Juul was the first mass marketed e-cig, founded in 2007 to help smokers quit cigarettes. Through 2019 the company grew very fast and attracted young people to vaping. If you want more details, there’s a great Netflix documentary.
Between 2019 and last week, Juul ran into a lot of regulatory headwinds – for introducing flavored vapes, selling to underage people and FDA scrutiny. Meanwhile other vape companies and disposable vapes took over the market.
So, why do we care if the FDA finally approved Juul vapes?
Clearly, the approval signals a change in FDA regulation of vapes and opens the door for other vape producers to get FDA approval for their vapes. So, let’s look at the pros and cons of FDA approval for people concerned about the effects of vapes:
Cons: FDA approval may encourage more vaping
- FDA approval makes vapes sound safe, and we know they aren’t – are approved vapes safer than smoking? Yes, if your nic intake is the same between both – but we know most smoker to vapers take in more nic from their vape than they took in when they smoked.
- The FDA has granted Marketing Granted Orders (MGOs) for Juul’s tobacco and menthol flavored e-cigarettes, allowing them to be legally marketed. (1) Now Juul will increase their marketing spend and potentially attract more people to vaping. It may also lead their competitors to ask for approval – competitors whose vapes are popular and labeled as disposable.
Pros: FDA approval is limited and expensive
- FDA approval is expensive and that expense has to be covered by vapers – so we can expect the price of approved vapes to go up – leaving the vaper with two bad choices: more expensive approved vapes or potentially toxic cheap vapes. According to the Vaping.com website, “JUUL e-liquid is more than eight times more expensive per milliliter than comparable e-liquid sold in a bottle” This leaves a lot of room for other vape companies to raise their prices!
- No flavors – the FDA will only approve tobacco and menthol flavors – so states and cities can continue to outlaw flavored vape sales. States and cities can also track sales of legal vapes – giving them better data and the ability to increase vape prices with taxes. Even approved vapes won’t have permission to market their flavored juice.
We care because vaping is harmful for almost all vapers, FDA approval may encourage more people to start vaping or continue vaping.
At HabitHalo we want people off the nic – if you switched to vapes to stop smoking – that was a great first step! Now its time to take the next step and completely get off nic. Our patented RipLok solution combines a phone app with a smart vape case and creates a custom quit plan based on your lifestyle to wean you off the nic and put you back in control!