Juul Reportedly Plans To Pitch the FDA An Age-Locked E-Cigarette (gizmodo.com) 66
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Juul is planning to pitch federal officials on a locked version of its e-cigarettes that would bar users younger than 21 from using them. From a report: Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Juul is preparing to present the Food and Drug Administration with a massive document laying out its commitment to curbing youth use as well as research about its products and marketing-related information. As part of these documents, Juul is reportedly planning to include a proposal for the new age-locked device. The company may submit the new device to the FDA in May, or file it as part of a submission later in 2020, the paper said.
The Journal, citing a Juul official, reported that the company will also seek approval to market its e-cigarettes as a safer alternative to cigarettes -- an assertion previously made by the company that landed it in deep shit with the FDA, as Juul did not have the necessary approval to make such a claim. Juul's presumably regretful Big Tobacco buddy Altria has reportedly been closely involved with Juul's FDA application to keep its e-cigarettes on the market.
The Journal, citing a Juul official, reported that the company will also seek approval to market its e-cigarettes as a safer alternative to cigarettes -- an assertion previously made by the company that landed it in deep shit with the FDA, as Juul did not have the necessary approval to make such a claim. Juul's presumably regretful Big Tobacco buddy Altria has reportedly been closely involved with Juul's FDA application to keep its e-cigarettes on the market.
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"an ID scanner on the side of the Juul???"
The package is like an Alexa asking you questions from Bonanza, I love Lucy and Gilligan's Island.
No damn, that's the over 61 cigs.
Re:How? a search for cow gets an issue (Score:1)
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The Juul device runs $35 here, and a four pack of the pods is $25. The devices break fairly easily. It honestly costs more that cigarettes on average here.
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They're pretty regularly half price for the devices.
They're listing 4-pods for $16 on their website.
I like my fruity flavors so I mix my own now that I can't buy any (rapidly declining availability of flavors), but vaping has saved me $1000s over the last few years (though never Juul specifically, looks like the pods are more than I expected).
over $100/month savings including the 100s I've spent on accessories.
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Seriously, aren't these e-cigs too expensive for kids?
Kids typically have more disposable cash than adults. They can spend all their money on vapes (or whatever) and dinner will still be on the table when they get home.
That's the whole point of cigarette taxes. Get 'em hooked young while they can afford it, then keep hiking cigarette taxes when they're older and addicted.
Of course Juul, owned by Big Tobacco, is doing everything they can to get vaping banned so this cycle continues. And they're being very successful at it.
How can this possibly work? (Score:2)
The only way I could see this possibly working is by doing a one-time age verification of someone (with government-issued id?) and linking that with biometric data...
But couldn't you just fake the config process with a willing adult unless you have to do it in person with a "trusted" agency?
I couldn't find any details about how it's expected to work (but I don't have a WSJ subscription...), but... how can this possibly work reliably?
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Need a nicotine fix? There is (or will/might be) an app for that. From TFA:
And in the UK and Canada, Juul previously introduced the Juul C1, a device that uses an associated app to lock the e-cigarette, find the device if it’s missing, and monitor a user’s pull count. (That device also uses facial recognition technology and other means to unlock the device.) It’s unclear whether Juul would propose a different device to the FDA, but according to the Journal, the one it’s planning to pitch “won’t track nicotine consumption.”
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> “won’t track nicotine consumption.”
Which is exactly what it will do.
Re:How can this possibly work? (Score:5, Interesting)
It doesn't need to work. They just want the FDA to require more expensive devices. It provides them with three benefits:
1) Higher profit per unit
2) Higher barrier to entry for competitors.
3) Locked to a phone/account and "accidentally" neuters the resale market. Just like old iPhones/iPads still on an iCloud account.
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It doesn't need to work. They just want the FDA to require more expensive devices. It provides them with three benefits:
1) Higher profit per unit
2) Higher barrier to entry for competitors.
3) Locked to a phone/account and "accidentally" neuters the resale market. Just like old iPhones/iPads still on an iCloud account.
4) Keeps people smoking cigarettes.
It is ludicrous that they're trying to ban vaping but not tobacco cigarettes. I watched both my parents die from emphysema. It was awful.
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Yes, obviously it is a giant boondoggle and it'll be cracked within a week.
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Well, if *I* had to design such a thing, I'd bluetooth pair it with an app that confirms your age using an age verification service. I suspect something like that's the plan, because they're talking about an age limit of 21. That'd make it less likely that, say, a 16 year-old would have a buddy who'd unlock his smokes for him.
Re: How can this possibly work? (Score:2)
Yeah, that might work. The app does the actual age verification and the e-cigarette only verifies that it is in range of your phone.
How about not making them candy flavored? (Score:1, Flamebait)
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The stupid thing is the adults that vape candy cotton.... like grow up. There is liking the smell at a fare ground but not on a transit platform...
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Isn't it about your bedtime, great-great-grandpa?
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Ha! Close but no cigar my friend... when one is suffering from a cold, has allergies and asthma the chemicals in these things trigger nastiness... same as tobacco. And it is fine if people do this in their own space but not on a subway platform and places like that that are crowded and you can't get away from it.
Funny thing is pot doesn't usually trigger a reaction from me... which I always found strange...
Re: How about not making them candy flavored? (Score:2)
Not really all that strange. Different smokes have wildly different affects on people. Smoke from grilling beef is generally not problematic. Certain types of wood (like the ones we commonly burn) are much milder than tobacco smoke. Burning a candle generates another very different type of smoke. Etc.
Re:How about not making them candy flavored? (Score:5, Insightful)
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If I want to eat cotton candy while playing tiddlywinks in my pajamas during work that's entirely my prerogative.
Here we call that "Home Office".
Re: How about not making them candy flavored? (Score:2)
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Fuck... I haven't read all the replies... but yes if you want to eat cotton candy while playing tiddlywinks after work have fun... I learned a long time ago I can have my fun and do my things and not worry about society or the norms pushed on my by my parents and grandparents.....
However I can judge any person who pulls out a vape, on a public transit platform where smoking or vaping is actually illegal. I can judge those people for breaking the law. I can judge them for smoking a vape that smells like "Co
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How about not making them candy flavored?
Because only children like candy flavors?
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There's nothing about "tastes good" that implies "for children."
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Oh I'm sorry was I meant to shed my taste buds when I turned 18?
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Because it's well known that all adults hate the taste of cotton candy.
Perhaps we should go back to the older approaches. Parents read kids the riot act if they use a Juul (or any other e-cig) and just be glad that at least they're not coating their lungs with tar or shooting up.
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Marketing to children is what made this company so reprehensible. Cotton candy? Might as well use the Joe Camel cartoon and advertise on children's programming between the toy ads.
Juul is owned by Big Tobacco. They are trying to get vaping banned or so tightly regulated that people keep buying cigarettes.
I vape fruit punch flavor and I'm in my 40's. The 'tobacco' flavored vape tastes like shit. And now that's all you can buy at retail stores. Thanks to Juul.
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So how come there's no rush to ban Pina Coladas, Margaritas, Mojitos, etc, and I can easy buy Cotton Candy flavored vodka at my local liquor store?
E-cigs will now ask you your age before firing up? (Score:2)
Wonder how they're going to figure out who, exactly, is using any particular e-cig?
Internet-enabled e-cigs sound silly as hell, and without a camera, it won't be able to be sure you're 21+, now will it? Or don't they know that kids were stealing their dad's smokes for decades before e-cigs were even thought of?
I can just see the lawsuits now..."What do you mean, my cig caught me in a compromising position with my boyfriend/girlfriend/both/goat/dog?!? I'll SUE, damnit! Even kids have a Right to Privacy!
LOL yeah sure (Score:4, Insightful)
"Age locked", using the same technology gates that ensures no kid can visit a porn site. Got it.
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Re: LOL yeah sure (Score:2)
This only works if you require the person to only use the device when no children are within hearing range which although not a bad idea would be hard to enforce. This also assumes that everyoneâ(TM)s hearing range is similar. A simpler solution would be to require the device to pair with your phone via Bluetooth and only work when paired. Then you can use an app on the phone to do facial recognition paired with an ID or any other one time verification you like.
Dumb... (Score:1)
I think vaping (and smoking in any form) is plain stupid, but I gotta say, there is NO WAY this is going to work. With 3D printing technologies such as they are, it's only a matter of time before someone figures out how to build their own, and just pops Juul cartridges into it. This will only serve to deplete the company resources in developing something that will have far too high a price point to work, and drive users to a burgeoning underground. I'd like to see the TRUTH campaign turn on vaping instea
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~2009 is when people figured out how to make electronic cigarettes at home.
3D printing not required (Score:1)
Do you happen to remember what happened when Keurig's "K-Cups" exited patent protection and they attempted to make a system that used barcodes as a form of trying to maintain exclusivity?
Or that Juicer that had to be internet connected?
Unless they manage to get a law mandating their system, people just won't buy it in numbers sufficient to matter. They'll go to the competition.
I think the pre teens will (Score:2)
Just my 2 cents
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Re:Utter waste, and obviously disfunctional (Score:4, Insightful)
This is useless as a preventative.
It doesn't have to work. It just has to convince the investors and the government regulators that it might work. for a while.
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Ah, the new slashdot (Score:1)
..that landed it in deep shit with the FDA
Oh, they must be new here. Hint:It's not yet April 1, guys!
Oh yah kids are totally (Score:3)
gonna be put away by something the adults say they can't have and its behind a digital lock.
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Lesser of two evils (Score:4, Insightful)
Given a choice between kids using e-cigs or buying cigarettes, I'd rather they used the juuls. This will just drive kids from e-cigs to cigarettes.
"Deep shit" for telling the truth? (Score:2)
Nobody should ever get into "deep shit" for telling the truth.
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Vaping IS safer than smoking. That is a plain fact
Says someone clearly interested in not knowing anything about statistics.
So if smoking kills X% of users and vaping kills (X-epsilon)%, yeah it's safer. But since X is a big number and epsilon is tiny, "safer" in no way means "safe." It's the latter that matters.
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To date, it seems that the only cases where people have been harmed by vaping were the result of using black-market THC carts containing vitamin E. So, why punis
Maybe they could use this (Score:2)
Just. Ban. The. Damned. Things. (Score:2)