SALT LAKE CITY — The e-cigarette company Juul appears to be joining the fight against teenage vaping.
What’s happening: On Tuesday, the company announced plans to restrict the sale of its flavored nicotine pods to adults ages 21 and older.
- “Our intent was never to have youth use Juul products. But intent is not enough, the numbers are what matter, and the numbers tell us underage use of e-cigarette products is a problem. We must solve it,” the company said in a statement on its website.
- According to the statement, Juul has halted the shipment of its mango-, fruit-, cucumber- and creme-flavored pods to all 900,000 retailers that sell its product.
- The flavored pods will still be available on Juul’s website, with some restrictions.
Customer identification: The sale of flavored pods will be denied to anyone under 21 using a third-party age verification system.
- Online customers will be asked to provide their name, date of birth, permanent address and the last four digits of their Social Security number. Those who do not wish to provide their Social Security number will have to upload a valid government-issued ID.
- Juul will also combat the mass selling of its product through online orders by setting a monthly limit of two devices and 15 pod packs per person, according to The Verge.
- By the end of the year, online sales will also require a two-factor identification system to be used.
Other measures: The company is taking other immediate measures to prevent teenage sales and reduce products' appeal to youths.
- “To secure sales of these products, we are immediately increasing our secret shopper program, from 500 visits per month to roughly 2,000 per month,” the company announced on its website.
- Anyone who is caught violating Food and Drug Administration rules of selling to minors will be fined; retailers with multiple violations will be permanently cut off from ordering Juul products.
- Juul has also taken down all of its social media accounts and is working to monitor and remove Juul content from any third-party accounts, BuzzFeed News reported.
Juul’s action plan comes months after the FDA launched a war on teenage vaping.
The retail sale of flavored nicotine pods will only resume once retailers show their ability to comply with a new age restriction program being put in place.
More information on the company’s plans can be found on Juul’s website.