Vaping 2020 | Part 01: The Science & Marketing Tactics Behind our Vaping Quagmire
Hi everyone! Welcome to my new blog, Bridging the Gap, where I’ll address current issues in addiction, treatment, and drug policy through a psychologist’s lens. To start things off, I’m doing a multi-part series on vaping—how we got to where we are now, what’s keeping us here, and what a successful path forward for our nation’s youth looks like. So to get us started, let’s talk about what’s going on with vaping right now, and how we got into this undesirable position.
Despite our best efforts to keep youth vaping controlled, it’s still growing year after year: according to the most recent data from the Monitoring the Future study out of the University of Michigan, as well as the National Youth Tobacco Survey, vaping has shown no signs of slowing. In fact, we’re seeing the opposite: highly significant increases year after year: between 2017 and 2019, high-school the high-school vaping rate nearly tripled (from 11% to 27.5%), and the middle-school rate has done the same (~3% to 10.5%).
This is very bad news for the health of our kids, as vaping is addictive, and contains numerous toxic chemicals and carcinogens. The Surgeon General has a great overview of the health concerns related to vaping on his website here.
How did we get here? The answer is a combination of science and marketing.
The severity of the current youth vaping epidemic centers around JUUL, who still controls the majority of the vaping market share, although recent legislative changes have put a dent in that (more on that below). JUUL set the model for how to hook the next generation into vaping—a model that other companies have gladly followed, raking in profits at the expense of our nation’s youth. A fascinating investigative report by Reuters documents how JUUL designed their nicotine salts to deliver nicotine to the brain as quickly as possible—a trait they said would help draw smokers away from cigarettes, but a characteristic that others repeatedly pointed out would also be a tremendous draw to new (young) users. JUUL also initially thought about putting in a nicotine “kill switch,” which would shut the device off after a certain number of puffs per day, but ultimately decided against it.
Marketing also played a significant role in creating the current appeal of vaping amongst youth—although JUUL has repeatedly denied having targeted youth directly, clear evidence points to the contrary. If you have a few minutes, I highly recommend reading the lawsuit filed in Feb 2020 by the Massachusetts Attorney General, which details in clear detail (and with photos) exactly how JUUL targeted teens with their early marketing. In brief, they chose young models, a “hip” vibe, and then promoted vaping using social media influencers—not a tactic you use to reach 50-and-over chain-smokers.
And of course, there’s the flavors. Flavors are a tremendous draw to children, particularly the ones that are fruity, minty, or sweet—one study found that 85% of young people vape due to flavors. JUUL sold flavored pods up until the end of 2019 just prior to legislation banning their use of those flavors, but other vendors continue to sell numerous flavors that clearly appeal to kids, like Strawberry Kiwi, Apple Watermelon, and Pomegranate Ice. We’ve known for decades that flavors appeal to young people—that’s why the FDA banned flavored cigarettes in September 2009. Vape companies know exactly what they’re doing, and even now in 2020, they’re still getting away with it.
The good news on this front is that, as of a couple days ago, the FDA announced it is pulling many of these disposable fruity vapes from the market. However, this still leaves the the flavored refillable e-juice market untouched:
We’ll return to this topic next week, and talk about what went wrong with the 2020 federal “flavor ban,” and some of the other political, legal, and financial mechanisms that have allowed vaping, and vape companies, to keep their hold on our nation’s youth. In the meantime, though, please follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to keep abreast of current addiction news!
For more information on vaping, please visit my addiction resource list.
If you need individual help, more information is available on my website related to working with me for online addiction counseling – in addition to my concierge therapy practice, I also have a small in-network practice with Equipoise Teletherapy in Chicago. I also provide non-clinical parent coaching services upon request. For any other questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly!