• On Thursday, the FDA announced a ban on Juul Labs e-cigarettes from the US market.
  • People concerned about Juul's role in the rise in youth vaping celebrated the decision. 
  • But adults who used vaping to quit smoking cigarettes pushed back on the ban.  

Social media users reacted to the FDA's ban on Juul e-cigarettes across multiple platforms on Thursday. While some celebrated the ban, others described how Juul allowed them to quit smoking cigarettes and ultimately improved their health. 

"Actually genuinely pissed about this Juul ban," Twitter user Evan Caris wrote Thursday. "I haven't smoked a cigarette in years because of them." 

Juul's mission, according to its website, is to "transition the world's billion adult smokers away from combustible cigarettes, eliminate their use, and combat underage usage of our products."

However, the company has been under fire in recent years for its "disproportionate role in the rise in youth vaping," as described by the FDA. In 2019, a House subcommittee investigation found that Juul "deliberately targeted" teenagers and children in the marketing of its products to become the nation's largest seller of e-cigarettes. 

"We respectfully disagree with the FDA's findings and decision and continue to believe we have provided sufficient information and data based on high-quality research to address all issues raised by the agency," Joe Murillo, chief regulatory officer at Juul Labs, said in a statement.

From stocking up on Juul pods to discussing nicotine alternatives, here's how the internet has reacted to the ban so far: 

Adult tobacco users say Juul helped them quit smoking cigarettes

Only 3% of tobacco users have used Juul products to quit smoking traditional cigarettes, according to a 2019 study by Tobacco Control, an international peer-reviewed journal focused on tobacco use.

That same year, a clinical trial presented by Juul to the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco found that switching from smoking cigarettes to vaping Juul reduced the exposure to cigarette toxins at nearly the same levels as quitting entirely, CNBC reported. 

 

Some argued the Biden administration should be focusing on other issues

As the US continues to grapple with gun violence, mass shootings, and record inflation, many people said vaping should not be a Biden administration priority right now. 

Around the same time the FDA banned Juul products on Thursday, the Supreme Court struck down a New York handgun law that required gun-owners to provide "proper cause" to carry concealed weapons in public .

 

Users discuss vaping alternatives and stock up on Juul pods

Following the Juul ban, people questioned why other e-cigarette products still were permitted in US stores. On Reddit, a sub thread within r/Juul discussed alternative devices and pods in light of the announcement. Other people stocked up on Juul products before the ban could be enforced. 

"I just went to buy some Juul pods out of curiosity, and the cashier told me I was the third person in the store this morning," Alex Norcia tweeted, as first reported by the New York Post.

"I'm hoping to pass through a duty free shop on my way home from Germany in an attempt to buy as many JUUL pods as I possibly can," another user tweeted in reply.

 

 

Read the original article on Business Insider