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E-Cigarette Maker Juul Labs Is Raising $1.2B

bloomberg.com

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Re: E-Cigarette Maker Juul Labs Is Raising $1.2B

#61

Post by nyolfen »

kenning wrote: post #32
Nursie wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

e-cigs have been proclaimed as between 95 and 99% less harmful than smoking, by some health charities. If these figures are well grounded in evidence then... probably yes.

One thing that bugs me about ecigarettes is that the flavoring chemicals are totally untested. Vegetable glycerin is essentially harmless and is even used in asthma inhalers, and nicotine is way less harmful as well. However it's already been shown that certain flavoring agents like a particular butter flavoring are harmful ( https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/11/e-cigaret... ). I know a couple "juice" m…

The 'popcorn lung' bit is BS. There are no known instances of ecig users contracting it. People also fail to mention that the levels of the chemical in question (diacetyl) is >700x higher in traditional cigarettes.

I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist but I have to wonder if tobacco company PR agencies have anything to do with the proliferation of that particular talking point.

Re: E-Cigarette Maker Juul Labs Is Raising $1.2B

#62

Post by tigershark »

robertpelloni wrote: post #24
aphextron wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think this technology is great if it can reduce the harm of smoking and get people off of cigarettes. I think this was the initial hope for e-cigs, but reality has turned out differently. These things are leading to a whole new generation of nicotine addicts at a time when smoking has fallen to all time lows in the US. Juul particularly is getting kids hooked that otherwise would have never touched tobacco, and t…

As someone who smoked cigarettes and then quit by switching to vaping and weaning myself off, I can give anecdotal firsthand testimony that quitting vaping was much easier than quitting cigarettes. It's hard to say if some new vapers would have been smokers or not, and I agree that really none of it should be legal. But while any nicotine is legal, my personal experience gives me the opinion that vaping is a product…

I can provide anecdotal evidence that it’s no easier to stop vaping than to stop smoking. Should we make a poll on HN?

Re: E-Cigarette Maker Juul Labs Is Raising $1.2B

#63

Post by s73v3r_ »

lstodd wrote: post #50
s73v3r_ wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a lot of people who weren't smoking at all starting to vape as well. I would consider that a pretty big lose.

Why do you assume they wouldn't have started smoking in absence of vape?

Higher amounts of them are starting to vape than the rates of smoking would predict.

Re: E-Cigarette Maker Juul Labs Is Raising $1.2B

#64

Post by skellera »

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #6

Very dubious about the long term health effects of e-cigarettes. Unfortunately, a startup can move much faster than proper regulation. I hope I'm wrong.

E-cigs have been on sale for like a decade now. What kind of regulations are you hoping for?

Re: E-Cigarette Maker Juul Labs Is Raising $1.2B

#65

Post by _Schizotypy »

varjag wrote: post #15
slg wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oxycontin is likely a safer drug than heroin. That doesn't mean we should be working on growing the Oxycontin market on the assumption that every new user is someone who might have otherwise used heroin.

Methadone is safer than heroin and is widely used in substitution therapy. Either way, the bulk of health damage from smoking was from the complimentary products of burning. You ain't getting lung cancer from nicotine.

Actually, you just might get cancer from nicotine.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4553893/

Re: E-Cigarette Maker Juul Labs Is Raising $1.2B

#66

Post by _Schizotypy »

kenning wrote: post #32
Nursie wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

e-cigs have been proclaimed as between 95 and 99% less harmful than smoking, by some health charities. If these figures are well grounded in evidence then... probably yes.

One thing that bugs me about ecigarettes is that the flavoring chemicals are totally untested. Vegetable glycerin is essentially harmless and is even used in asthma inhalers, and nicotine is way less harmful as well. However it's already been shown that certain flavoring agents like a particular butter flavoring are harmful ( https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/11/e-cigaret... ). I know a couple "juice" m…

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4553893/

Re: E-Cigarette Maker Juul Labs Is Raising $1.2B

#67

Post by skellera »

ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #49

Why is vaping more popular than Nicotine gum, and Nicotine patches? A third party can't even tell their is anything special about your gum. So you would think it could be popular among high-school students and people on the air plane and the other situations that don't allow vapor clouds.

The act of smoking is a huge part of the addiction. It took me a few months once I got to 0 nicotine ecig liquid just to quit that. For months after that, I constantly had the urge just to smoke. Wasn't even about the nicotine anymore.

Re: E-Cigarette Maker Juul Labs Is Raising $1.2B

#68

Post by 83457 »

gringoDan wrote: post #3

I wonder how good it is for public health if Juul is able to grow this market. Do the health benefits from cigarette smokers switching to e-cigarettes offset the young people who never would have dreamt of smoking cigarettes heavily, but regularly use Juul? I had no idea how pervasive Juul was for college students until my sister told me that multiple people were "Juul-ing" in all of her classes. Highly recommend thi…

All I know is that I vastly prefer hanging around people that vape vs smoke. I am middle aged and wasn't that familiar with it but started running events with older teens and young adults with vaping being somewhat common (small fraction overall). For some events a dozen people go outside to smoke and then come back stinking the entire place up. Vapers on the other hand just take some puffs in the room and no one even notices or go out and come back smelling normal. Of course the highly scented or large clouds are annoying but not what most vapers I know do. Not sure how "juuling" figures in here but wanted to share my experience. Growing up annoyed with a mom who smoked and generally hating it, vaping has been a bit of a relief as compared to cigarette smokers.

Re: E-Cigarette Maker Juul Labs Is Raising $1.2B

#69

Post by _hardwaregeek »

It's pretty incredible how fast Juul took over the market. Even a year or two ago nobody I knew really vaped or smoked. But now Juul has basically made vaping popular. It's super easy to get, lightweight, and amazingly effective (i.e. addictive). I watched my friend go from never smoking a cigarette in his life to getting a Juul, to having serious stress and mood swings if he couldn't find his Juul. If he lost his Juul, he bought a new one immediately, no matter the price.

Re: E-Cigarette Maker Juul Labs Is Raising $1.2B

#70

Post by zubi »

ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #49

Why is vaping more popular than Nicotine gum, and Nicotine patches? A third party can't even tell their is anything special about your gum. So you would think it could be popular among high-school students and people on the air plane and the other situations that don't allow vapor clouds.

Because smoking as a habit has very little to do with nicotine addiction. The psychological addiction is the key. After a long period of smoking it takes only a few days to fully overcome nicotine withdrawal whereas it takes much longer time and effort to get rid of the habit itself. Smoke, gestures, the ritual, everything related to smoking becomes a part of your identity, so replacing the whole package is easier compared to eliminating everything but the chemical aspect.
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