Juul, the e-cigarette company that has dominated the vaping market for years, has for the first time released scientific evidence showing that adults can successfully use e-cigarettes to quit smoking.
The study, published this month in Harm Reduction Journal and funded by Juul Labs, found that more than a quarter of adults stopped smoking after using a Juul device for a month. After three months, nearly half reported they had not smoked a cigarette in the past month. The study sampled over 15,000 adult smokers.
The study’s release comes amid intense scrutiny from the Food and Drug Administration and state and local governments about youth vaping. Outgoing FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has called the rise in youth vaping an “epidemic,” and the incoming acting commissioner, Ned Sharpless, has said he will further the FDA’s crackdown on youth vaping.
The new research also showed that flavored Juul pods, including mint and mango, increased smokers’ chances of quitting. The FDA has recently forced retailers to take some flavored vaping products off the market.
Juul has recently pivoted from its initial marketing strategy, which included colorful images of playful 20-somethings enjoying the product, to focus on adult former smokers who were able to quit with the help of Juul. The new study bolsters the company’s long-standing argument that their product can help people quit smoking.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows that in 2017 there were about 34.3 million adult U.S. smokers, a 67 percent decline from 1965, but e-cigarette use in adults rose by about 7 million that same year.
