Judgment day for JUUL

Food and Drug Administration gives JUUL an ultimatum in order to protect minors

Amy Inkrott / News Editor / The USD Vista

Throughout the country and within the University of San Diego community, JUULs have become increasingly popular. However, starting Sept. 12, the FDA gave the company 60 days to prove they can keep their devices away from minors or have their products taken off the market.

Although they are most often used in social settings, these electronic cigarettes can also be seen in the hands of students across campus. First-year student Hasan Iqbal found JUULs to be very popular at his high school. He learned about the product through his former classmates. 

“A guy in my grade, he’s basically addicted to nicotine,” Iqbal said. ”He was always on top of the latest products. At first I didn’t like the idea of e-cigarettes, but eventually I decided to…try it.”

JUULs were originally designed as an alternative for adult cigarette smokers. Electronic cigarettes provide smokers with a means of quitting that does not look or feel like the typical cigarette. The device combines nicotine and flavoring to produce a puffable vapor. The product strives to give addicted smokers a nicotine fix, while also removing the dangerous tobacco and tar within traditional cigarettes. 

Because they can be found at almost every gas station, JUULs are relatively easy for students to obtain. In the state of Nevada, where Iqbal is from, the legal age for purchasing a JUUL is 18. 

“I got my first JUUL when I was 18 during my first semester of senior year,” Iqbal said. “I got it at the gas station, Speedee Mart. It was super easy.” 

This accessibility has become increasingly concerning to members of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as more minors have started using these devices. The different flavor pods attached to JUULs mask the taste of nicotine within the vapor. The nicotine in these pods makes the e-cigarettes addictive. However, these products are not viewed in the same way as traditional cigarettes. 

“The image of it is different,” Iqbal said. “When you hear ‘e-cig,’ you don’t think of it as a cigarette, it’s electronic. People associate it with vaping. The stigma around vaping isn’t as harsh as it is around smoking. Vaping is often seen as the healthy alternative.”

Although often associated with vaping, the nicotine content in JUULs is much higher than other vaping options. The higher levels of nicotine within the product makes the use of JUULs extremely addictive. In September of 2018, the FDA stated that the number of teenagers using e-cigarettes, like JUUL products, had reached an epidemic level. In 2017, the FDA reported nearly two million middle and high school students were frequent users of e-cigarette products. 

“It was definitely a high school thing,” Iqbal said. “Everyone I knew had one.”

Over the summer, the FDA issued over 1,300 warning letters and monetary penalties to retailers found selling e-cigarettes to minors. Many of the penalized retailers were 7-Elevens, Circle Ks, and other gas stations, like the one mentioned by Iqbal. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb commented on the rising number of young people using nicotine products. 

“E-cigs have become an almost ubiquitous – and dangerous – trend among teens,” Gottlieb said. “The disturbing and accelerating trajectory of use we’re seeing in youth, and the resulting path to addiction, must end. It’s simply not tolerable.”

Recently, the FDA has also targeted the makers of the products. Starting Sept. 12, the agency has given the four largest producers of e-cigarettes 60 days to prove that they can keep their devices away from minors, under the threat of having their products removed from the market. While the FDA also gave notice to e-cigarette companies MarkTen, Vuse, Blu, and Logic, it primarily focused on JUUL. Currently, JUUL controls over 70 percent of the e-cigarette market. Each of the companies has expressed a willingness to work with the FDA in keeping their devices out of the hands of minors. 

JUUL’s website is reflective of this. Upon accessing their site, browsers are asked if they are over 21 years old. If the person selects no, they are redirected to a website highlighting the dangers of tobacco use, especially in teens. However, the effects of e-cigarettes are still largely unknown. 

“It’s still too early for us to know the effects of e-cigarettes and vaping,” Iqbal said. “We know the effects of regular cigarettes because those have been around for forever. Seeing through time what it does to the body, we know exactly what happens. E-cigarettes have only been around for a decade. There could be nothing wrong with it, or it could be the same as cigarettes, or it could be worse. We really don’t know.”

Iqbal opted to quit after his high school graduation. However, he started using his JUUL again when he was preparing to come to USD. 

“I got back into it because I was about to go to college,” Iqbal said. “It really was a social thing, but I actually enjoyed the feeling I got when I was smoking. One of my friends went and dropped a hundred dollars at a smoke shop before he left for college.”

However, he ultimately chose to quit again after considering the health problems associated with smoking and e-cigarettes. 

“Here I am with this little thing in my hand,” Iqbal said. “I don’t know if it’s healthy or not, but I feel like it isn’t. So why am I continuing to smoke it?”

JUULs are very popular among some USD students. These small devices can often be seen in the hands of students in class, walking to their dorms, and even waiting for the trams. However, because USD is a smoke and tobacco free campus, students are more subtle about using their JUULs. 

“Coming into college, I don’t think it is unrealistic to think that a lot of people have them, but I feel like students here are more secretive about it,” Iqbal said. 

If the FDA finds that these companies cannot keep their devices out of the hands of minors, then they will be removed from the market. The agency also plans to track the online purchases of these products. They predict that young adults will buy a large number of e-cigarettes that they can later resell to minors. The FDA believes that the tightening of e-cigarette regulations will help to prevent minors from becoming addicted to nicotine in the future.