JUUL’s: The Danger of a New Generation?
Take one look around a college campus, a high school campus even, and you will see kids walking on sidewalks, hunched over, reaching in and out of their pockets to procure small, mechanical devices filled with nicotine liquid. This, ladies and gentleman, is the new and improved cigarette. Which presents the question, ‘Why did the cigarette need to be reinvented?’. We all know the potential health repercussions associated with smoking cigarettes, and we all know how much money corporations have earned selling sticks of tobacco to unwitting customers - so why the resurgence? Some questions are not easily answered, however, there is always comfort in knowing your enemy.
This issue hits close to home, two of my great-grandfathers died of lung cancer developed while smoking cigarettes. Every new JUUL - related article is immediately forwarded to me by my mother, the grandchild of these men, with the accompanying text reminding her baby boy to stand clear of this new movement. Her justified paranoia is frightening, and I am making it my mission to determine exactly how justified her fears are - she is not the only parent with these concerns.
JUUL was originally introduced by PAX Labs, and eventually became an independent company in 2017. PAX Labs unbeknownst to most, mainly markets vaporizers that provide an alternative way to smoke marijuana. Despite the accusations against JUUL today, accusations that they market to a young generation, the original goal of their founders was to, “improve the lives of the world’s one billion adult smokers” (JUUL). Key word: adult. So why, if JUUL had no intent to market to a younger generation, have they felt the need to advocate against adolescent use of their product? It could be because they genuinely care about the health of America’s youth. However, it is more likely that they are feeling pressure from the FDA and the public, and consequently are trying to present themselves as socially conscious. Their website reinforces these efforts with an entire page dedicated to information regarding their multiple efforts to combat underage use of their products (About Us). Even in the face of controversy, JUUL holds close to half the entire e-cigarette share, and it happened over the course of two years (truthinitiative). You may be asking ‘How did they accomplish this?’ The answer: effective marketing to all demographics (including teenagers).
JUUL’s responsible façade evaporated quickly when their marketing strategy was put under the microscope by Stanford professor, Dr. Robert Jackler. According to Jackler, JUUL deleted most of their Twitter content prior to September, around the time the FDA took a keen interest in their products. Coincidence, I’ll let you be the judge. Despite JUUL’s best efforts Jackler managed to retrieve an archive of their old tweets and, according to the esteemed professor at one of the country’s premier universities, there is no doubt that JUUL made an effort to appeal to young children. There is an abundance of evidence, the most crucial being they never presented the JUUL as an option for switching from cigarettes (Forbes). But, one might ask, ‘Didn’t JUUL say their mission was to help adult smokers?’ The answer is yes, and therein lies the problem: the words did not match the actions. They did not present it as an alternative to cigarette smoking, and more importantly they appealed to teenagers by utilizing attractive models in their ads, and displaying them in trendy clothing. Their events even included “youth-oriented bands and free tastings” (Forbes).
Branding on sites such as Twitter even encouraged peer-to-peer marketing, which is not something that JUUL, or any other agency, can regulate. The cherry on top: JUUL, featured in a full page spread on VICE, a multi-media company marketing itself as the “#1 youth media company” (Forbes).
It is also difficult to overlook the fact that the flavors for their product were given “treat-like” flavor names such as Crème Brulee, Cool Mint, and Cool Cucumber. Only after feeling the heat did they finally change the marketing campaign.
Despite the perception that e-cigarettes are a safer alternative to tobacco consumption, there are still adverse health effects. One of the most detrimental, if not the most detrimental, side effects of ‘JUULing’ is addiction. Nicotine is the main ingredient in the pods of these devices and nicotine is highly addictive. Therefore, even if JUUL curbs their marketing campaign, it is too late now to stop thousands of teenagers from feeding a nicotine craving. Not only does nicotine cause addiction, but based on a study by the Indian Journal of Medical and Paediatric Oncology, “nicotine has biologic effects on cells important for initiation and progression of cancer.” To compound this, hopeful teenagers generally believe they can quit smoking by ‘putting their mind to it’. A direct opposition to the pessimistic view that they will never be able to stop, an attitude neurologically developed adults typically champion (Goriounova and Mansvelder). Nicotine also has the potential to impair prefrontal brain development in young kids, leading to attention deficit disorder and poor impulse control (Ross). The adolescent brain is especially susceptible to long-term, and permanent, changes as a direct result of smoking e-cigarettes.
To determine if e-cigarettes are a safe alternative to the traditional tobacco cigarette, it would be best to also explore the effects of traditional cigarettes. Nicotine, a chemical as addictive as cocaine and heroin, is the main addictive chemical present in traditional tobacco cigarettes – sound familiar? Tobacco cigarettes have become the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States. The main reason why: an inability to stop smoking harmful chemicals, in large part due to nicotine content (KidsHealth). However, nicotine does not kill people. The health problems that present themselves in throats and bladders, such as cancer, do.
The main differentiator it seems, between e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes, is secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke from cigarettes causes three-thousand deaths from lung cancer and tens of thousands of deaths from heart disease in the United States each year (healthychildren). Developing lungs have the potential to be devastated by the four-thousand chemicals released as result of secondhand smoke in a family home. Fifty of these four-thousand chemicals have been found to cause cancer to those exposed. On top of this, children are more susceptible to ear infections, colds, pneumonia, and tooth decay if they are consistently exposed to secondhand smoking (healthychildren).
So, what next? Parents, communicate with your children, it is important to address the issue head on. Kids, listen to your parents, but also share your unique perspective as a minor in the age of ‘JUUL’ing’. Use this information as a stepping-stone for thoughtful, in-depth conversations. Use this to illustrate the dangers, not only of JUUL, but also of societal pressure.
Smoking e-cigarettes and traditional tobacco-based cigarettes have clear negative effects on adolescents. However, it seems e-cigarettes, as of right now, pose fewer negative effects and should be considered as an alternative only for adults already struggling with nicotine addiction to avoid harmful chemicals in tobacco cigarettes. The onset of cancer as a direct result of cigarette smoke is difficult to deny; I’m sure some still might.
Considering the manpower and information available to wealthy e-cigarette companies such as JUUL, it is morally wrong that they have presented JUUL’s as a product children should be using. Curbing smoking altogether should be the ultimate goal, not developing a safer alternative to smoke.
References
“About.” About | PAX, www.paxvapor.com/about/.
Chaykowski, Kathleen. “The Disturbing Focus Of Juul's Early Marketing Campaigns.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 16 Nov. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/kathleenchaykowski/2018/11/16/the-disturbing-focus-of-juuls-early-marketing-campaigns/#48230da914f9.
“E-Cig Use Increases Risk of Beginning Tobacco Cigarette Use in Young Adults.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 11 Dec. 2017, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171211090733.htm.
“JUULING: Get the Facts.” HealthyChildren.org, www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/tobacco/Pages/Juuling-Get-the-Facts.aspx.
“Our Technology.” JUUL | The Smoking Alternative, Unlike Any E-Cigarette or Vape, www.juul.com/our-technology.
Ross, John. “E-Cigarettes: Good News, Bad News.” Harvard Health Blog, Harvard Health Publishing, 8 July 2016, www.health.harvard.edu/blog/electronic-cigarettes-good-news-bad-news-2016072510010.
“HEALTH EFFECTS OF SECONDHAND SMOKE ON CHILDREN.” American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation | No-Smoke.org, no-smoke.org/health-effects-secondhand-smoke-children/.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2016.
Mishra, Aseem et al. “Harmful effects of nicotine” Indian journal of medical and paediatric oncology : official journal of Indian Society of Medical & Paediatric Oncology vol. 36,1 (2015): 24-31.
Goriounova, Natalia A and Huibert D Mansvelder. “Short- and long-term consequences of nicotine exposure during adolescence for prefrontal cortex neuronal network function” Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine vol. 2,12 a012120. 1 Dec. 2012, doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a012120
Goriounova, Natalia A and Huibert D Mansvelder. “Short- and long-term consequences of nicotine exposure during adolescence for prefrontal cortex neuronal network function” Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine vol. 2,12 a012120. 1 Dec. 2012, doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a012120
