Nicotine craze continues to spread; FDA cracks down on Juul targeting youth

ELLIE EVANS

Assistant news editor

    The Juul phenomenon is not only spreading at an alarming rate, but also getting into the hands of many minors. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is addressing teens as the target for the E-cigarettes.

    On September 30, 2018 the FDA announced seizing of thousands of documents from Juul related to the marketing techniques and testing of their product. The unexpected inspection by the FDA caused the company to hand over these documents, according to recently released reports.  FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the crack down on Juul was “to prevent future generations from becoming addicted in the first place by rendering cigarettes minimally or non-addictive.”

      Juuls are pocket-sized, almost like a small flash drive, and this makes it easy to keep the device hidden, which makes it appealing to youth according to researchers.  Additionally, researchers found that nicotine pods are marketed with fun and interesting flavors to draw in teens. These flavors include: fruit medley, creme brulee, mango, cool mint, and cool cucumber. Many teenage users are unaware that a single pod holds the same amount of nicotine as a whole pack of cigarettes.

    According to Wells Fargo, Juul holds 72 percent of e-cigarettes sales in America. According to the CDC the alarming increase of these devices grew seven fold from 2016 to 2017. The FDA hopes to regulate the sales and ultimately eliminate all use of e-cigarettes by minors.

     Junior Ryan Blosser has said that targeting marketing of the juul towards teens “causes a domino effect that does nothing but expand the longevity of their product and business.”   Blosser added “the marketing of juul attracts more people from each generation, increasing usage rates.”