The nation’s leading e-cigarette maker says it has halted store sales of some flavors to deter use by kids.
The announcement Tuesday by Juul Labs Inc. comes ahead of an expected government crackdown on underage sales of e-cigs.
Juul said it has stopped filling store orders for its mango, fruit, creme and cucumber pods but not menthol and mint. It will sell all flavors through its website and limit sales to those 21 and older.
The company said it was closing its Facebook and Instagram accounts and pledged other steps to make it clear that it doesn’t want kids using Juul products.
E-cigarettes are generally considered a less dangerous alternative to regular cigarettes, but health officials have warned the nicotine in them is harmful to developing brains.
San Francisco-based Juul Labs Inc announced it had stopped filling orders for its mango, fruit, creme and cucumber pods but not menthol and mint. It will sell all flavors through its website and limit sales to those 21 and older
The move follows a high profile announcement by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb that he was cracking down on Juul to target what he brands an ‘epidemic’ of teen use.
‘What I can’t tolerate is another year of this level of growth,’ FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in an interview last Wednesday.
At the start of 2018, things were moving peacefully and steadily between the FDA and Juul, as normally happens with regulation. The FDA had asked for documents and information about sales techniques from all e-cigarette companies, and said in interviews that Juul was being cooperative.
Then, in the first week of October, the FDA launched a surprise raid on Juul headquarters – the biggest raid in the agency’s 100-year history.
The agency said the sting was to find details on how Juul was marketing to kids in order to curb the booming trend of teens with the USB-looking devices.
Asked by Politico’s Dan Diamond why he changed tact, Dr Gottlieb insisted it wasn’t a change of message, but he felt Juul had been dragging its heels in terms of curbing child use.
‘I said that the companies have been helpful, they’ve been helpful in terms of answering questions and bringing forward information,’ he said.
‘I think they are starting to take measures that are going to address aspects of this problem,’ he added, ‘but up until recently they have not been helpful. I don’t think that they’ve recognized that this is an existential threat.
‘I think they could have stepped into the market with more forceful action much earlier in the year.’
He insists he does not aim to cut off the e-cigarette industry entirely, acknowledging its clear health benefits for adult smokers trying to quit.
‘But in order to close the on-ramp for kids we are going to have to narrow the off-ramp for adults,’ Dr Gottlieb told Politico.
‘In order to make it much harder for kids to get access to these products, we are going to have to take action that will put some speed bumps in the way of adults as well. That’s just the reality. There’s no way to do this without some measures that’s going to make it a little harder for adults to get all the products that they want.’