Vaping furor claims CEO’s job
Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AP…
Juul Labs will no longer promote its e-cigarettes in print, digital and TV advertisements and is replacing its CEO amid an escalating backlash against vaping nationwide.
The nation’s largest e-cigarette maker also pledged Wednesday not to lobby against a sweeping ban on vaping flavors proposed by the Trump administration earlier this month. […]
Juul quickly propelled itself to the top of the e-cigarette market with a combination of high-nicotine pods, dessert and fruit flavors and viral marketing. Today the San Francisco company controls roughly 70% of the U.S. e-cigarette market.
Since 2018 Juul has tried to head off a crackdown with a series of voluntary steps, halting retail stores of several flavors and shutting down its social media presence. But parents, politicians and public health advocates have continued to push for a broader crackdown.
Juul also supported Illinois’ ban on under-21 purchases of its products.
* Related…
* Illinois vaping ban: Lawmakers consider outlawing flavored vape products, e-cigarettes: “As a parent, anecdotally, it’s a problem of certifiable epidemic level,” said Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
* While Will County health officials worry about vaping, sellers worry about overreaction: While cigarette smoking among Illinois high school seniors has decreased significantly over the past decade, between just 2016 and 2018, e-cigarette use in Illinois rose from 18.4% to 26.7% among the same population, a 45% increase, according to the IDPH.
* Local health officials, lawmakers address growing number of vaping illness cases: Doctors say the illnesses resemble an inhalation injury, with the lungs apparently reacting to a caustic substance. So far, no single vaping product or ingredient has been linked to the illnesses. Two-thirds of the cases involved 18- to 34-year-olds. Most are men.
* Flavored Vaping At The Center Of Illinois House Hearing: “As we allow these products to remain in the market, we know it fosters the opportunity for kids to access them and newly become addicted to nicotine. I have a lot of questions about the flavors in particular,” said Michelle Mussman (D-56th), who admitted that a vote on a flavor ban is some time away and said that banning a product might make people buy it illegally. “We do not want to push people into a black market to get a product that they believe is beneficial and safer than what they had started with and create a more unsafe situation,” Mussman said.
* Lawmakers hear about vape crisis: Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike said more than 69 people experienced severe respiratory illness after vaping and another 13 may be added to the list. The state has seen one death. However, she also said nearly 80 percent of those were THC users, which means their illnesses may not have been caused by vaping nicotine products.
* Illinois Lawmakers Considering Ban On Flavored Vaping Products: Beyond the immediate health crisis, lawmakers are concerned about the rise in teen vaping. Although they passed legislation raising the age to purchase tobacco and vaping products to 21, they’re now considering a ban on the flavored e-cigarettes favored by young people.
* As state considers flavored vape ban, study finds most illnesses are drug-related: “45 million vapers in the world, it’s happening nowhere except for here so I think it’s pretty reasonable to say that something new has entered the market,” [Victoria Vasconcellos, of the pro-vaping Smoke Free Alternatives Coaltion of Illinois] said.
* Pritzker wants statewide ban on flavored e-cigarettes: Public health workers have not said the outbreak was caused by flavored e-cigarettes, or other products legally available at vape shops.
* Massachusetts bans all vaping products for 4 months
- A guy - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 10:51 am:
I’ve never vaped. I do know people who seem to have successfully kicked cigarettes doing it. I definitely think it’s become a problem for underage kids, but at least this company appeared to be cooperating in mitigating that problem. It seems that this public policy is being done with an axe vs. a scalpel. There’s got to be a better way to do this.
- Mr773 - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:02 am:
These products might not be as harmful as cigarettes but they are still unhealthy. Now they are killing people. Get them off the shelves and regulate them.
- Lester Holt’s Mustache - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:07 am:
Juul seems to have used shady marketing practices for years, so this resignation (and whatever other fallout results to the company) is a good thing. But for those that have used vaping to finally quit cigarettes, all a flavored liquid ban is going to accomplish is to send tax dollars to Missouri or wherever else they buy it from online. I’m sure those places will very much appreciate the additional revenue from the tens of thousands of Illinoisans who currently purchase these products from Illinois businesses
- Smalls - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:09 am:
I don’t know anyone that has started smoking cigarettes and been dead 2 years later. These are going to wind up being much more dangerous than cigarettes, in my opinion, when all the facts are known. And it has become a full-blown epidemic with kids, with 50+% of kids in high school doing this. Something needs to be done.
- Start - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:11 am:
Didn’t the Pritzker family provide the start up funding for Juul??
- Start - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:19 am:
Just found it https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/juul-raises-650-million-in-funding-that-values-e-cig-startup-at-15-billion-1531260832
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:26 am:
Start, that’s a cousin. It wasn’t a family investment as far as I can tell.
- LTSW - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:37 am:
From what I’ve read about the New York cases is that the products used that caused the illnesses were purchased black market or on line. Banning retail sales won’t likely have much effect
- Downstate - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:47 am:
Survey done in a local private high school: 50% of the students are vaping during the high school day.
- Lester Holt’s Mustache - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:48 am:
==New numbers released by the Illinois Department of Public Health find of 69 people with vaping-related lung illnesses, more than 75 percent have been linked to vaping products containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana ==
Classic IL dems - too busy rushing in front of the cameras to look at their own data. Im sure shutting down an industry that employs over 7,000 Illinoisans and creates a billion dollars in tax revenue will definitely stop black market sales of vape cartridges containing THC
- Dotnonymous - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 11:52 am:
” …banning retail sales won’t likely have much effect” - LTSW
…except to increase black market opportunities.
- Goose Gossage - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 12:15 pm:
JB’s cousin, former Hyatt CEO, is not only major investor in JUUL, he sits on their board.
Altria owns 1/3 of JUUL so it seems like they win either way.
jB can’t look weak hear, but he also can’t push anything that looks like its designed to benefit JUUL, even if he doesnt stand to gain anything personally.
It’s the downside of being a part of the seventh wealthiest family in America.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 12:19 pm:
===cousin===
If we’re going to be held accountable at the “cousin” level, wealth or not, that’s quite a few folks in a family you have to keep tabs on.
I can almost hear the mouth-breathing glee… “no, no… it’s a cousin”
Yikes, it’s a nice day. Fresh air is plentiful, try some.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 12:21 pm:
===If we’re going to be held accountable at the “cousin” level===
One of my cousins is in prison for a double murder, so I hope not.
- Dotnonymous - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 1:19 pm:
Altria sounds so much less deadly than R.J.Reynolds Tobacco Co….eh?
As for tobacco addiction…Big Tobacco is in a win/win position…for life.
Light up…because you have no other choice?
- James Knell - Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 5:26 pm:
I knew the “vaping is safer” stuff was highly questionable. Now I extend a pack of Marlboros to people I see vaping and say, “can I offer you a safer alternative?” I guess it’s not just water vapor after all.