A recent New York Times report found that banning the flavored Juul pods has led students and teens to find a different option — disposable e-cigarettes.
President Donald Trump’s administration and the Food and Drug Administration announced a ban on flavored Juul pods after finding that many companies were using flavored vape pods and other marketing techniques to target teens.
The ban, according to Time Magazine, was designed to limit options that were popular among young people while maintaining options for adult users who opt for e-cigarettes and vapes to quit or better manage smoking.
The New York Times reported, “When the Trump administration decided to prohibit fruit, mint and dessert flavors in refillable cartridge-based e-cigarettes like Juul, it carved out a few exceptions to mollify the vape shop owners and adult consumers who complained. The much-publicized exemption allows menthol and tobacco flavors. But a footnote on page 9 of the new policy permits all flavors to continue to be sold in devices that cannot be refilled and are designed to be disposed of after the flavored nicotine has run dry.”
“Students were telling me that everybody had gone to Puff Bars, which are disposable,” Lauren Williams, a teacher from Kentucky, told The New York Times. “The one we confiscated here this week is Banana Ice. Students are not using Juuls anymore because no one wants menthol or tobacco.”
The disposable options don’t just have all the flavors teens love, but they’re cheaper, too, said Daniella Roth, a teen who has been vaping since her sophomore year of high school, according to The New York Times.
Juul has been experiencing difficult times financially because of the ban. The company has cost investors billions, CNBC reports.
And, according to the Times, the ban may not be serving its intended purpose — keeping nicotine away from kids.
The Trump flavor ban specifically excludes children, as well as large tank vapes sold in vape shops.
President Trump announced in October the next step would raise the national smoking age to 21.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said earlier this month he believes that while the flavored pod ban is helpful, he is working with Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to do more to prevent teens from developing nicotine addictions.
CDC reports revealing nearly one-third of teens use tobacco