Do You Even Vape Bro? How JUUL’s False Market Claims Have Contributed to the Nation’s Youth Nicotine

Did you lose your JUUL this weekend? Probably a good thing.

Vaping is a trend that took over the media in 2018 with its gifs and memes, but JUUL has been in the headlines all over the internet, and not in a good way.

One of the ways JUUL became so popular is because the company advertised it being safer than smoking regular cigarettes. However, on Sept. 9, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter to JUUL Labs Inc. for marketing unauthorized modified risk tobacco products by engaging in labeling, advertising and other activities directed to consumers, including a presentation given to youth at a school. The agency also sent a letter to the company expressing concern, and requesting more information about several issues raised in a recent Congressional hearing regarding JUUL’s outreach and marketing practices, including those targeted at students, tribes, health insurers and employers.

The main issue was that the marketing campaigns that JUUL targeted to high schoolers, college students and adults trying to quit smoking have not been proven by anyone or any organization.

Some of those claims include:

• JUUL “was much safer than cigarettes” and that “FDA would approve it any day.”

• JUUL was “totally safe.”

• A student “…should mention JUUL to his [nicotine-addicted] friend…because that’s a safer alternative than smoking cigarettes, and it would be better for the kid to use.”

• “FDA was about to come out and say it [JUUL] was 99% safer than cigarettes…and that…would happen very soon….”

Because of all of the backlash that JUUL Labs have received, maybe it’s time to end the vape fad and #DITCHJUUL.

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