No more smoke and mirrors: The FDA gives JUUL 60 days to stop teens from vaping

The FDA gives e-cig companies like JUUL and a few others 2 months to prove they can successfully keep their products out of the hands of underage vapers, or else...

The US Food and Drug Administration has given JUUL Labs 2 months to prove they can keep their products away from minors, or else be pulled from the market, with the potential of criminal or civil charges.

No more smoke and mirrors: The FDA gives JUUL 60 days to stop teens from vaping

In addition to JUUL, 4 other vape companies face the FDA’s ultimatum: Vuse, Blue, Markten XL, and Logic (who collectively make up 97% of the US e-cig market).

Parting the cucumber-infused vape haze

The FDA warns that teenage use of e-cigs has reached “epidemic proportions” (2m middle and high school students reportedly used e-cigarettes regularly last year). 

The agency also sent letters warning 1k online and brick-and-mortar retailers and issued 131 fines during a nationwide investigation into whether JUUL was purposely targeting youths.

In April, JUUL sent thousands of pages of records to be reviewed by the FDA — but apparently, it didn’t bode well for the nicotine king. 

JUUL says they will be compliant with the new mandate

A JUUL spokeswoman told the NYT: “We are committed to preventing underage use of our product, and we want to be part of the solution in keeping e-cigarettes out of the hands of young people.”

But, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb believes JUUL has long treated the issues of teen nicotine addiction like a “public relations challenge” rather than seriously considering their legal obligations and public health mandate that these products bring.

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