Vaping’s future
Fatal illnesses, Juul advertising controversies, sharp rise in teen use affecting vaping business
Fatal illnesses and advertising controversies have challenged the vaping industry during the past few months, and some Connecticut shops have felt the effects of a changing public opinion of electronic cigarettes.
Fatal illnesses and advertising controversies have challenged the vaping industry during the past few months, and some Connecticut shops have felt the effects of a changing public opinion of electronic cigarettes.
Hartford Smoke and Vape employee Mohamed Gaffoor said the increased scrutiny of popular products, such as Juul, has caused fewer people to come into the store, and in some cases, turned people off vaping altogether.
“It’s affected a lot for us because everybody now is talking a lot about it,” Gaffoor said. “It’s really affected us big time.”
He said the store on Farmington Avenue has maintained its typical sales of three or four packs of Juul pods each day, but that more people are asking questions about the safety of Juuls and similar products this past month. Gaffoor mentioned that one frequent customer who had turned to vaping to help quit smoking cigarettes recently changed his mind.
“He used to come once a week, but now comes every two or three days to buy cigarettes,” Gaffoor said.
Tensions in the vaping industry took another turn this week when Juul Labs announced that it will suspend all advertising nationwide and stop lobbying for favorable federal policy. The company also announced that CEO Kevin Burns will step down.
Also last week, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo signed a ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes. Michigan and New York instated similar bans last week, and Massachusetts announced a four-month ban on all vaping products Tuesday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday there have been 805 reported cases of vaping-related breathing illnesses across the country, and the death toll has risen to 12. The exact cause of those injuries and deaths remains under investigation.
Gov. Ned Lamont has not taken official action to ban e-cigarettes, but he said
Wednesday that he will work with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to improve Connecticut’s vaping oversight. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong began investigating Juul’s advertising practices in July, worried that the company targeted young people who otherwise would not have started vaping.
Martin Pazzani, a former board member of the Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association, a vaping industry lobbying group, said the widespread popularity of a product like Juul was unprecedented. Pazzani, who lives in Farmington, stepped down from the SFATA board about four months ago, because, in his eyes, the business is under threat.
“If all the misconceptions are given credence, it’ll put most of the vape shops in Connecticut and nationally out of business,” he said.
Pazzani sold his vape shops and stepped away from the business at a time when he saw the industry becoming vilified for issues attached to products like Juul that he said do not end up helping people quit smoking.
“We saw Juul pop up at a trade show four years ago and we were like, ‘This is not good,’ ” Pazzani said.
He said that Juul’s use of nicotine salts and a convenient method of delivering high nicotine levels concerned him, but that he never noticed an intent to market to children. Pazzani said Juul will have to change its product’s cheap, compact and easy-to-use nature if it wants to combat underage use, and that the company’s decision to stop advertising alone won’t fix the problem.
“I don’t think at this point that’s going to matter very much,” he said. “The kids weren’t responding to advertising, the kids were responding to the products themselves.”
Between 2017 and 2018, the CDC found that the number of middle and high school students using e-cigarettes rose from 2.1 million to 3.6 million. Pazzani said the popularity of Juul among teenagers has blighted the vaping industry. While he said Juul’s plan to stop advertising is “the right thing to do,” it’s separate from the bigger problem of teens misusing a product meant to help adults quit smoking.
Tony Lee, an employee at Artisan Vapor and CBD in West Hartford, said that though Juul will no longer advertise its e-cigarettes, young people have already been influenced.
“The main problem is people in high school will see their friend with it and think ‘Oh that’s cool, I want that, too.’ That’s even more of a problem than the advertising,” he said.
Lee said the products are probably so popular with high schoolaged kids because they were marketed as being discreet. Rachel Duckworth, another Artisan and CBD employee, said the Juul advertising she has seen highlighted the e-cigarette’s convenience before its ability to help users quit smoking.
Incoming Juul CEO K.C. Crosthwaite said the company will work with “regulators, policymakers and other stakeholders,” to earn the public’s trust. Crosthwaite previously served as chief growth officer at Altria Group Inc., one of the world’s largest tobacco producers and marketers.
“I have long believed in a future where adult smokers overwhelmingly choose alternative products like Juul,” Crosthwaite said in a news release. “That has been this company’s mission since it was founded, and it has taken great strides in that direction. Unfortunately, today that future is at risk due to unacceptable levels of youth usage and eroding public confidence in our industry.”