Belleville Area Cares Coalition

She is an 18 year old senior who says most of her friends have a JUUL — an e-cigarette that can vanish into a closed fist. When asked roughly how many, she stumbles a bit. "I wanna say like 50 or 60 percent? I don't know. Maybe it's just the people I know. All my friends who are now in college have one," she says. "It just blew up over the summer (2018)."

She says she doesn’t have one herself — at least at the moment. Hers broke due to an unfortunate mishap involving her JUUL and soda water. But the trend to own a JUUL is real, with students bragging on Twitter about using them in class, and researchers saying they're seeing a big spike in use among teens and young adults.

"We're seeing it across college campuses and high schools. I have a friend who teaches high school, and they contacted me last week because they are having a major problem with JULL" says a substance addiction researcher.

Devices like these might be introducing a new generation of teenagers to nicotine addiction and leading some vapers to take up smoking tobacco cigarettes, a study out in Pediatrics on Monday suggests. That would buck a national trend of teens drifting away from certain risky behaviors like drugs, alcohol and unprotected sex.

Researchers say the most worrying aspect of vaping is the nicotine, which is damaging to brain development, and is addictive. They can deliver a very high concentration of the drug, and experts worry that the popularity of JULL’s is putting a new generation at risk of nicotine dependence.

Popular among Teens

One reason JUUL and vape pens are so popular among teens currently might be that they can be used indoors without attracting unwanted attention or creating a stench.  On Twitter, teens post about their  usage in school. The most brazen of them fire up their e-cigarettes while their teachers' backs are turned.

Vapers also have a nigh-infinite range of flavors to sample with amusing names like "I Love Blue Raspberry Candy" or unappetizing but intriguing ones like "Beard Vape." Those flavors might be another reason why vaping has struck such a mania among teenagers.  (right: Dr. Pepper flavored JUUL)

The Food and Drug Administration has banned most flavored cigarettes and tobacco products, but the agency hasn't banned flavored vapes.

THEY SAY...

A spokesperson for JUUL Labs, the manufacturer for the JUUL device, said that the company wants to "eliminate cigarettes by offering existing adult smokers with a better alternative to combustible cigarettes. No minor should be in possession of a JUUL." Both the  design and the flavors offered were  intended to make the device more inviting to adult cigarette smokers, not children, the spokesperson said in a statement in an email response. "We are committed to introducing new flavors carefully and  responsibly."

WE SAY:  OH, REALLY!

(Picture to the  right:  Advertising JUUL with a "JUICY--SOUR PATCH"  flavor)

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When visiting their webpage looking for an address or phone number to contact them, I found this statement:  General customer information & reviews. 222 customers wished Juul had a phone number. Don't worry. Like a growing number of young companies, Juul doesn't have a phone number, so you cannot call customer service.  (What a surprise)

As far as I know the only way to contact JUUL is by using a third party website:  https://hi.gethuman.com/contact/Juul  (copy and paste in browser)



Contact Information

Want to know more? 

Contact me at 608-316-1118 or by emailing me at dougm@fsmad.org