US: Juul Not Your Stereotypical E-Cigarette

Source from:  Walla Walla Union-Bulletin 08/06/2018

The newer version of electronic cigarettes work like e-cigs always have.

The tiny Juul and similar devices heat up a cartridge of fluid to create a vapor, which quickly dissolves into the air. Or when blown into a shirt sleeve or backpack.

The fluid contents vary. A single pouch produced by the JUUL company can contain 5 percent nicotine, said Amy Osterman, youth marijuana and tobacco prevention coordinator for Walla Walla County Department of Community Health.

“One pod is equal to one pack of 20 cigarettes. It’s just a different way to consume nicotine.”

The Truth Initiative measures it one more way — that heated cartridge is worth 200 cigarette puffs.

That’s roughly twice the concentration of nicotine that other vaping products contain, and makes JUUL’s formula even more addictive than tobacco, Osterman pointed out.

The company uses nicotine salt in its pouches, which delivers higher nicotine strengths without causing pain in the throat, according to media stories. The devices contain three times the nicotine levels allowed in the European Union and cannot be sold there, Vox media reported in July.

“Kids get buzzed and when you can consume that much nicotine that quickly, they can get addicted really fast” Osterman said.

“Once you’re addicted to nicotine, you’ve primed your brain for addictions. We’re not talking a caffeine addiction here, this is on the level of opioids.”

Even the pods sold as nicotine-free carry other chemicals and toxic metals into the lungs, including cancer-linked cadmium and formaldehyde, Osterman said, citing a 2016 report by the United States Surgeon General.

“And diacetyl, which is linked to popcorn lung, and benzene, like in car exhaust.”

In April, Food and Drug Administration head, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, acknowledged the challenges of JUUL devices in a public statement.

Because of the addicting nature and ease of secrecy surrounding the vaping source, Gottlieb said, the FDA would undertake a series of new enforcement and regulatory steps, including a large-scale, undercover nationwide blitz to crack down on the sale of e-cigarettes — specifically JUUL products — to minors at both brick-and-mortar and online retailers.

Retailers will be held accountable for sale of any tobacco products to youth, according to Gottlieb.  Enditem