Mango. Mint. Creme brulée. All of these sound mouthwatering, don’t they?
These flavors are the reason behind the deaths of several young adults – including teenagers.
The Juul has rapidly hooked a significant percentage of adolescents and young adults by using an assortment of flavors as the main appeal. These e-cigarettes control nearly 50% of the market and are surpassing traditional methods of smoking in popularity.
Although Juul promotes its e-cigs as a safer alternative to cigarettes, it has harmed a handful of users. There have been eight deaths related to vaping and around 530 vaping-related lung illnesses reported by the Centers for Disease Control in just the past few months.
One Juul pod contains enough nicotine that equates to 20 cigarettes. The science behind vaping is that aerosols heat substances – usually nicotine but sometimes marijuana or other compounds – and produce a mixture to be inhaled.
The first death linked to vaping was reported on August 23, 2019 in Illinois. The incident generated fear across the nation and even prompted a response from the CEO of Juul, who urged nonsmokers to avoid using Juul since they are not the target audience.
There were a total of five deaths by September 6, only two weeks after the first vape-related death. Several other cases have emerged, including blisters in the lungs, inflammation of the lungs, or even severe pulmonary disease.
Some of the world’s largest businesses have decided to take action and stop selling Juuls altogether; Walmart is discontinuing its sales in the wake of the ambiguity surrounding the product. Earlier this year, Walmart required ID to buy tobacco products and stopped selling fruit and dessert flavored pods.
Despite efforts by new federal regulations and large retailers, there are still local smoke shops that sell many vape products and not just Juuls. Some big cities are taking measures to fully ban e-cigarette sales. Both Michigan and New York are banning flavored e-cigarettes for the entire state. San Francisco, the founding location of the Juul, is also placing a ban on e-cigarette sales.
Smoking a Juul is becoming more threatening than conventional smoking habits among younger populations. It will take time for the implemented policies to take effect, and it is only a matter of time before more lung-related diseases and illnesses accumulate to produce statistics more alarming than those pertaining to traditional cigarettes.