnomer, the word is used for its stigma.
I put cigarettes down many tears ago and began vaping. I feel much better since then, I have more money, smell much better. My lungs are clear and my doctors say I am as healthy as a much younger man. Second hand smoke is not an issue so what do the anti tobacco extremists have a problem with?
I am not defending the company who makes Juul but aren't there laws that already ban the sale to minors? The issue is nicotine isn't it, it should be, or is it that it looks like a cigarette that has people up in the air.
To me the issue is vaping itself and the same crowd that rails against cigarettes has simply carried it over to vaping because in the early days vape pens were made to look like a cigarette. Many former smokers I know vape with no nicotine in their juice.
So I will end with this for some wrong thinking people "Vaping is not related to tobacco, tobacco has nothing to do with it.
6
This is only happening because of three main reasons. (Spoilers: public health is not one of them)
The government makes stacks off of cigarette sin tax in America. It has a vested interest in keeping people smoking. This is why sin taxes are a terrible idea, it incentives government (essentially a company with a territorial monopoly) to keep people buying the sin taxed product. Vaping disrupts that flow of money. It causes people to stop buying cigarettes and prevents teens from ever buying them in the first place.
The tobacco industry is losing stacks of cash from people moving onto vaping. Notice how tobacco stocks surged after the FDA made its threat this week.
Pharmaceutical companies lose millions from people not needing to use their cessation products. People vape instead, mom and pop shops (and other big companies) benefit. Corrupt pharmaceutical industry suffers.
Both the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries are powerful players in the political realm. Make no mistake they are pushing for strong ecig regulations.
What we need to do. Harass politicians to veto bad laws and vote against them. Demand people show proof of the harms of vaping when they claim it is bad, yes that includes defending teen use as well.
Advocate for free use and parental/familial control, not state regulations based on age. Regulations should, if they must exist, be limited to companies being honest about the actual products. What exactly is in the juice/mod/tank/coil. That's it.
22
@Dave Thanks, Dave. The only harm most people can come up with Juul (other than nicotine addiction) is that the user is more likely to use cigarettes. Not an argument that vaping is dangerous.
4
I took my 17-year-old on several college tours, and in one (clearly marked No Smoking) cafeteria saw teenage students vaping. Guess which college he won't be attending.
4
@Peter let the kid choose where he wants to go, why let vaping decide what college he goes to
8
@Peter The one he doesn't choose to attend?
6
@Peter You're not going to allow your child to go to a college because you saw kids breaking a rule in the cafeteria? You're in for a real shock when you find out what else kids do when they go to college.
13
I would actually prefer it if they took the product off of the market entirely. I used to be a very minimal smoker - maybe 1-2 cigarettes a day. I switched to Juul and am now consuming far more nicotine than I ever did when I was a true smoker. The number of people I see with Juuls on the sidewalk in NYC is simply astounding and I highly doubt that I am the only one that is consuming far more nicotine now that I have made the switch.
28
@Andrew Nicotine in the amounts consumed by vaping is very non-toxic. There are also good reasons to think that nicotine alone (i.e., not obtained by smoking) will have health benefits. Nicotine is useful to help control weight via its ability to stimulate metabolism and suppress appetite. Nicotine is also a neural anti-inflammatory and may well help prevent and/or treat Parkinson's disease. Clinical trials are currently underway to test this hypothesis. As an aside, preventing Parkinson's disease is one of the few (only?) positive health effects of smoking.
8
@Andrew
Why would you choose high nicotine closed pod sytem, that's your mistake there. Choosing an open pod system , mod, with lower level nicotine would've been better choice since you were only smoking a couple cigs a day.
1
@Andrew
Not true of most, I think. And nicotine itself does not appear to be particularly dangerous, at least in studies of nicotine replacement products.
Not to say that this isn't a hazard of which people who smoke lightly shouldn't be aware.
3
The bigger issue is how these kids are buying these Juul batteries and pods. I guarantee most of them are buying them from the sketchy corner stores where checking a customers ID is unheard of.
Nicotine is a drug that is as powerfully addictive as heroin, possibly more so. Selling flavored e-cigarettes to children, let alone to adults, is like selling poisoned candy.
We are setting ourselves up for another addiction disaster if we don't start placing stringent controls on the sale of e-cigarettes.
5
@dutchiris Please get your science correct. Nicotine by itself is very mildly addicting. In contrast, cigarettes are extremely addicting. Two sets of data show this. Animal studies show that nicotine alone is very mildly addicting. These also studies show that if you inhibit the enzyme MAO, nicotine becomes very highly addicting. Importantly, smoking cigarettes also inhibits MAO which may account for the mild addictive properties of nicotine and the severely addictive properties of cigarettes. At least 200 human clinical trials have shown that nicotine when given alone is much less addictive than nicotine obtained by smoking. If nicotine alone were as highly addictive as smoking nicotine, it should be easy to quit smoking by using an alternative nicotine delivery system (the patch, nicotine gum, vaping). However, the data show this is not the case. The failure rate for quitting smoking cold turkey is around 90%, while the failure rate for quitting with the aid of a nicotine supplement (patch, gum, vaping) is around 84%. Thus, nicotine delivered with the other components of smoking is fundamentally much more addictive than nicotine alone.
12
@dutchiris replace nicotine with caffeine or fructose and see how ridiculous it sounds? Sugar & salt kill far more than cigarettes ever did, and since this is the United States, the fda specifically targeting an industry that has yet to kill a single individual when tobacco and alcohol still exist is is very clearly just setting the US government up to lose a costly and prolonged lawsuit.
3
JUUL can go bankrupt. 1 cartridge equals a pack of cigarettes and students in high school are vaping in their classroom behind their teachers back. I hate them and as a parent of two teenagers who have used them. And do not tell me I am should have raised my children better. I know many parents with 2 parents "church going" teenagers who are JUULing regularly. We find them in their room hidden behind their wallets...Hate hate them and hope they collapse
11
@Kris that’s entirely on poor parenting. Hate to tell you this but your kids are drinking too, are you lobbying the alcohol industry?
5
@Kris
Nicotine is pretty low on my list of worries for my 2 teenagers. I worry about one getting pregnant, or getting hooked on opiods, or i worry about them dying in a car accident or going to a friends house and never coming home...
Catching them with a juul?Thats pretty low down on the "list of real & present dangers" for me.
Do you drink Coffee? If you do you have a "caffeine" addiction.
4
Nicotine is a known addictive substance. Why is it OK to sell anything that contains it?
12
@Jake News Caffeine is also an addictive substance. Should we ban the sale of anything containing caffeine? Additionally, nicotine is found in many of the foods that we consume daily (tomatoes, eggplant, etc.). Are you also proposing that we ban their sale?
6
@ Rob-Chemist
Nicotine consumption creates addiction in teens, who are already unregulated due to brain development & costs money that teens can generally ill-afford. if it was merely about nicotine, a patch or capsule would suffice, but it's about acquiring an image promoted by the e-cig companies and trapping users in their profit making cycle of addiction- "mild" or otherwise. It's highly promoted image status is unlike coffee. Seductively ddictive.
3
@Rob-Chemist
“Let me put this in perspective for you. An average e-cigarette solution contains 18 milligrams (mg) in one milliliter (ml) of fluid. A average disposable e-cigarette may have anywhere from 3 to 5 ml of fluid, meaning it contains anywhere from 54-90 mg of nicotine. For the record, 10 mg of liquid nicotine is the fatal does for a toddler.
eggplant contains the most available nicotine of any of the common vegetables at 100 nanograms (ng) per gram (g) of eggplant.
Now, we have to do a little math to figure out what this means in the real world. 100 nanograms is equal to 0.1 micrograms; 0.1 micrograms is equal to 0.0001 milligrams. So, there is 0.0001 milligrams of nicotine in every gram of eggplant. That means it takes 10,000 grams of eggplant to obtain 1 mg of nicotine.
Remember, each disposable e-cigarette contains anywhere from 54-90 mg of nicotine. So, that means we would need 540,000-900,000 grams of eggplant to obtain enough nicotine for a single disposable e-cig. There are 454 grams in one pound, so we would need 1,190-1,984 pounds of eggplant to fill a single standard disposable e-cigarette cartridge. That's right, it would take nearly one ton of eggplant to fill a 5 ml disposable e-cigarette cartridge with an 18 mg/ml nicotine solution.
3
Why not just sell a flavored package with the "vape" content and then "smokers" could just eat the buzz?
Man - Newport is going to lose its "cool" - Come on.
Have the "vape" people considered - Oreo flavor or Taco?
Juul never intended to market kids? What a crock! This company knew precisely what it was doing, and management put profits before public safety. It seems to me that the public and its governments have sat around for more than 150 years and let corporate entities crap all over them in the name of profit. Sure there has been substantial public benefit from corporate free enterprise but damn, let's consider the cost of not properly supervising profit-seeking corporations (global warming crisis for starters). I've got nothing against making a profit but given that the public has a very real interest in insuring that artificial entities like corporations shouldn't trample on the public interest, it must have the power to eradicate uncooperative corporate entities. If corporate entities knew the cost for violating the pubic trust and if they knew that the price would be collected, I suspect there would be far less corporate malfeasance. Today, corporations routinely urinate on the public, get slapped on the wrist, and the roceed to do it again.
10
Better late than never. Juuling is a huge issue among kids we know in the 13-15 age range. Some kids "deal" in Juul by finding someone older to purchase them then profiting through sales. I've heard of kids splitting the cost and taking turns with the Juul as an act of friendship and economy. There is a culture around Juuling - kids think it is good for alertness in school, weight loss, and a safe way to experiment with something that's a little bad but not as bad as other substances. Girls and boys seem to partake equally.
I am impressed that the FDA took swift action. I hope it makes a difference.
Juul is the most potent public health innovation in decades. It is the best smoking cessation device ever created. There is NO EVIDENCE that Juul marketed to teenagers. I do support this ban, however, because retailers cannot be trusted to sell Juul without diverting it to the black market. Case in point- I bought a Juul device from my local 711 and it was just an empty box. I've spent hours on the phone with 711 and haven't even received my money back. It's these low rent retailers that are to blame- not Juul.
3
@Laura Juul helped me quit smoking after many years and failed attempts. I understand that they don't want kids using them, but why make it more difficult for adults? Alcohol is not treated this extreme.
9
@Amber I agree with you and I'm bummed it's going to more difficult to get pods, but given the FDA's witch hunt I'm just glad it didn't ban Juul outright.
1
@Laura
As a father of two teenagers, I can tell you that there is plenty of evidence that Juul is marketed to teenagers, sold to teenagers, and used by teenagers. If you think Juul is unaware what segment of the population is buying their product, you don't understand business. And if you think they are such a great smoking cessation device, why are you still smoking Juul pods?
4
Yes, teachers think "students were just recharging flash drives." Have you ever used a flash drive? I can count how often I have had to recharge them on zero fingers.
26
@Matt LOL, I totally missed that (and I work in IT).
Has a single study conclusively proven that vaping actually causes any harm whatsoever?
I truly do not understand what the concern is or why the FDA is dedicating so many resources to this effort.
12
@Russell
Nicotine is highly addictive. You want to raise a generation of addicts? Please, do us all a favor and get informed.
4
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with vaping – millions of people do it every morning, in the shower.
The problem – and please pay attention here, because you’ve evidently not been doing so – is the use of vaping as a transport medium for turning kids into nicotine addicts. The question then becomes, is it harmful to turn kids into nicotine addicts? And the answer typically varies according to whether or not you’re making money hand-over-fist selling kids the addictive products.
4
@Jake News
Yes, nicotine is highly addictive. And yes, being addicted to any chemical (especially as a teen) is not ideal. But @Russell has a valid point, which is that no studies have yet shown what actual HARM is associated with nicotine. The media continues to treat "nicotine addiction" as if it carries the same level of danger as CIGARETTE addiction, when in reality, Juul and similar products do not contain any of the carcinogens of cigarettes, which are the chemicals that directly link usage with danger.
4
Do the master of the universe that run these companies allow their children or the elite schools they send them to, to partake in this horror?
''I'm waiting for my man
Twenty-six dollars in my hand
Up to Lexington, one, two, five
Feel sick and dirty, more dead than alive
I'm waiting for my man.'' Waiting for my man. Lou Reed
And the Juuls cost about $26.
At least the pusher man would tell you it was poison.
3
@Lawrence
it's "1-2-5". 125th St and Lex in Harlem.
1
@Lawrence Referring to e-cigarettes as "poison" only reinforces this FDA-promulgated hysteria.
Nicotine by itself is not particularly harmful at the levels found in vape juice. Nicotine gum, too, is sold in every pharmacy in America – no prescription or age limit required.
5
@Angus According to Wikipedia, "In most of the EU and the US, nicotine gum is currently available at pharmacies over-the-counter subject to the same restrictions on underage purchases as tobacco."
5
I can't believe this company's headquarters are in my beloved city of San Francisco trying to sell their addictive product to my middle school daughter. Shame on you Juul. Back your bags and leave. We don't want you here.
12
how about you get a damn grip on your CHILDREN?!? just because they can use social media better than you doesn't mean your children are anything other than they were in the past: prone to doing dumb sh** just to TRY and be cool(and they won't because either you're cool or you're not...if you have to try that hard you are not and likely never will be)
4
What is most troubling is it's not like these folks didn't already know this. It's exactly why they promoted it in the way they did to the population they did. Only under threat of law suits, medical alarm & public outing (I hope they're capable of humiliation) did they spare our youth from addiction. Unconscionable!
17
The company is changing policy to avoid possible lawsuits and that's it. It targeted youth, got youth addicted and using their product and now they want to look like they're taking the high road. It amazes me that anybody would take up smoking or vaping, to begin with, but youth are vulnerable to the "cool" effect and that's what this company used.
15
So, we will see alcohol makers get rid of apple, butterscotch, cinnamon, peach, and banana schnapps flavors any minute now, right? I get so tired of the hypocrisy.
63
@JKelley Making it harder for companies to try to get our children addicted to nicotine is a worthwhile goal, even if other harmful products remain on the market. That isn't hypocrisy, it's incremental progress, which is better than no progress.
5
@JKelley - What hypocrisy ? If alcohol drinks were marketed to teens with those flavors, and teens can access them, I hope some intervening agency can put a stop to it.
I applaud the FDA for taking action based on market analysis/data that refutes Juul's teen targeting denials.
So this is a warning to alcohol makers to not target teens. Cigarette makers targeted teens via the Joe Cool campaign - they want to addict Americans for profit.
3
@JKelley The FDA has increased regulation of "candy-flavored" drinks; some brands have been pulled off the market because of this.
3
“And it offered a way for teenagers to rebel and appear hip, without leading to cancer.”?!? There are studies that found a link between vaping and cancer, are there not? This statement suggests otherwise and should be corrected.
2
@Max Laier -- generally no, as far as I know. Vaping is smoking without tar and harms of smoke. Nicotine is addictive chemical, acts on central nervous systems, and as a stimulant and sedative, may raise some body secretions not not otherwise "harmless". The fact that teens are receiving hits to their brains and suffering withdrawal symptoms are reasons to THEIR prohibit use.
I know juul itself is not carcinogenic, although it contains a lot of nicotine. But studies show that juuling teens are way more likely to pick up a traditional cigarette.
3
No, that's why so many smokers (including myself) have chosen to vape and quit smoking. Please check out CASAA.org for facts and studies done on vaping.
3
Why didn't Juul just "donate" to a conservative politician and just go back to harming kids? That would be much easier than pretending to care.
18
How does it make sense to ban certain flavors but not mint or menthol? Kids are just gonna switch to buying those flavors instead! Whoever thinks this is a great idea is clearly blind or brain dead. The kids who use juul now would certainly just illegally buy cigarettes. To all the bad parents who think this is a good idea because they caught they're 14 year old with a juul, maybe you should focus on why your kid is juuling in the first place before you call for a ban. Its probably because you don't love them enough and don't know how to properly raise a child.
1
@ethan I am sure your kids are perfect, but some are drawn to vaping as have emotional, mental or other issues. What we are wanting as parents is the government to make these products less attractive for teens. Just because your kid vapes, doesn't mean you are a bad parent. You really are clueless.
4
@ethan
Vaping is/was intended as a method to wean smokers of tobacco use. Tobacco use that often is mint/menthol flavored. It helps the smoker if the flavor is what they're used to.
3
@ethan - Get what you can, and see if it works. Don't be a Trumpster and keep taking.
Too late for my family and a significant number of his high school classmates who became hooked on JUUL before we parents even knew what "vaping' was.
When I confronted my son, he said it was safe - that there was no Nicotine and there were no bad chemicals like smoking and that he liked it only for the flavors. His friends I spoke to were all of the similar opinion.
Yet JUUL was loading over two packs of cigarettes worth of Nicotine into a SINGLE pod into flavors like Mango. He and other were able to get JUUL by mail order and carried around what looked like SD cards. No wonder they were hooked form the get go. My son soon lost interest in sports, gained weight, and was out of breath just going up stairs.
The evidence is also clear now that a rare smoker gives uo smoking with vaping, but in reality picks up vaping in addition to their smoking.
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/90-percent-of-smokers-couldnt-quit-after-vaping-one-year
We hunt down narco kingpins in Latin America, yet here in plain view is a company that has hooked a generation of kids on Nicotine and did it purposely. They should be arrested and charged.
39
@Paulo - Sorry to hear about your son. Teens are 4-7x likely to be addicted to ANYTHING compared to people age 25+ because of undeveloped CNS.
Right now, target marketing to teens isn't illegal. And businesses like JUUL make a decision to cut back rather than be the company know to have addicted millions of youth ("We didn't know" - - as truthful as a Trump tweet)
1
@Paulo You are disseminating false information. A Juul pod does not have the same amount of nicotine as 2 packs of cigarettes; it has the same amount as one pack. Before you get on your high horse about Juul maybe you should get your facts straight. Also, if it were 10 years ago your son would be smoking cigarettes, would you prefer that to vaping?
11
@Paulo
Vaping doesn't cause loss of breath. You're conflating symptoms. Your kid is simply obese and out-of-shape.
28
I hope this helps. Because not only do we not know what's really in that "juice" they're inhaling - but they also look *so silly* exhaling that huge cloud of vapor.
Every time we're out and I see a kid vaping, I point it out to my pre-teen son and beg him not to become a "vaping teen," both because it's really bad for you - and because it makes you look really stupid.
10
The ingredients are listed on the packaging of eliquids, we know what's in them. But did you know, cigarettes are not required to have their ingredients listed? I think it is pretty smart to vape when the alternative is cancer sticks. Kids shouldn't do either but adults who wish to vape (and save their lives!) should not be punished for others' inability to parent their kids.
4
This situation with Juul Labs illustrates—
That the importance of our protective agencies, like the FDA, cannot be overstated. They must be well funded and staffed with the most competent people, free of industry compromise.
[And Juul Labs (labs? what a misnomer) should be ashamed of themselves with their media promotions and marketing of flavors.]
A physician MD
12
@srwdm The FDA, and you doctor apparently, does not believe in harm reduction. Many people, including myself (a 30 year smoker) quit smoking using Juul. Period. It worked when the Chanitix, the Wellbutrin, or the patch your industry prescribed repeatedly failed. When you point to the benefits of nicotine prohibition, or of two decades of states spending only 2 cents per dollar for tobacco prevention of the $200+ billion in tobacco settlement money, I will listen. Until then, your credential leaves me thoroughly unimpressed.
3
@Jim
The problem of course is the middle and high schoolers and the way it’s marketed and presented and sold.
Congratulations, Jim, on quitting smoking. I wish I could shake your hand. The “e” concept is a valuable part of the armamentarium in assisting individuals such as yourself in making this remarkable change in your life.
2
What's next, outlawing flavored vodka? Stores are responsible for selling these and if teens are getting their hands on them, it's not the company's fault.
23
@Steve Zakszewski - No. They target market teens. They make the product. They can stop it by not selling. The makers say they don't want to sell to teens. Now they have act on what they say.
4
@Steve Zakszewski - Sure, and Purdue Pharma isn't responsible for addicts using their OxyContin. Totally unpredictable. (Not!)
3
@Steve Zakszewski the stores do not follow the laws and yes kids will find a way to get them go back to vaping Steve At least with a pack of cigarettes you could smell it on them...
2
Well as usual the government has this backwards, If underage kids can't vape then "some" of them will just try smoking, According to Britains Royal College Of Physicians vaping is 95% safer than smoking.
See:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/e-cigarettes-around-95-less-harmful-than-tobacco-estimates-landmark-review
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2016/04/28/royal-college-of-physicians-says-e-cigarettes-can-prevent-almost-all-the-harm-from-smoking/#43fd495249b8
Also the age limit to 21 is also ridiculous, You can join the US military at age 17 and soon after (training) be deployed to war zones like Afghanistan and "possibly" be killed or seriously maimed.
Also some states allow "supervised" driving at an age of 14 (that's 7 years younger than 21) and most states allow for a full license to drive at either 17 or 18 years (that's 4 or 3 years younger than 21). With all that in mind I think the sensible age to start vaping should be 18 years old.
4
@Robert - Safer means no cancer efect of smoker. But nicotine is a psychoactive, addictive drug, which has withdrawal symptoms and more addictive to teens because of undeveloped CNS.
And selective allowing teens (as adults) to do dangerous tings means maybe society to review those permissive activities. Military ? look, for centuries old White men prefer ro send young men to die overseas instead of doing the fighting themselves..
2
@Tony
If you cant vape til 21 not sure how you can be expected to go fight in afghanistan.
Or have a credit card for that matter
1
Hermantown, MN just passed tobacco 21 legislation last week because of this exact issue! The only opponents to T21 were the owners and staff at the local vape shops. Every state should enact tobacco 21 legislation as 95% of smokers start before the age of 25. Hopefully waiting a little longer would allow their brains to develop more and they would just never start. Heart disease remains a top cause of death for a reason - tobacco.
6
"The F.D.A. acknowledged earlier this year that it had been caught off-guard by the soaring popularity of vaping among minors..."
Nobody could have seen that coming. It's not like vaping is similar to cigarettes or anything.
12
This is like closing the barn door after the horse gets out. Juul and other companies that have marketed to teenagers with their candy flavored products may already have created millions of nicotine addicts with their reckless promotions that focus on teenagers. As a former smoker I vape but I don't use the candy flavored products. My goal is to quit my nicotine addiction permanently.
10
How was the FDA 'caught off guard' by kids using Juul? It's been completely obvious from the outset that Juul and other vaping devices are targeted specifically to young people. The cover up story about vaping used to wean smokers off of cigarettes is just that -- a cover up story. Vaping isn't an alternative to smoking; it is just smoking by another name and in a nicer package that will appeal to nonsmoking teenagers and young adults as a 'clean' way to partake.
Of course, in reality there's nothing 'clean' about it. You're breathing chemical smoke that contains a highly addictive drug. From the outset the FDA should have put the same strict regulations on vaping as it has had in place on cigarettes for decades.
43
@Mr. Adams Have you been to Juul's website? It is exclusively focused on adult smoking cessation. I smoked for 22 years- starting at age 16 and quit cigarettes with the help of Juul earlier this year. It's not a cover up. Juul is helping millions of people improve their lives.
9
@Mr. Adams
Vapour is not smoke. Tobacco smoke contains over 60 chemicals that can cause cancer. Doctors estimate that vaping is only 5% as harmful as smoking. The health benefits of smokers switching to vaping should not be downplayed.
8
@Mr. Adams
That's complete nonsense. Many adult smokers have quit the habit by switching to e cigarettes, and there is no evidence whatsoever that Juul targeted teens.
Furthermore, the vapor isn't a "smoke" of any kind -- it's a compound that is recognized as safe and used in foods and asthma inhalers. Nicotine itself, while addictive, is not nearly as addictive as cigarettes, which contain other psychoactive compounds that act synergistically to increase the addictive potential of nicotine.
Finally, vaping is not "smoking by another name," that's absurd. There is no smoke, there is no tar, and studies estimate that it is 90 to 95% safer than smoking.
10
It's refreshing to see a regulatory agency actually do what they are charged with - protect Americans based on sound science and public health. Hopefully the FDA will stay on-top of Juul since when has a tobacco ever cared about those who smoke?
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"And for all that school officials knew, students were just recharging flash drives diligently on laptops."
Well there you have the generation-technology gap: flash drives aren't recharged. Seems like the author has never vaped or saved data on a flash drive.
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@John It was the school officials who don't know the difference.
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@John The reporter might be confused. More likely school officials though students were just plugging in a flash drive on which they had stored their homework or other documents. Some flash drives I own light up when they are plugged in to indicate they are working but they aren't charging.
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The USB port on laptop can charge upto 500mA. And thats all a vap battery disguised as drive needs. This, from my 10th grader. She gave me more info than the article. The stuff is bought by elder siblings... I couldn't only say, hey are you vaping or what. She said this info is all over Instagram.
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"And for all that school officials knew, students were just recharging flash drives diligently on laptops."
Why would you need to recharge a flash drive?
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Knowing practically nothing about vaping other than my 40-year-old stepson does it and can't put it down, screwing up public air just the way smoking does, I'll say this about the recharging question - they all have to be recharged in some way. e-cigs of any kind depend on an electrical charge.
I often use the USB port on my computer to electrically charge my smartphone. My stepson uses a recharger which is ugly but, in essence, the same thing. He also has to add the chemical to be vaporized.
I expect the tiny little e-cigs contain the chemical but are too small to maintain a charge for long; hence, the need to "recharge" in a computer's USB port. But, however, there is no such thing as transferring chemical compounds over an electrical/electronic signal. That's akin to teleportation, think of Star Trek. If juul and the rest of the industry has mastered this they are in the wrong business. They should be helping us zip around the universe, not adding more chemicals to the air all of us have to breathe.
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Is the percentage of teenage users inverse to a drop in smoking rates?
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@DouA A previous article written by NYT stated that these were highschoolers whom had never touched a cigarette before, so no, there wasn't any drop in smoking rates because it wasn't the same index.
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