What Occurred to Juul Labs after ‘Massive Vape’?

The downside with writing a guide about present occasions is occasions don’t keep present for lengthy. I completed writing my guide, Massive Vape: The Incendiary Rise of Juul, in January 2021, at a time when the way forward for each mega-popular vaping model Juul Labs and your entire U.S. e-cigarette business had been in flux. Every time information broke after the draft was achieved, I wanted I might return and replace it—however in fact that wasn’t potential.

I received some closure when my guide was tailored right into a Netflix docuseries, Massive Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul, which premiered Oct. 11. The collection’ producers labored on it lengthy after my guide got here out, permitting them to weave in huge developments that hadn’t occurred once I completed writing—however even nonetheless, the story of Juul and vaping is ongoing, and nobody is aware of the way it will finish.

Right here’s what has modified since Massive Vape was printed, and what I view as the largest query marks in regards to the vaping business.

Regulators banned Juul…then back-tracked

The U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) has lengthy performed catch up with regards to regulating the vaping business. Manufacturers together with Juul had been already extensively out there nationwide when, in 2016, the company finalized a course of for assessing their well being results. That meant e-cigarette firms already in enterprise needed to retroactively put together paperwork to show that their merchandise had been helpful for public well being; in the event that they couldn’t persuade the FDA, regulators might get them organized to cease promoting their vapes within the U.S.

Once I completed writing Massive Vape, Juul had submitted its utility however the FDA hadn’t reached a verdict but. Then, in a dramatic determination in June 2022, the FDA mentioned Juul had not offered enough toxicology information for its merchandise and ordered them off the market.

Then, following an attraction from Juul, the FDA started a secondary overview of its information, which remains to be in progress. In the meantime, Juul units stay available on the market. It is already been greater than a yr since that each one occurred, and the FDA has given little public indication about what it’s going to in the end resolve.

Juul has additionally submitted an utility for a brand new product: a Bluetooth-enabled “next-generation” system that’s meant to lock out underage customers and reject counterfeit pods, nevertheless it’s anybody’s guess whether or not the FDA will authorize it.

Tobacco big Altria broke up with Juul

On the finish of 2018, the tobacco big Altria (which owns the corporate that makes Marlboro cigarettes) paid nearly $13 billion for 35% of Juul. However as scrutiny on Juul grew and the FDA cracked down on its advertising and marketing and gross sales practices, Altria valued its funding decrease and decrease—down to only $250 million by the top of 2022. In March 2023, Altria introduced it might trade its minority possession stake for the appropriate to license a few of Juul’s mental property, a sign that Juul’s enterprise had suffered sufficient that the Massive Tobacco firm wished to maneuver on. Altria additionally bought NJOY, a distinct e-cigarette maker.

That’s just one ingredient of Juul’s monetary struggles. Juul has been sued by everybody from faculty districts to state attorneys common for its position within the teen vaping epidemic, and over the previous couple years, it has agreed to pay practically $three billion in authorized settlements. Juul’s income can also be considerably down from its peak, and the corporate has been by means of a number of rounds of layoffs.

Teenagers have largely moved on from Juul

Juul turned infamous for being the e-cigarette teenagers utilized in faculty bogs and on Snapchat. However today, federal information recommend underage customers have principally moved on to single-use vaporizers that—in contrast to Juul, which is now solely out there in tobacco and menthol varieties—are available tons of flavors. Among the many roughly 10% of U.S. teenagers who commonly vape, greater than half now use disposable e-cigarettes, in response to the FDA. My anecdotal analysis backs this up. Once I’m strolling round my neighborhood in Brooklyn, I see tons of youngsters with vapes made by manufacturers like Elf Bar and Air Bar, and hardly any hitting Juuls.

For the document, most disposable vapes aren’t speculated to be bought to anybody, underage or not, as a result of they haven’t gotten authorization from the FDA. However it’s confirmed so tough for the company to maintain up with regulating a big and ever-changing market that many proceed to be extensively out there.

There may be (nonetheless) numerous debate in regards to the dangers and advantages of vaping

This was true once I started masking vaping in 2018 and it’s nonetheless the case now. Some researchers imagine vaping can assist adults quit smoking cigarettes and transition to a less-dangerous type of nicotine. In the meantime, different research discover that vaping isn’t an efficient solution to quit smoking and should include important well being dangers of its personal, together with elevated possibilities of growing lung and coronary heart illnesses. The massive caveat to the entire debate is that e-cigarettes solely turned extensively used and studied inside the previous couple many years, which isn’t all that lengthy on the planet of well being analysis. Extra well being dangers—or advantages—might come to gentle as vapers are studied for years to come back.

One factor, nonetheless, stays clear: the most secure selection is to not use any tobacco product in any respect.