E-cigarette users turn to social media to circumvent flavor restrictions

According to research by the American NGO Truth Initiative[1], published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health[2], many e-cigarette users have taken to social media to share strategies for circumventing the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) ban on the sale of flavors for vaping products.

The researchers identified more than 166,000 posts and comments between May 2019 and May 2020 on the r/JUUL subreddit, using keyword filters to find discussions specifically about flavored e-cigarettes and strategies for circumventing flavor policies. Reddit is an online discussion platform with more than 440 million active users, which hosts topic-specific forums called subreddits. Of the 166,000 posts and comments, 33,000 were identified as relevant to flavors, while 7,500 were explicit discussions about how to circumvent the FDA's policy banning flavors.

Tips for circumventing regulations and finding alternatives

Initially, the FDA issued a directive removing all flavored e-cigarettes from the market starting in January 2020 (only tobacco and menthol flavors remained permitted), then in June 2022 the FDA announced a ban on the sale of JUULs, before suspending this decision after a few weeks. These directives impacted the availability of many JUUL flavors and flavored pod products.

The study found that more than one in three people (39 %) among the 7,500 messages requested advice on possible replacement brands for disposable e-cigarettes and pods (compatible with JUULs that remained authorized for sale) offering the newly unavailable flavors. The exchanges concerned, in particular, Vuse and Smok, the two most popular e-cigarette brands after JUUL and Puff Bar, but also Caliburn, Voopoo, Novo and OVNS, a brand of refillable pods compatible with JUULs.

Nearly a quarter (23 %) of the messages offered advice on product availability in states and localities where the ban had recently gone into effect, such as Massachusetts and Michigan; 20 %s discussed purchasing products online; and 16 %s discussed importing products from other countries (Canada, Russia, the United Kingdom). 4 %s of the messages mentioned stockpiling or even bulk buying, and 2.5 %s discussed counterfeit pods.

Some disposable puff-style e-cigarettes are not subject to the same bans and have taken market share from JUUL. Overall, high school student use of disposable e-cigarettes increased by 1,000 e-cigarettes in 2019-2020.

Call for stricter policies on flavored nicotine products

According to the NGO, monitoring social media discussions allows for the assessment of public reactions, and especially the limitations of new regulations. This study also highlights the need for comprehensive, unwavering policies regarding flavors for vaping products, which is not currently the case in the United States. Only a complete flavor ban will counter this epidemic explosion in youth use of disposable e-cigarettes. The tobacco industry uses flavors to attract young people, which young people confirm by reporting that flavors are one of the main reasons they start vaping.

Keywords: United States, FDA, flavors, social media, Reddit, e-cigarettes, puff, vaping

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[1] Truth Initiative, E-cigarette users look to social media to circumvent flavored e-cigarette restrictions, published August 5, 2022, accessed August 9, 2022

[2] Silver, N.; Kucherlapaty, P.; Kostygina, G.; Tran, H.; Feng, M.; Emery, S.; Schillo, B. Discussions of Flavored ENDS Sales Restrictions: Themes Related to Circumventing Policies on Reddit. Int. J. Approx. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 7668. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19137668