Juul wants to get approval for a vape that can supposedly verify the age of a user. How it works

CNN
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E-cigarette company Juul Labs is seeking US authorization to sell a “next-generation” vape with age verification capabilities in the United States.

To verify a user’s age, the proposed vape pairs with a phone app, requiring a customer to either upload their government ID and a real-time selfie or input personal information and allow a third-party database to verify their identity, according to a Juul spokesperson.

A unique Pod ID Chip within the Juul Device can detect counterfeit cartridges from other companies. These companies have flooded the market in recent years with fruity flavors that are appealing to minors.

According to the company’s mission, the new platform has two goals: encourage adult smokers from combustible tobacco cigarettes to eCigarettes while restricting the access of underage.

In the United States, you must be 21 years old to buy e-cigarettes.

“We look forward to engaging with FDA throughout the review process while we pursue this important harm-reduction opportunity,” Juul’s Chief Regulatory Officer Joe Murillo said in a company news release.

If authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration, Juul Labs hasn’t yet decided on the name to market their new product in the US. In the UK and Canada, where it’s already for sale, it’s called the JUUL2.

Juul, which advertises itself as an alternative nicotine-containing product, publicly recommends adults to vape as a substitute for combustible tobacco cigarettes.

Juul’s history on US markets is not good.

“They were the spark that ignited the flame,” said Robin Koval, CEO of the nonprofit Truth Initiative, organizers of the nation’s largest campaign for youth to quit vaping. “This is not a company known to tell the truth.”

Juul Labs have settled over 5,000 lawsuits brought by more than 10,000 plaintiffs. Some of these cases claim the company deceived consumers or failed warn them about the risks associated with its products. In April, the e-cigarette manufacturer agreed to pay $462m to six US states, Washington, DC, and other jurisdictions after a lawsuit claimed that Juul Labs had promoted its products directly to high school students. Juul Labs paid more than one billion dollars in total for its various legal settlements.

Juul was the leader of the US ecigarette market in 2018. According to the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey, in the same year 27% of high-school students and 7.2% middle-school students reported using tobacco one or more days per month.

Juul has become less popular among young people. In the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey, when asked which e-cigarette brand they had used in the last 30 days, youth respondents answered Puff Bar the most often (29.7%), then Vuse (23.6%), and finally Juul (22%). The first two were disposable vaping devices.

Juul has discontinued all flavors, except tobacco and Menthol. They have also suspended their digital and print marketing.

Even with limited flavors, the FDA banned Juul products in the US last year after reviewing Juul’s applications seeking marketing authorization for their devices. The FDA determined that the applications lacked “sufficient evidence” within the toxicological profile of the vaporizers to prove that marketing the products would be in the interest of public health.

Juul Labs has appealed the FDA’s decision to ban Juul.

Juul Labs filed its latest application with the FDA on 19 July, as required by all ecigarette manufacturers before their product could be legally marketed and sold in the United States. This first filing only involves one flavor, Virginia Tobacco. The nicotine concentration is 18 mg/mL.

Although Juul’s new platform has age verification capabilities, the company does not intend to lock all their new pods before use. Virginia Tobacco pods, for example, will not be automatically locked. The spokesperson for Juul said doing so could create “friction” for the adult smokers the tobacco flavor is most likely to target.

“If you’re an adult smoker and you go to buy a cigarette, it’s pretty easy to use the product,” a Juul spokesperson told CNN. “If you add in another barrier before product use, that creates some level of friction.”

Using the new Pod ID feature, Juul’s new vaping device could tell a Virginia Tobacco pod apart from a menthol-flavored pod. The spokesperson said that it may require age verification for the latter.

Juul has been researching other flavors to possibly submit to FDA after this filing. Juul currently sells the flavor Autumn Tobacco in the UK, which contains “tangy apple notes,” according to its website.

Just because e-cigarette companies are required to comply with the FDA doesn’t mean all of them do. In fact, most don’t. Only 23 e-cigarettes, all of them tobacco flavored, have been approved by the FDA.

According to the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey, more than 2,5 million US middle school and high school students reported using e-cigarettes last year. Nearly 85% of US youth consume products that are fruity, sweet or other flavors, even though they are illegal.

Koval of Truth Initiative said the tobacco industry “floods the market” with products such that the FDA can’t keep up.

“It is a little bit like Whac-a-Mole for the FDA and for those of us who are trying to promote healthier behaviors for young people,” Koval said. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that between January 2020 and Dec 2022, the number of eCigarette brands grew 46.2%, from 184 up to 269.

Juul’s latest platform must be FDA approved before it can do so. Juul will have to show the FDA that by assisting the public-health crisis of adult tobacco smoking, Juul is not causing the spread of vaping among youths to increase.

“This is only the beginning of new tech being developed and refined for the US market and abroad to eliminate combustible cigarettes and combat underage use,” Juul’s Chief Product Officer Kirk Phelps said.