AG Tong Targets Juul For Targeting Youth

After announcing a multi-state probe into Juul Labs, the electronic cigarette manufacturer that’s been faulted for creating a public-health crisis, Attorney General William Tong sat down with high-schoolers in New Haven Tuesday to hear their take on the ​“epidemic.”

Their answers weren’t what Tong expected to hear.

Students said their classmates are indeed puffing smoke, but more often from joints and bowls of marijuana than from e‑cigs.

Tong led that roundtable discussion at Hillhouse High School on Thursday afternoon, after announcing that he’s one of the five attorneys general leading a 39-state investigation into Juul’s marketing and sales practices. The probe will focus, in particular, on the company’s messaging to youth, its claims regarding nicotine quantities, and its statements regarding its effectiveness as a smoking cessation device

“Connecticut’s investigation into JUUL is active and expanding,” Tong said. ​“I will not prejudge where this investigation will lead, but we will follow every fact and are prepared to take strong action in conjunction with states across the nation to protect public health.”

Across the country, more than one quarter of all high schoolers — nearly five million youth — report that they currently smoke e‑cigarettes, according to a federal survey. That spike in usage has reversed recent progress in lowering cigarette smoking.

Last summer, Connecticut opened a preliminary investigation into Juul Labs around the health claims of their e‑cigs’ use as a ​“smoking cessation device,” despite not having the requisite U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s approvals. A civil investigative demand — a type of administrative subpoena — that Tong sent asked for information about Juul’s ​“Enterprise Market Teams” and its promotional price offers for certain consumer groups.

JUUL Labs said, in a statement, that it’s not trying to sell its products to teenagers.

“Our customer base is the world’s one billion adult smokers and we do not intend to attract underage users,” Austin Finan, a Juul spokesperson, wrote in an email. ​“We will continue to reset the vapor category in the U.S. and seek to earn the trust of society by working cooperatively with attorneys general, regulators, public health officials and other stakeholders to combat underage use and transition adult smokers from combustible cigarettes.”

Finan said that the San Francisco-based company has already stopped selling all its flavored pods, aside from tobacco and menthol, in keeping with a new Trump administration policy that it supports. He added that Juul has also restructured the company, pulled all its advertising and is preparing a ​“comprehensive and scientifically rigorous” application for the U.S. Food & Drug Administration to approve its marketing.

Way More Weed

At Hillhouse, a group of students said the reality is a little more complicated.

They agreed that students don’t know the health risks of vaping. But they said that it’s not that big of a problem in their high school.

“I’ve never seen a Juul pod,” said Kuniya Asobayire. ​“Not in my school.”

Kyera Toney also said that her classmates don’t vape at school. But she said that she often sees them uploading pictures with their Juuls on Snapchat and Instagram, especially during weekend parties. She said those social-media posts might increase smoking rates.

“They maybe think, ​‘I should try this,’ or ​‘I don’t know what it’s about,’” Toney said. ​“I don’t think people are aware of how it becomes addictive.”

Instead, the students said, they know way more teens who smoke weed.

“It gives them a sense of relief from any hardship they may be facing in their day-to-day lives, regardless of what it is. It gives a sense of high, I guess,” said Alexis Powell.

Did Tong see a connection? Richlyn Bronson asked. ​“Do you think that cannabis and [nicotine] is now becoming the same category of health issues?”

Tong turned the question back to the students, asking if people are ​“conflating” the two substances. They said they aren’t.

Powell asked another question about what the state government should do about all the students who are already vaping. ​“Is there a plan set in stone for minors who already may be addicted to vaping?” she asked. ​“If the big idea is that, for young adults, this is bad, what do we for students who already are addicted? How do we help them, as opposed to just taking away the vape?”

Tong said that the public-health agencies were ​“racing to catch up,” after e‑cig use increased ​“so quickly in a very short period of time.”

Other government officials added they hoped students would step up, talking to their classmates about the health risks. The students said they wanted to know what smoking prevention programs were offered.

In the past year, Connecticut received almost half a billion dollars from tobacco company taxes and settlements. It was the only state in the country that didn’t put any of that revenue into prevention efforts, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.