In these last few months we have witnessed a number of alarming media headlines about how teen vaping is apparently out of control, and how Juul is addicting a whole new generation to nicotine.
Perhaps prompted by these headlines, the Lawmakers on a House Appropriations subcommittee had urged the FDA to do more to prevent youth access to the products. “I am concerned that FDA’s silence on e-cigarettes could open the door to the next public health emergency,” said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y. at the time. The FDA Chief had responded by saying that the agency would be taking some enforcement steps in the following weeks.
Subsequently, Gottlieb had released a statement announcing a series of new enforcement and regulatory steps. “First, we’re announcing that the FDA has been conducting a large-scale, undercover nationwide blitz to crack down on the sale of e-cigarettes – specifically JUUL products”, said Gottlieb.
Spending $30 million towards research on reducing teen vaping
Then, last Thursday the San Francisco-based company said that instead of promoting its devices online, it will be advertising by using images of former smokers who have switched from smoking regular cigarettes to vaping the Juul device.
“We believe we can both serve the 38 million smokers in the U.S. and work together to combat underage use — these are not mutually exclusive missions,” said the company’s Chief Executive Officer Kevin Burns.
Monitoring online activity
Juul Labs has added that it has assigned a team of people to monitor online activity and focus on reporting inappropriate content to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for removal. The company said that it “has partnered with several of these companies to proactively remove posts, pages, and unauthorized offers to sell product targeted at underage users.”
Read Further: Bloomberg
FDA Juul “Blitz” May Hold an Opportunity for the Vaping Industry
