The FDA oversees Juul Labs, the electronic cigarette company that has captured nearly half of the $ 2 billion e-cigs market.
Yesterday, US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced a new initiative called the Youth Tobacco Prevention Plan. While the agency seeks to make sure that children do not have easy access to no e-cigs the Juul vaporizer seems to them particularly worrisome.
As part of this initiative, the FDA sent a request for information to Juul Labs to understand why young people are so attracted to the product.
Over the last year, a number of reports have suggested that teenage vape use, particularly with juul, is increasing sharply.
The application relates to documents related to "the marketing of products; research on the health, toxicological, behavioral or physiological effects of products, including the initiation and use of young people; if certain characteristics, ingredients or product design specifications are relevant to different age groups; and youth-related adverse events and consumer complaints associated with the products. "
In response, Juul Labs issued a press release announcing its plan to combat the use of minors. The strategy provides an initial investment of $ 30 million over the next three years for independent research, youth and parent education and community engagement efforts. Juul Labs also said it will support federal and state initiatives to raise the minimum age of legal purchase to 21 years and older. The company's website requires buyers to be 21 years of age or older since August 2017.
Here is what Juul's CEO Kevin Burns said about it:
Our company's mission is to eliminate cigarettes and help more than one billion smokers around the world to adopt a better alternative. We are already seeing success in our efforts to allow adult smokers to quit smoking and we believe our products have the long-term potential to make a significant contribution to public health in the United States and around the world. . At the same time, we are committed to discouraging young people, as well as adults who do not currently smoke, from using our products. We can not be more categorical on this point: no young or non-nicotine user should ever try JUUL.
Juul Labs is not the only organization on which the FDA is rampant. The agency said it had sent 40 warning letters to retailers selling e-cigs, including juul, to minors. Some of these retailers have been caught as a result of a "blitz" in progress since the beginning of April.
The agency also asked eBay to remove all lists of Juul vaporizers, which may be sold to minors.
Along with the FDA's request for information from Juul Labs, the agency also sends similar letters to other e-cigarette manufacturers.