I had never smoked before, then I got a Juul.
Juul is an e-cigarette developed by PAX Labs in San Francisco. The device was initially put on the market in June 2015 and became an independent company from PAX Labs in July 2017. Since becoming an independent company, Juul sales numbers of the device went up nearly 800 percent. The company now controls the majority of the e-cigarette market.
Juul pushed its way into the market with a device that wasn’t made to help people quit — it was a device to suck people in. Juul has run ads on various social media platforms, most notably Instagram, that have bright, vibrant colors and feature young people. The advertisements cater to non-smokers who want to be hip and edgy, and Juul does it effectively.
So why should you set your Juul on fire? If you’re like me, you feel exploited. Juul and PAX Labs deliberately target young people with their advertisements and allow obvious straw purchases of large quantities of the device to be sold to high schoolers. In fact, that's how I bought my second Juul.
In about 16 months, I paid nearly $2500 for Juul products: three Juul vaporizers at $35 each, three chargers at $15 and approximately 125 packs of Juul pods, with each pack costing $18.50.
It took a while to realize that something as simple as a USB drive-looking device pretty much controlled my life. I would get up early and go pick up my pods to get me through the day before school. My senior year of high school I had a crippling nicotine addiction. Trying to quit has been one of the most difficult ventures of my entire life, but it's well worth it.
If this sounds like you, you were manipulated by a company that puts profit over people. Juul has had recent trouble with the Food and Drug Administration. On Sept. 12, the FDA issued a statement that if Juul could not find a way to remove their products from minor's hands within 60 days, they will stop the sale of Juul's line of flavored cartridges.
Mango was always my choice, but the best choice is avoiding Juuls altogether. If you’re reading this, listen to me and set fire to your Juul. Your wallet and your future self will thank you.
Jason Rantanen is a freshman studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Do you agree? Tell Jason by emailing him at jr650317@ohio.edu.
