House Democrats Launch Investigation Into E-Cigarette Company Juul - Forbes.com

http://fortune.com/2019/06/13/juul-labs-investigation-democrats/ House Democrats launched another investigation into the e-cigarette company Juul Labs last week. The effort is spearheaded by Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi. Krishnamoorthi, who is the Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, sent a letter to Juul CEO Kevin Burns on Friday asking the company for internal records regarding Juul’s communications, and social media and advertising practices. The committee also seeks information about Juul’s long-term impact on users’ health, and documents related to its business deal with tobacco giant Altria, which purchased a 35% stake in Juul last year. The latest investigation launched the same week as a California Democratic Party convention in San Francisco, where Juul was listed as a major sponsor. Juul’s sponsorship, among other corporate sponsorships, caused disagreements between some party members. Acting party chair Alexandra Gallardo-Rooker said the party should not turn down money from the e-cigarette maker because “it takes a lot of money to run this party and make sure we win.” But Hene Kelly, the party director for California’s Region 6 called out the sponsorship, arguing that the company “preys on children.”

Ex-FDA chief Scott Gottlieb: ‘Juul is going to be in a hard spot to ever get their product approved’

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/21/former-fda-chief-scott-gottlieb-juul-in-tough-spot-to-get-approval.html Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Friday that he believes it will be difficult for popular e-cigarette maker Juul to get government approval for its products. “Juul is in a hard spot to ever get their product approved,” Gottlieb said in a “Squawk Box” interview. “They have so much historical youth use with their product. I don’t know how Juul gets through an application process.” In a court filing, the Food and Drug Administration proposed a 10-month deadline for e-cigarette makers to submit applications for governmnt clearance to continue selling their products. Companies would be able to sell their products for a year while under review. The FDA proposal comes after the U.S. District Court of Maryland ruled the agency had exceeded its authority by allowing e-cigarettes to remain on the market until 2022 before companies applied for regulatory approval.

Vaping company Juul denounces San Francisco legislation prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes in the city

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/19/juul-decries-san-francisco-legislation-prohibiting-the-sale-of-e-cigarettes.html E-cigarette giant Juul on Wednesday criticized its hometown after San Francisco supervisors approved a measure to prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes. If passed, the law would make San Francisco the first city in the nation to take such action. The legislation, which still has to go through a final vote and win approval from Mayor London Breed, is an effort by the city to end the youth vaping epidemic. The policymakers unanimously voted Tuesday to forbid the sale of e-cigarettes, while also supporting a ban on manufacturing the products in the city. Juul, which dominates the e-cigarette market, is facing a number of investigations scrutinizing the company’s alleged role in the rising use of nicotine among minors.

In Battle With Juul, San Francisco Becomes First City To Ban E-Cigarettes

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrickcai/2019/06/18/in-battle-with-juul-san-francisco-becomes-first-city-to-ban-e-cigarettes/#47251e285668 San Francisco-based Juul Labs was dealt a blow Tuesday when its hometown legislators voted unanimously to ban all sales of electronic cigarettes in the city. The maker of nicotine vaping devices is countering with a planned ballot measure that would ask San Francisco residents to only prevent sales to customers under 21 years. Through the Board of Supervisors vote, San Francisco became the first city in the United States to impose an e-cigarette ban. The proposal, which was spearheaded by City Attorney Dennis Herrera and Supervisor Shamann Walton, stops stores from selling e-cigarettes and prevents online vendors from delivering them to San Francisco addresses. The ban will be upheld until at least 2021, the Food and Drug Administration’s proposed deadline for e-cigarette companies to submit applications for review.

San Francisco has moved to ban e-cigarettes. Juul has a backup plan.

https://www.greenstate.com/explained/law/san-francisco-has-moved-to-ban-e-cigarettes-juul-has-a-backup-plan/ The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously voted to approve first-of-its-kind legislation to suspend the sale of e-cigarettes in the city, amid concerns over underage use of the addictive nicotine products. The measure is already being challenged by the nation’s largest e-cigarette company, Juul, which is laying the groundwork to take the issue to voters in November. The bill still requires final approval, but the board voted 11-0 to pass the ordinance on the first reading, telegraphing its intent to make it official as early as next week. The measure, if passed, would go into effect seven months after it is signed by the mayor. It would halt the sale of e-cigarettes in San Francisco’s brick-and-mortar stores and bar the delivery of e-cigarettes bought online to San Francisco addresses until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviews the safety of the products, which it has not yet done.

Juul’s New Marketing Is Straight Out of Big Tobacco’s Playbook -The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/06/juul-big-tobacco-marketing/592174/ The e-cigarette giant is relying on some awfully familiar tactics to distinguish its products. Out of a firestorm of controversy over teen nicotine use, Juul Labs emerged in January with a newly sober and adult marketing identity. Forget the fruit-flavored vaping pods, the colorful ads populated with young models, the viral Instagram and Facebook posts. What the Silicon Valley e-cigarette giant is really about, its $10 million television ad campaign declares, is helping cigarette smokers shake their cigarette addictions and get healthy. The ads feature mature subjects with their ages clearly stated on screen: “Carolyn, 54,” “Patrick, 47,” “Mimi, 37.” They sit against muted domestic backdrops and say that because of Juul, they’ll never touch a cigarette again after decades of dependency. Juuling, they emphasize, is an “alternative” to smoking. Juul’s website underlines that message: “Our mission,” one page reads in bold white text, is to “improve the lives of the world’s one billion adult smokers by eliminating cigarettes.” In its effort to define its products as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes, Juul appears to be following a familiar marketing cycle. Throughout the 20th century, as warnings about the health risks of cigarettes arose, tobacco companies repeatedly found new ways to downplay concerns and advertise their products as healthy options. When their claims were refuted by evidence, they traded them out for new claims. E-cigarettes like Juul’s are still a recent invention, and their long-term health effects remain largely unknown. Some evidence shows that vaping can help smokers quit, as Juul’s ads profess, and that it is a safer substitute for people who already smoke. But studies are finding that, like the many tobacco and nicotine products that preceded them, Juuls also come with considerable risks. History seems to be repeating itself.

Tobacco's 'Special Friend': What Internal Documents Say About Mitch McConnell

https://www.npr.org/2019/06/17/730496066/tobaccos-special-friend-what-internal-documents-say-about-mitch-mcconnell The disclosure of millions of once-secret tobacco industry documents — which are now readily searchable online — has opened a window into Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's interactions with tobacco executives and lobbyists. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., says one of his "highest priorities" is to take on the leading cause of preventable death in the United States: smoking. McConnell has sponsored a bill, along with Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, that would increase the tobacco purchase age from 18 to 21. In a speech on the Senate floor last month, McConnell said, "The sad reality is that Kentucky has been the home to the highest rates of cancer in the country. We lead the entire nation in the percentage of cancer cases tied directly to smoking." Indeed, nearly 9,000 Kentuckians die every year from smoking — roughly 24 people every day. Kentucky also spends $1.9 billion on smoking-related health problems like lung cancer, strokes and premature birth. "Our state once grew tobacco like none other," said McConnell. "And now we're being hit by the health consequences of tobacco use like none other." Still, McConnell noted, "I might seem like an unusual candidate to lead this charge." For many public health advocates, that was a vast understatement. Following the industry's lead An NPR review of McConnell's relationship with the tobacco industry over the decades has found that McConnell repeatedly cast doubt on the health consequences of smoking, repeated industry talking points word-for-word, attacked federal regulators at the industry's request and opposed bipartisan tobacco regulations going back decades. The industry, in turn, has provided McConnell with millions of dollars in speaking fees, personal gifts, campaign contributions and charitable donations to the McConnell Center, which is home to his personal and professional archives.

Black Leaders Denounce Juul’s $7.5 Million Gift to Medical School - NY Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/19/science/juul-meharry-grant-vaping.html Earlier this month, Meharry Medical College, a 143-year-old historically black institution in Tennessee, proudly announced that it had received the second-largest grant in its history — $7.5 million to start a center to study public health issues that affect African-Americans. But the gift has prompted a vehement backlash from African-American health experts and activists because of the source of the funds: Juul Labs, the fast-growing e-cigarette company, now partially owned by the tobacco giant Altria. Black people in the United States have a higher death rate from tobacco-related illnesses than other racial and ethnic groups. Research into the health effects of tobacco products, including newer nicotine delivery systems like Juul’s popular vaping devices, was to be the first order of study for the new center. The announcement set off several days of frantic phone calls and meetings among black public health leaders, who remember the tobacco industry’s history of targeting black communities with menthol cigarettes — and who don’t want black youths becoming addicted to nicotine through vaping. “Juul doesn’t have African-Americans’ best interests in mind,” said LaTroya Hester, a spokeswoman for the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network, which is sending a letter of protest to Meharry. “The truth is that Juul is a tobacco product, not much unlike its demon predecessors.” Over the past year, Juul has hired numerous leaders with close ties to the black community as consultants and lobbyists. Among them are Benjamin Jealous, the former head of the N.A.A.C.P.; Heather Foster, a former adviser to President Obama who served as his liaison to civil rights leadership; and Chaka Burgess, co-managing partner of the Empire Consulting Group, who serves on the governing boards of the N.A.A.C.P. Foundation and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and its political action committee. Read Dr. Hildreth’s Letter to Meharrians on the JUUL Grant https://home.mmc.edu/read-dr-hildreths-letter-to-meharrians-on-the-juul-grant/

This teen's vape exploded, shattering his jaw - CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/19/health/e-cigarette-vape-explode-teen-study/index.html The 17-year-old traveled 250 miles with a bloody mouth, broken teeth and a hole in his jaw, trekking from a small town in Nevada to a pediatric hospital in Utah with his mother. There, doctors rushed him into surgery, working to reconstruct and repair shattered bone. What he told doctors shocked them: The boy was vaping when, without warning, his e-cigarette exploded in his face. The freak accident, described in a case study published Wednesday, is just one of thousands in recent years. "People need to know before they buy these devices that there's a possibility they're going to blow up in your pocket, in your face," said Dr. Katie Russell, the trauma medical director at Primary Children's Hospital who first treated the boy.

Teen Has Mouth Wired Shut After Vape Explodes, Fracturing His Jaw and Knocking Out Teeth

https://gizmodo.com/teen-has-mouth-wired-shut-after-vape-explodes-fracturi-1835689187 Vaping may or may not be healthier than smoking conventional cigarettes, but a recent incident involving a teenage boy, in which an exploding e-cigarette blew out several of his teeth and cracked open his jaw, is a serious cause for concern. A one-paragraph-long case study published today in The New England Journal of Medicine describes the extensive damage that can be caused by exploding e-cigarettes. Around a year ago, a 17-year-old male showed up at the emergency room with pain and swelling in his jaw. Two hours previously, a vape had exploded in his mouth as he was using it. The doctors treating him observed a circular puncture to his chin and large gashes inside his mouth. A 3D scan of the teen’s head revealed the true extent of the damage.

B.C. health minister calls for federal action on vaping after study shows surge in teen use

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-teen-vaping-study-federal-action-1.5183304 Online survey shows 74% increase in teen vaping across Canada in a single year. Health Minister Adrian Dix says B.C. is ready to step up with tougher provincial restrictions on vaping following new research showing skyrocketing rates of e-cigarette rates by Canadian teens. In a news release Thursday, Dix said the province has recommended federal regulatory action on advertising of vaping products, as well as restrictions on nicotine concentrations and sales of flavoured vaping liquids. "B.C. also stands ready to introduce its own initiatives should federal action be delayed. Obviously, it is our preference to work with other jurisdictions and the federal government on joint action," Dix said. "In addition, we will be working with youth across B.C. to establish youth-led efforts to curb vaping among young people." A recent study published in the British Medical Journal found that teen vaping rose by a whopping 74 per cent in a single year in Canada. The researchers say an online survey found the number of Canadian participants aged 16 to 19 who reported vaping in the previous month rose from 8.4 per cent in 2017 to 14.6 per cent last year. Rates of weekly use climbed to 9.3 per cent from 5.2 per cent over the same time period.

Teen vaping rate nearly doubles over last year - Carly Week - Globe and Mail

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-teen-vaping-rate-nearly-doubles-year-after-canadian-legalization-of-e/ The number of Canadian teens who regularly vape nearly doubled in one year, coinciding with the first rise in cigarette-smoking rates in that age group in years, according to a new study that provides the first evidence of how vaping rates changed after they were legalized and new companies entered the market. The findings, published in the British Medical Journal on Thursday, are based on surveys of Canadian 16- to 19-year-olds conducted in 2017 and 2018. The surveys found the number of teens who reported vaping in the past week rose to 9.3 per cent in 2018 from 5.2 per cent in 2017. The number of those who said they had vaped in the previous month rose to 14.6 per cent in 2018 from 8.4 per cent in 2017. At the same time, the surveys found the number of 16- to 19-year-olds who smoked cigarettes in the past week rose to 11.9 per cent in 2018 from 7.6 per cent in 2017. The number of teens who reported smoking in the past month rose to 15.5 per cent in 2018 from 10.7 per cent in 2017. The study provides the first look at how vaping rates among Canadian teens changed after federal legislation legalized the sale of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes in May of last year. The second half of the study, conducted in August and September of 2018, also coincided with the arrival of Juul Labs in Canada. The company’s vaping products make up a large share of the e-cigarette market in the United States. According to the study, Juul’s products were developed to deliver a high concentration of nicotine without irritating the mouth or throat, a technology that competitors have since adopted.