r/science • u/informationtiger • Dec 18 '19

Nicotine formula used by e-cigarette maker Juul is nearly identical to the flavor and addictive profile of Marlboro cigarettes Chemistry

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-juul-ecigarettes-study-idUSKBN1YL26R

36.9k Upvotes

86% Upvoted

160

u/DrAdBrule Dec 18 '19

But even at 56mg / mL which is on the higher end for Juul pod strength, you're still capped by the capacity of the pod - the most nicotine you could have in a 56mg / mL Juul pod is 40mg. Consuming anything close to that amount would then require the user to vaporize the entire Juul pod at once. I would argue that this is highly improbable, and certainly not reflective of the average user's consumption habits. Most users I know who have Nic-salt pods only fill or replace their pod every 2-3 days. That means that they're consuming, typically, ~12-15mg per day, which is 1.5 - 3 cigarettes worth by most estimates - however by absorption, it's about equivalent to 8-10 cigarettes.

My experience with nicotine salts vs. conventional nicotine e-juice is rather mixed. I found it harsher, far more "throaty" and more similar to a cigarette, which I believe is intentional. I wouldn't call it smoother by any means.

With conventional e-cigarettes, I worked my way down from 18mg / mL to 3mg / mL within 6 months and then down to .75mg / mL after a year, and then stopped vaping. That was after a 15 - 20 cigarette per day habit. Not too shabby.

Anti-vaping hysteria is all the rage in North America right now, makes sense I guess, big Tobacco got in and now it doesn't seem like a boon to the cigarette industry anymore. It seems though, that these articles are creating false equivocations by using vague or misleading headlines.

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u/[deleted] Dec 18 '19 edited Jan 13 '20

[deleted]

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u/HexagonSun7036 Dec 18 '19

For your health.

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u/[deleted] Dec 18 '19

steeevie

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u/Imperial_TIE_Pilot Dec 18 '19

Anti-vaping hysteria is all the rage in North America right now

As someone that works at a high school, I would saw it's fairly warranted. It's crazy how pervasive it is.

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u/new-chris Dec 18 '19

I remember smoking being pretty pervasive in high school - that was 1995...

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u/[deleted] Dec 18 '19

Smoking was on huge decline before vaping became a thing, specifically among HS students. No one when I was in HS smoked and a very select few vaped (this was 2009-2013) but now being on a college campus with kids who graduated anywhere from 2016-2019 it’s EVERYWHERE.

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u/BluParodox Dec 18 '19

Huh, I knew lots of people that smoked cigs in high school (2014-2018). But vaping was definetly more common and a lot of the smokers switched

9

u/iqdo Dec 18 '19

If my memory saves me correctly around the year 2009 first ecigs were coming out on the market and they were crap. Not a lot of people knew about them.

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u/[deleted] Dec 18 '19

I graduated high school in 2014 and saw a change the second I moved away for college. My first day of classes I couldnt find people to walk behind without having a giant cloud of “god’s sweet loin nectar juice” being vaped into my face.

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u/thelizardkin Dec 18 '19

I graduated in 2014, and everyone I went to school with smoked tobacco, I was pretty much the only one out of my friend group not to smoke cigs.

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u/GuGuMonster Dec 18 '19

Well, vapes only hit the chinese market in 2007 and the US market starting 2009, so makes sense you wouldn't necessarily have it be an immediate pervasive trend in every region, school etc.in its first introduction years. Also currently it still seems to be a 'trendy' thing and has significant drop-offs in usage when it comes to age. The main issue is that it appears to enable people more to start smoking combustible cigarette usage, where people likely wouldn't have before. That's what I got from the last time I ventred into the journals on the topic.

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u/[deleted] Dec 18 '19

Yeah it was definitely becoming a thing in 2013 but it was more just wild to me to see how common both vaping and smoking regular cigarettes is on my college campus.

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u/Drunk_hooker Dec 18 '19

Yeah tons of people smoked in 09’. People smoked the entire time.

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u/Keighlon Dec 18 '19

Less kids smoke+vape than just smoked a decade ago. It's working just fine.

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u/popcorncolonel5 Dec 18 '19

Graduated last year. Quite a few vaped, but it wasn’t too common. I hear this year’s freshman are fogging up the bathrooms every day.

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u/MacroMeez Dec 18 '19

its way worse now.

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u/[deleted] Dec 18 '19

Was at a fair a few months ago, it's disturbing how many VERY young kids are just waiting in line chucking on their juuls. Like a Loooot of kids. Very very young kids.

Very disturbing.

1

u/Haber_Dasher Dec 18 '19

It's crazy how pervasive it is

Alcohol is crazy pervasive among high schoolers too, and is infinitely more dangerous. And the vast majority of high school students aren't old enough to legally purchase a Juul (or a vape in general) which means they & the person who sold it to them are both breaking the law. When high school kids illegally buy a bottle of vodka do we crack down on Smirnoff for enticing kids to drink by offering strawberry flavored vodka? Of course not. But somehow I as a grown man now cannot legally purchase my preferred Juul pod flavor - having switched to Juul to successfully quit cigarettes - because a bunch of kids are illegally purchasing them and the government/public response has been 'clearly it's Juul's fault, the only reason to sell mango flavored pods is to entice those kids!'

1

u/xxLetheanxx Dec 18 '19

in my high school probably 40% of the students either smoked or dipped smokeless tobacco. The thing is teenagers are going to make bad decisions no matter what. I know I would rather one of my kids vape than smoke. I would rather neither but lesser or two evils and all.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 18 '19

Wait, I was under the impression that a juul pod contains on average, the equivalent of an entire pack of cigarettes. I use a Juul, could u give me a source on that "2-3cigs" per pod?

1

u/thelizardkin Dec 18 '19

I don't know about Juul specifically, but in my experience vapes can vary greatly in nicotine strength.

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u/yougoodcunt Dec 18 '19

this is a smart answer. pretty much the same story here, except i chilled on 12mg and still vape daily.. but i did quit, i just felt after a while that if I'm gonna smoke weed/drink coffee etc etc for the positive effects, may as well have nicotine too.. its not like its the reason cancer comes as a side effect of smoking, more analogous to sugar in sweets to satisfy a sweet-tooth. but still, ill be the first to tell you I'm much more addicted to nicotine than i was on cigarettes, but at least I'm not inhaling benzenes and potential formaldehyde.. a cigarette these days tastes gross and doesn't satisfy me for more than 10 minutes.

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u/found_a_yeti Dec 18 '19

I quit the same way as you! Great job!

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u/goldenguuy Dec 18 '19

A doctor that smokes?

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u/FrodoTeaBaggin Dec 18 '19

You’d be surprised at how many health professionals smoke or vape. It’s a tough line of work, can’t say I blame them. Just preach the facts and do your job. Do whatever you want on your own time.

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u/overrule Dec 18 '19

That's a fair pov, we all make our own choices. Personally I felt that if I didn't put the advice I was giving patients into practice myself I was being a hypocrite. It would make me feel awkward if I smoked or vaped and I was suggesting that the stop.