This week, the FDA will decide whether JUUL’s devices and nicotine pods can stay on the market. The following Cornell University experts are available to discuss the impacts of the ruling.
Sunita Sah, associate professor at the SC Johnson School of Business, says the risk to young people’s health if JUUL products remain on the market is apparent and potentially disastrous.
Sah says:
“The risk to the health of young people if JUUL products remain on the market is apparent and potentially disastrous.
“Justifying it as a safer product for those looking to reduce smoking is grasping at straws. But JUUL needs the ruling in its favor for survival. It has nothing to lose, hence the no expense spared approach with frantic attempts to shut down lawsuits and decrease transparency.
“The public should be outraged that JUUL bought its way into a supposedly independent scientific journal to publish its own studies. Acts such as these undermine the public trust in science and, in what I assume is JUUL’s aim, provide fodder for impressionable teenagers to rationalize the use of these e-cigarettes.”
Alan Mathios, professor of policy analysis and management, studies the effect of FDA regulatory policies on consumer behavior. His most recent research examines the effectiveness of health warning labels on cigarette packages and electronic cigarettes.
Mathios says:
“The FDA is required to regulate e-cigarettes based on whether they are ‘appropriate for public health.’ While the intent of actions against JUUL products might be to reduce teen vaping, the unintended consequence could be to push adults and even teens back into smoking combustibles. FDA approval is likely to depend on whether JUUL can take steps to prevent teenagers from illegally using its products, so the products can stay on the market and help adult smokers quit.”
Donald Kenkel, professor of policy analysis and management, is an expert on health and public sector economics. He has studied cigarette taxes to prevent youth smoking and advertising to promote smoking cessation.
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