FDA’s ban sets off run on Juul
The nationwide ban on Juul e-cigarettes has reportedly triggered a run on tobacco shops as fans of the nicotine pods rush to stock up before the feds can enforce the edict.
Stores that sell the e-cigs were ordered to remove them from the shelves Thursday after the Food and Drug Administration said Juul’s parent company, Altria, had provided insufficient safety data.
That has prompted vapers to head to the stores to get their hands on the pods before they’re pulled from shelves.
“I just went to buy some Juul pods out of curiosity,
and the cashier told me I was the third person in the store this morning,” tweeted Alex Norcia.
“She said I could only buy four packs per transaction, but she could do as many transactions as I wanted.”
A Twitter user replied: “I’m hoping to pass through a duty free shop on my way home from Germany in an attempt to buy as many JUUL pods as I possibly can.”
Another Twitter user wrote that she was “earning my current housewife status by rushing over to the tobacco store nearby to clear them out of Juul pods for my husband.”
The device, which uses disposable pods, amounts to roughly 50% of the e-cigarette market. According to a Gallup survey last year, about 6% of US adults use e-cigarettes.
“[T]he company must stop selling and distributing these products. In addition, those currently on the US market must be removed, or risk enforcement action,” the FDA said.
In response, Juul said it believed it had “appropriately characterized the toxicological profile of Juul products,” adding that it believes its e-cigarettes meet federal health and safety standards.
“We intend to seek a stay and are exploring all of our options under the FDA’s regulations and the law,” said Juul’s chief regulatory officer, Joe Murillo.