SEARCY, AR. (LP) —An electronic cigarette is a battery-operated smoking apparatus, sometimes called a vaporizer, designed to be an alternative to traditional cigarettes. The construction and operation of most e-cigarettes are easy enough to understand; however, there is a fierce debate regarding e-cigarettes (as well as other vaporizers) in modern society. That debate is likely to intensify as these devices grow in popularity and profitability. Using e-cigarettes is substantially less harmful to individual health than inhaling smoke from combustible tobacco, such as cigarettes and cigars. However, while e-cigarettes contain far fewer toxins than combustible cigarettes, they are not free of toxins and still deliver harmful chemicals. Forty years ago, nearly 29 percent of high school seniors reported smoking cigarettes daily, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. By 2018, less than 1 in 25 high schoolers smokes daily.
A new type of e-cigarette called “juul” has become so popular that it is now about 68% of the $2 billion e-cigarette market. The “juul” is especially popular among children and young adults due to its sleek and discreet design, its ability to be recharged on a laptop or wall charger within one hour, and its liquid-filled cartridges that come in popular flavors like cool mint, creme brulee, and fruit medley. When medical reports of deaths and hospitalizations from e-cigarettes were reported in the media in August and September 2019, it was not known at first whether those harmed had used juul devices. However, the most recent reports state that all types of e-cigarettes were used by the teens and adults who were harmed by vaping, so the risks of “juuling” need to be carefully and immediately studied. So President Trump announced Wednesday that his administration will move to ban flavored e-cigarettes—which are linked to spurring teen use—to try to rein it all in. Ashley Gould, chief administrative officer at Juul Labs, says that the product was created by two former smokers specifically and solely to help adult smokers quit, and that the company has numerous anti-youth-use initiatives in place because “we really don’t want kids using our product.”
Gould also notes that Juul uses age authentication systems to sell only to adults 21 and older online, though most of its sales take place in retail stores, where state laws may allow anyone 18 and older to purchase the devices. Doctors do know, however, that each Juul pod contains nicotine equivalent to a pack of cigarettes. That’s troubling, because nicotine is “one of the most addicting substances that we know of,” Ong says. “Having access to that is certainly problematic,” Ong adds, because it may get kids hooked, which could potentially lead them to later take up cigarettes.
