As JUUL ban case continues, thousands of students still deal with nicotine addiction from JUUL pods
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A federal appeals court granted a temporary pause on the FDA’s ban of JUUL e-cigarettes. That means JUUL can continue selling products while the court hears this case.
If the court sides with the FDA, it will mean the company will have to pull all JUUL device and JUUL pod products from the shelves. This is all coming to a head as the FDA finishes a two year study of JUUL’s ingredients and their ability to wean tobacco users off of higher doses of nicotine.
The studies started back when JUUL made up around 70 percent of the e-cigarette market. As New Hanover County Public Health Director David Howard explains their rise heavily correlated with a steep rise in teen addiction to nicotine.
“JUUL started out having to make up some ground, because they did so much intentional marketing to the younger audience,” he explained. “I think their contention is they were looking for 20-somethings. The result was teenagers all the way down to middle school.”
High schoolers use of e-cigarettes went up by 135 percent between 2017 and 2019 according to the FDA, introducing a whole new generation to nicotine addiction.
According to a 2019 FDA study, though people tended to enjoy e-cigarettes more, those who partook were more likely to return to smoking. Many could turn to other substitutes if JUUL is pulled from shelves.
Originally marketed as a healthier substitute for smoking, JUUL featured flavors like mango, mint, and fruit, drawing in millions of young adult, high school, and middle school users, like UNCW student Mitch Bostic.
“Every day. Right when I woke up, it was the first thing I thought about, and then all throughout the day, pretty much any time I got an urge, I would use it,” he remembered.
Bostic started vaping consistently his junior year of high school 2017.
“It started as a very casual thing,” he said. “Then it moved on to much more. It moved on to me buying my own pods, owning my own device.”
And that’s not uncommon. Each pod contains the equivalent of 20 cigarettes worth of nicotine. Complex Disease Navigator Alyssa Dittner says JUUL’s design leads to losing track of how much you’ve vaped, and often becoming addicted to higher doses of nicotine.
“It’s easy to just pull it out in a line that you’re waiting for,” she explained. “It’s easy to do it in the bathroom, where you don’t really do that with traditional cigarettes anymore.”
According to Dittner, this leads many to vape more or smoke on top of vaping, exacerbating physical and mental health conditions, especially in those under the age of 25.
“It causes irreversible lung damage,” she continued. “It can even exacerbate the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and hyperactivity.”
Bostic considered quitting after noticing his anxiety and ADD had worsened and his behavior had changed.
“I’m bad about losing sunglasses and water bottles, and I will never forget how irritable I was the second I would lose my JUUL. I couldn’t go anywhere without it.”
Bostic says he can breathe easy, both physically and mentally since quitting. He hopes others will consider doing the same, especially if JUUL is pulled from shelves.
“I just want to say to anyone thinking about quitting, or even had the thought, especially if you’re still in high school, just start today.”
