Tucson, AZ Juul Congressional Hearings Show E-Cigarette Isn’t Safe
What new information came out of the Juul Congressional Hearing? Surprise, it’s being sold to your kids and is not as safe as you thought.
Juul, maker of a nicotine smoking device, sponsored summer camps, school programs, and even paid church groups to distribute their materials. These programs were targeting youth as young as eight (8) years of age.
How Have Juul E-Cigarettes Been Marked to Teens?
These claims were further supported by testimonies provided by Caleb Mintz and Phillip Fuhrman. They were freshmen in High School when a Juul representative was left alone to present to their class during one of the school’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse Days. Both testified that the representative made unsubstantiated claims that a Juul is “totally safe” but followed up these claims with: “But we don’t want you (underage students) as customers.” Mintz stated, “I believe the presenter was playing on the rebellious side of teens. When they’re told not to do something, they do it.”
This news came from two days of Congressional hearings with James Monsees, Juul Co-founder & Chief Product Officer, and Ashley Gould, Juul Chief Administrative Officer. During the meetings, new evidence of advertising to minors was brought out while all claims of Juul’s safety were found to be not fully credible. Nicotine use by minors began to fall after years of legal battles. These cases set legal precedence that barred big tobacco vendors from selling to minors. Now they have resurrected themselves from the dead in the form of Juul.
- Juul may be a four-year-old company out of San Francisco, but the manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes invested $12.8 billion for a 35% stake in their company.
How Many Teens Are Vaping Today?
Cigarette smoking among teenagers hit an all-time low in 2015 when 11% of teens reported smoking cigarettes. The same survey also found that 24% of teens had vaped in the last 30 days leading up to the survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking rates among minors has not gone down; instead, Juul has replaced traditional smoking overnight.
Initially, they were able to tap into this market by making claims about the safety of their products. All statements about the safety of a Juul were found to be a marketing tactic. Now the company is facing backlash for making these false claims. The congressional hearings revealed all claims of Juul’s safety in the past have no scientific testing or experimentation to prove the product’s safety. New scientific data is beginning to prove the opposite.
- These lies continue to permeate because the brand already has its users hooked.
What Harmful Chemicals Are Found in E-Cigarettes?
As of 2019, the ingredients in a Juul pod as listed on the packaging (now but not previously required by law) are glycerol, propylene glycol, natural oils, extracts & flavor, nicotine, and benzoic acid. These pods are then plugged into a USB thumb drive-size battery that heats the compounds into an aerosol. Dr. Christina Sadreameli, assistant professor of pediatrics at John Hopkins University and a volunteer spokesperson for the American Lung Association, stated, “… this notion that ‘It’s just water vapor and nicotine and flavorings’ is very untrue… E-cigarette vapor contains a lot of harmful chemicals, heavy metals, and ultrafine particles.”
Experienced Dangerous Products Lawyers
Putting things into perspective, vaping is a recent discovery and the long-term health impacts are still largely unknown. This generation of users are the test subjects to a safety experiment led by big tobacco. If you have any concerns or health issues related to vaping contact Karnas Law Firm. We are available anytime at (520) 338-1641 or at our Yuma location at (928) 550-8020.
- You can also email Olivia Gaxiola at ogaxiola@karnaslaw.com.