Vape companies appear more concerned about dollars than teens

There is a worldwide conversation about teen vaping, with vaping devices taking over our schools and in the hands of our children.

Teens see all kinds of advertisements telling them not to vape but are also bombarded with inducements to draw them in.

For example, JUUL had an Instagram account that anybody could look at. Since Instagram is widely used by teens, it’s easy to conclude the company knew what it was doing when it placed colorful vaping ads there that would be attractive to a young audience.

Also, JUUL makes pod flavors that are arguably targeted for the younger generation – including mint, mango, cucumber, fruit and creme, among others.

And JUUL is not alone.

Several other companies make and sell vape juice that comes in a variety of appealing flavors – from blueberry and grape to pink lemonade and CBD.

If you’ve tasted a food or drink, most likely there is a vape juice to match.

Besides flavors, the styles of vape devices have also changed, becoming ever more attractive to young users.

Today’s devices are small and easy to hide. Parents and teachers could mistake them for flash drives.

New products also produce less smoke, ideal for a minor intent on hiding his or her vape habit.

In addition to JUUL, vaping products are being offered by SMOK Infinix, SMOKTech stick, Suorin Air, RUBI, Vapour2, Mojo, Blu, MYLE, FIT, and many more – all of which can be used with flavorful juice.

JUUL received negative backlash for allegedly using juvenile flavors to target younger generations, and has made changes.

The company has taken down its

Instagram account, made age restrictions on its website, and designed advertisements to warn away anyone under the age of 18.

However, the “Truth Initiative Study,” published in “Tobacco Control,” found that teens are 16 times more likely to use JUUL than older generations.

If teens are the main consumers of this product, eliminating opportunity for minors to use it would obviously decrease how much money the companies make. There is great incentive to keep drawing the attention of young vapers.

JUUL officials say their original plan was to market JUUL to adults who wanted to quit smoking, but once JUUL became popular with teens, the company’s tactics changed. Soon, everyone was talking about JUUL, and this, in itself, could be a marketing goal.

We see the efforts made to stop teens from vaping, but do these companies really want to make a difference?

With that being said, a ban on a JUUL wouldn’t stop teens from vaping.

Other companies are paying attention to JUUL’s popularity and are using the same strategies.

Profit is the bottom line, not concern for young people.