December 21, 2018

Stanton A. Glantz, PhD

Juul's super-addictive formula can spread to other e-cigs

Here is what VCU Professor and expert on e-cig products Thomas E Eissenberg has to say about Juul and how its formulation can spread:

Actually, and perhaps worringly, I don't think JUUL is exceptional at all.  Their innovation, such as it is, is the observation that protonated nicotine ("salt") is more palatable in aerosol form than freebase nicotine, making their ~60 mg protonated liquid easier to inhale than if it were freebase (I doubt anyone would willingly inhale aerosolized 60 mg/ml freebase liquid at 8W; 36 mg is borderline aversive).  The scary thing for those of us worried about nicotine dependence is that salt liquids are now available on the market (at least in the US) such that ANY device can now be used to produce this highly palatable, high nicotine content aerosol.  And, perhaps more concerning, those highly palatable, high nicotine content liquids can be used in devices that achieve much greater power output than the current ~8W JUUL.  So, if JUUL were to disappear tomorrow, users could migrate to protonated liquids that they buy in bottles, put them in their high wattage devices, and achieve even greater nicotine delivery than JUUL provides today.

Comments

Comment: 

Nicotine salts are spreading

NJOY now has them:  https://njoy.com/pre-filled-tanks/

Comment: 

Dr. Glantz, I appreciate your commitment in verifying claims and explaining how this technology of "safer" products can take our youth to a life of addiction.
It is amazing how a company like JUUL who started out with good intentions is now following Big Tobacco's playbook. As you noted, they are now part of it through the Altria investment. Interesting to see that sales of combustible cigarettes went from -3% to -4% per year to an increase of over 4% this year (annualized based on 9 months of US sales). For Altria, it seems like a great investment.
Thank you again for your work, it is greatly appreciated,
Jorge García-Baudrit

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