Doctors say FDA banning Juul products will not have major impact

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - In recent years, e-cigarettes have become the center of an underage vaping crisis.

On Thursday the FDA banned Juul vaping products, however, doctors will not be expecting this action to have a major impact on the number of teens addicted to nicotine.

The FDA said that Juul’s application did not have enough evidence to show that marketing it’s products “would be appropriate for the protection of the public health.”

Juul pods were behind the counter of Nashville gas stations and on Friday, they were pulled off the shelves and will no longer be sold.

“I do think this is a big win getting these products off the market,” said Dr. Jacob Kaslow, with Vanderbilt Health Pediatric Pulmonologist.

Kaslow said he still sees children with lung damage and other symptoms from vaping. He said the Juul crisis began in 2017 and targeted children who had never smoked before.

“The bigger concern I think we all have, outside of the nicotine addiction, is really the medium and long-term effects,” said Kaslow. “We have no idea.”

While Kaslow said the ban on flavored Juul products was a win, health officials said they must continue to move forward.

“This is one company out of hundreds that are now operating in this marketplace,” said Kaslow.

One vape shop like Smoke N Glass has expected this to happen. Abanob Bishara said his customers have already switched to disposable vape products which can have higher products of nicotine.

“I do carry it in my store as well as other vape shops or liquor stores, they do carry Vuse most of the time, other than Juuls,” said Bishara.

Bishara said that when someone comes in asking for a product they’ve never tried before, they will get a walk-through on exactly how to use it.

With Juul off the market, consumers have similar options.

“You have to put them in some kind of liquid vape kit before you start using them because each individual vape kit depends on which e-liquid you are using in it,” explained Bishara.

While there are products to help quit nicotine, Dr. Kaslow shared that they can still be dangerous to children.

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