FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has revealed his plans to fight underage use of e-cigs and nicotine, which has grown 78 % amongst highschool college students from 2017 to 2018.
The commissioner at the moment introduced a plan that may take away all flavored digital nicotine supply system merchandise — aside from tobacco, mint, menthol or non-flavored merchandise — from any retailer the place kids below the age of 18 can see them.
So what does this imply for Juul, an organization that reached a $10 billion valuation 4x quicker than Fb and presently owns greater than 70 % of the e-cig market?
One result’s that Juul Labs is probably going now simply as determined for minors to give up vaping because the FDA. The commissioner has made it abundantly clear that if he doesn’t see a major lower in underage use, he’s keen to drag the plug on the e-cig trade.
“I may take extra aggressive steps,” Gottlieb stated in a written assertion. “I may suggest eliminating any software enforcement discretion to any presently marketed ENDS product, which might end result within the elimination of ALL such merchandise from . At the moment, I’m not proposing this route, as I don’t wish to foreclose alternatives for presently addicted grownup people who smoke. However make no mistake. If the coverage adjustments that we now have outlined don’t reverse this epidemic, and if the producers don’t do their half to assist advance this trigger, I’ll discover extra actions.”
Sure, it appears outstanding that we could stay in a world the place cigarettes, the nation’s main reason behind preventable loss of life, can be found at grocery shops however e-cigarettes, that are stated to be 95 % much less harmful, are unlawful.

y’all actually acquired mango juul pods banned earlier than AR15s
— 💙☠️ (@souljaguac) November 14, 2018

However that’s precisely what may occur if the federal government, e-cig producers and customers don’t work collectively to finish underage use of nicotine.
Although some critics would argue in any other case, Juul has maintained that it by no means meant to promote to minors. Which doesn’t change the truth that the corporate’s income is essentially depending on the nicotine addicted as a class.
The American economic system was basically created upon the again of Huge Tobacco. And 50 years in the past, the trade acquired away with advertising to younger individuals and creating a number of generations of addicted adults to what could have been essentially the most profitable client product ever. To say that it was profitable could be an understatement. It nonetheless is.
Fiscally, would Juul take pleasure in being the following Philip Morris? Undoubtedly. However it could fairly be the following Nicoderm CQ or Nicorette than be unlawful. Hell sure! Proper now, the corporate continues to be hanging in there. However the one approach to stop the corporate from being formally banned within the U.S. is to discover a approach to get youngsters to cease vaping.
For that reason, Juul Labs goes a couple of steps additional than the FDA’s new coverage. Not solely is the corporate eradicating non-tobacco flavors from comfort shops or different shops the place individuals below 18 can store, nevertheless it’s additionally eradicating all non-tobacco flavors from vape retailers and age-restricted specialty shops. From right here on out, the one place to purchase Cucumber, Creme, Fruit and Mango (the most well-liked taste) Juul pods is on the Juul web site.
The corporate will even enhance its secret shopper program from 500 visits/month to 2,000 visits/month on the greater than 90,000 shops the place Juul merchandise are bought.
Juul’s plan, introduced Tuesday, additionally consists of eradicating the corporate’s Instagram and Fb channels, and limiting its Twitter account to non-promotional data.
Alongside cracking down on flavored ENDS merchandise, Gottlieb can also be trying into banning from the market flamable menthol cigarettes and all flavored cigars. Mint and menthol ENDS merchandise may be on the chopping block.
“I’m deeply involved concerning the availability of menthol-flavored cigarettes,” stated Gottlieb in a written assertion. “I consider these menthol-flavored merchandise characterize some of the widespread and pernicious routes by which youngsters provoke on flamable cigarettes.”
Not solely does the masking impact of menthol make flamable menthol cigarettes extra enticing to youth, however Gottlieb went on to say that “they exacerbate troubling disparities in well being associated to race and socioeconomic standing” and “disproportionately and adversely have an effect on underserved communities.”
For these causes, the FDA is taking a tough stance on menthol flamable cigarettes and flavored cigars, a transfer that can absolutely mobilize huge tobacco in one more battle of their decades-long conflict towards regulators. Till restrictions could be enforced on these flamable merchandise, nonetheless, the FDA is permitting menthol and mint-flavored ENDS merchandise to be bought in comfort shops in addition to vape retailers.
However Gottlieb will probably be maintaining an in depth watch on it:
“I’m additionally conscious that there are probably necessary distinctions even between mint- and menthol-flavored e-cigarette merchandise,” he wrote. “I’m significantly involved about mint-flavored merchandise, primarily based on proof exhibiting its relative recognition, in comparison with menthol, amongst youngsters. So, I wish to be clear that, in gentle of those issues, if proof reveals that children’ use of mint or menthol e-cigarettes isn’t declining, I’ll revisit this facet of the present compliance coverage.”
In response to the FDA’s introduced plan, a Juul Labs spokesperson had this to say:
Commissioner Gottlieb has made it clear that “stopping youth initiation on nicotine is a paramount crucial.” As we stated earlier within the week, the numbers inform us underage use of e-cigarette merchandise is an issue that requires quick motion. That’s the reason we carried out our motion plan. We’re dedicated to working with FDA, state Attorneys Common, native municipalities, and group organizations as a clear and accountable associate on this effort.
The FDA assertion, which is greater than four,000 phrases, completely explains that the company is making an attempt to strike a steadiness between guaranteeing grownup people who smoke have another via ENDS and defending a technology of younger individuals from changing into hooked on nicotine.
In gentle of the FDA’s opposition to menthol, Gottlieb addresses the excellence between permitting menthol/mint and tobacco-flavored ENDS into comfort shops against different flavors:
This distinction amongst flavors seeks to take care of entry for grownup customers of those merchandise, together with adults who stay in rural areas and should not have entry to an age-restricted location, whereas proof of their impacts continues to develop. It additionally acknowledges that flamable cigarettes are presently out there in menthol in retail areas that aren’t age-restricted. This method is knowledgeable by the potential public well being profit for grownup cigarette people who smoke who could use these ENDS merchandise as a part of a transition away from smoking.
So far as on-line gross sales go, the FDA is trying to make sure that all flavored ENDS merchandise bought on-line undergo a rigorous age-verification course of.
Gottlieb additionally addressed the potential for brand spanking new merchandise to reverse the expansion of underage ENDS use, and stated that the company would work to make the appliance evaluate course of extra environment friendly.
“Within the coming months, CTP plans to subject extra insurance policies and procedures to additional guarantee that the method for reviewing these functions is environment friendly, science-based and clear,” stated Gottlieb. “We’ll additionally discover learn how to create a course of to speed up the event and evaluate of merchandise with options that may make it far much less doubtless that children can entry an e-cigarette.”
Juul Labs has briefly mentioned its imaginative and prescient for a next-generation e-cig, which the corporate has been engaged on for a yr. The machine would incorporate Bluetooth, letting customers monitor and management their nicotine consumption. Nevertheless, Bluetooth may also enable for geofencing to forestall youngsters from utilizing the product in school, in addition to a smartphone-based lock that may solely enable the Juul for use by somebody who has verified they’re over 21.