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Juul Labs, a Californian company that has grown exponentially over the past few years to a 73% market share in the $ 2.5 billion US e-cigarette market, is at the heart of the controversial rise adolescent vapers. Like cigarettes, the vows draw their nicotine from tobacco, but instead of lighting up, users draw their consumption of a liquid sold both in closed capsules and in refillable tanks, according to the branding system of theirs. choice. This liquid is then heated, creating the steam that gives its name to the product category.
Juul sold millions of his ultra-popular vapes, which are a closed system. The only way to use one is to buy your refills, available in store and online. The pods are available in tobacco-flavored versions and those with additives that create sweet or fruity flavors, which have been particularly targeted by critical anger because of their potential appeal to minor vapers. But Friday, CNBC announced that, in response to expected FDA changes, Juul will soon announce its intention to voluntarily remove all of its flavored products from most physical stores. It is not known if this includes vape and tobacco stores. (The company declined a request for comment.)
Since its launch in 2015, Juul has attracted a particular fascination among teenagers. At first, the company's ads had a much brighter and younger feel. Now, as an apparent concession to regulators and critics, its ads only apply to people over 35 who have actually quit smoking. Despite the evolution of demographics of advertising, the small and thin vapes of the brand look like USB keys and recharge via USB, which makes them ultra-portable and, for teens, easy to hide from parents and friends. teachers.
Vape juice (its current name!) Contains tobacco derivatives, so its sale is limited to 18 years and over. Juul's website checks the age of buyers when creating the account. However, according to experts, this will not be enough to keep it out of reach of teenagers. Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, a developmental psychologist and professor of pediatrics at Stanford University, says the first stop for teens vapers is not in stores. "The majority of young people buy their products from one another and the others from tobacco or smoke shops. Young people do not buy them in convenience stores, "she says.
Due to the lucrative black market in teenage social circles, even if the products are removed from most physical stores, it would only be an enterprising minor teenager with a big brother or a helpful sister (or just a child aged 18). high school) to keep an entire school supplied with Juul capsules. In addition, Halpern-Felsher says his recent research indicates that teens like the mint and menthol options – the ones the FDA would apparently allow to keep largely in stores – as well as the more fruity flavors. "We need to ban flavors in all areas, in all areas of sales," says Halpern-Felsher. "It's a good start, but it's not enough."
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