Juul E-Cigarette – What It Is and the Dangers of Using It?

In an e-cigarette industry worth an estimated $2 billion, one company takes home the lion’s share—Juul. Since its release, Juul has dominated the e-cig world, taking more than 70 percent of market. Their mission statement? "… To improve the lives of the world’s one billion adult smokers by eliminating cigarettes.” The reality? E-cigs have now been linked to 7 deaths and more than 530 lung illnesses, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has an active investigation to pinpoint exactly what is going on.

What is Juul?

Juul is a type of e-cig—a handheld, battery-powered device that emits doses of vaporized nicotine. It’s sleek, rechargeable and has a liquid cartridge that can accommodate a large variety of flavors—attracting teens. The product is so popular that it even has its own verb. ‘Juuling’ refers to consistent usage of these e-cigarettes and, most unfortunately, is popular slang among teens.

How Does the Device Work?

An internally regulated heating mechanism generates an easily inhaled aerosol. This keeps the Juul’s battery from over-heating, a problem that other brands have been struggling a lot with.

Juul is a lot different from other brands of similar kinds. It doesn’t have any fancy settings or buttons to modify the preferences. There’s just a simple on/off button of sorts and requires minimal maintenance to keep it up and running. This is one of the major reasons behind its popularity. The device’s easy-to-use mechanism allows beginners to use the product without any trouble. All they need to do is hold the device to their mouth and inhale.

How is Juul Dangerous?

While e-cigs don’t necessarily contain tobacco, they do contain higly addictive nicotine. If you rank e-cigarettes based on their nicotine contents, Juul will be at the very top of the list. The amount of nicotine in Juul is comparable to an actual cigarette and is double of a regular e-cigarette. Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, a Ph.D. professor of Pediatrics indicated that Juul contains an "enormous amount of nicotine – at least as much as a pack of cigarettes”.

Apart from nicotine, Juul’s formula also contains a large amount of benzoic acid as compared to other brands. The normal range for other e-cigarettes is about 0.2 to 2 ml/mL. But, the benzoic acid in Juul is 44.8 mg/mL. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), constant exposure to benzoic acid can lead to several health issues. It causes coughs, sore throat, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Benzoic acid is not a core part of the Juul, but the device uses it to further increase the potency of nicotine, which just adds up to the side effects that this e-cigarette poses.

Why Is It Even Allowed?

Behind Juul’s popularity is the popular misconception that e-cigs are not as harmful as traditional cigarettes. Teenagers get addicted to vaping, all the while keeping their parents in the dark about their vaping habits. Juul contains about 5% of nicotine contents in one single cartridge while other products only contain 2.4%.

Research has already indicated that the earlier individuals are exposed to nicotine, the more likely it is for them to get addicted to it. A research by the UK’s Royal College of Psychiatrists indicated that nicotine is as addictive as cocaine and more addictive than alcohol. And, due to Juul exposing teens to such a tremendous amount of nicotine, addiction is common.

Preventive Measures

CDC and similar organizations have started to understand the severity of this device and have taken some preventative measures to ensure that teens do not gain free access to Juul. A person must be at least 21 years of age to purchase Juul legally.

In April 2018, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlied announced the Youth Tobacco Prevention plan to decrease the usage of Juul and e-cigs. The FDA requested the exact documentation of Juul and a reason why teens are so addicted to it. As a result, Juul Labs are currently facing lawsuits inside several states of America.

Moreover, the FDA plans to make further plans to control Juul and ensure that under no circumstances, this company continues on selling nicotine products to underage teens with false advertising.

Do You Have Additional Questions About the Dangers of Using a Juul?

Please call The Maher Law Firm at 407-839-0866 to speak with one of our Product Liability Attorneys today. We are seeing more and more cases of Juul devices causing serious injuries and we want to help prevent more cases from happening.