Juul is at the center of the FDA's investigation of electronic cigarettes

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continued Juul Labs' blitz on e-cigarette use by inspecting its head office in San Francisco last week, resulting in the seizure of "thousands of pages documents, "the agency said.

The survey, which aimed to learn more about Juul's sales and marketing practices, was the latest in a series of FDA measures to better understand and regulate the use of e-cigarettes – a campaign apparently centered on Juul.

In April, the agency requested marketing materials from Juul and several other manufacturers to better understand the appeal of these products for youth. Then, in September, Juul and four other companies had 60 days to develop plans to reduce the "epidemic" of use by young people; If this is not the case, said the agency, some or all of the flavored products – which seem particularly appealing to children – would be removed from store shelves.

Although all electronic cigarettes are under the jurisdiction of the FDA, Juul has particularly drawn the attention of the agency. This is largely for a simple reason: Juul is incredibly popular, both with adults and young people.

The company's sales increased by 641% between 2016 and 2017, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published in JAMA Tuesday. Juul sold 16.2 million vapes in 2017, an electronic cigarette bought on three by the end of the year, according to CDC data.

But Juul's appeal to children and adolescents is of particular interest to the FDA. The elegant vapes, which often look like USB sticks and can be associated with aromas such as mint, fruit and cream, have appeared in schools across the country, stirring the concern of parents, educators and regulators. Research has shown that children who use electronic cigarettes, which generally contain nicotine addiction, are more likely to take cigarettes and other tobacco products afterwards.

The use of e-cigarettes by youth has increased by 75% between 2017 and 2018, according to the first unpublished federal data reports, which would represent about 20% of American high school students, or about 3 million teenagers. The FDA does not have data on brands used by teens, but the agency plans to add a specific question on Juuling to the 2019 version of the National Youth Smoking Survey.

Juul's chief executive, Kevin Burns, said in a statement to TIME, after the recent FDA inspection, that Juul products are only for adult smokers and that the company does not tolerate vaping. youth. Electronic cigarettes are not legally available for children under 18; they are usually intended to offer adult smokers a healthier alternative to smoking.

"We are committed to preventing the use of minors, and we wish to engage in dialogue with the FDA, lawmakers, public health advocates and other actors in order to keep JUUL out of the reach of young people, "Burns said in his statement. "Last week's meetings with the FDA gave us the opportunity to provide information about our company, ranging from our marketing practices to our online age verification protocols, industry leaders, as part of our youth prevention efforts. It was a constructive and transparent dialogue. Since April, we have published more than 50,000 pages of documents that corroborate our public statements. We look forward to presenting our plan to address youth access within 60 days, as stated by the FDA. We want to be part of the solution for the prevention of the use of minors, and we believe that industry and regulators will have to work together to limit youth access. "