A little over a year ago, a mysterious vaping issue occurred causing lung and breathing failure among many teens and young adults. It has currently been just shy of a year since the public health officials started banning flavored vapes and other related products.
This ban has been placed since an overwhelming amount of underage users have been at serious health risks. However, pulling Juul off the market might not have been the smartest move to make.
Juul pods might have been the most popular during the outbreak, but more and more cases are being confirmed even with Juul off the market. This ban could cause more damage by limiting the access of cigarette alternatives.
No one knew exactly what was causing this effect, but according to forbes, “An additive called vitamin E acetate, found mostly in bootleg cannabis-oil cartridges sold on the illicit market, was “strongly linked” to the outbreak, the CDC and other researchers found. But these revelations were made in early 2020, after states including New York and the federal government pushed through bans on flavored e-cigarette pods and juices while the crisis was still ongoing, before a cause had been identified.”
This injury outbreak also gave anti-cannabis companies ammunition to proclaim that they are selling dangerous products. According to Yale Med, “Those claims were without merit—i.e., they were nonsense, they were lies—as areas with higher rates of vape use prior to the crisis’s beginning had lower rates of EVALI, as Abigail Friedman, a researcher and professor at the Yale School of Public Health, found.”
If these allegations were true then more and more health injuries would be taking place. It is not just Juul that could potentially cause these harmful acts, but it is possible the knock off brands with different ingredients are creating harmful acts among the public's health.
According to forbes, Friedman also took a closer look at the opposite stats of what has been happening. Her study found, “States with higher rates of vaporizer use reported lower rates of vape lung injury. That means it wasn’t e-juice, JUUL pods, or vaporizer cartridges “per se” that caused EVALI, but additives in bootleg e-liquid or cannabis oil in the local supply. That also means that by banning popular products like cucumber-flavored JUUL pods, regulators drove existing demand for those products to the illicit market—or exactly the kind of sources that caused EVALI in the first place, Friedman noted in an interview.”
By banning these cigarette alternatives, they are taking away a helpful guide and safer transition for quitting smoking. Although EVALI is the main source for this ban, it is not just flavored tobacco products that are causing these reactions.
The youth population has risen and their demand for nicotine products have spiked. They are the real reason for the ban, since the stats show low numbers for EVALI. The anti-vapers group prompted this to happen, and the ban has already taken place in five states. These states include California, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Michigian.
The ban started out by targeting Juul and having them remove all flavored alternative vapes. A study from the Harvard Public Health states, “a microbial toxin that can cause long-term lung damage in JUUL’s tobacco and menthol-flavored pods.”
Glucan was not linked to the EVALI outbreak, nor was it found in Juuls kid friendly flavors pods. This is not a cause from Juul, but from off brands that fake it to make it on the market. Currently there are more than ten brands who will be taking action just like Juul. As they are still on the counter, they are trying to get approved to bring back their original flavors.
Works Cited
Roberts, Chris. Banning Flavored JUUL Pods Is Actually Dangerous: Study Shows How Lawmakers Bungled Vape-Lung Crisis Response. 28 Aug. 2020, Banning Flavored JUUL Pods Is Actually Dangerous.
“Glucan, a Microbial Toxin, Found in Juul's Nicotine Vaping Liquids.” News, 2 Jan. 2020, Glucan, a microbial toxin, found in Juul’s nicotine vaping liquids.
Friedman, Abigail S. “Association of Vaping‐Related Lung Injuries with Rates of E‐Cigarette and Cannabis Use across US States.” Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 25 Aug. 2020, Association of vaping‐related lung injuries with rates of e‐cigarette and cannabis use across US states.
“Abigail Friedman, PhD.” Yale School of Medicine, Abigail Friedman, PhD.
