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E-Cigarette Maker Juul Labs Is Raising $1.2B

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

#91

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 Ju…

He should have just contacted support and asked for a replacement. The actual device itself is actually quite simple and cheap and despite selling it for the price they are selling it for, they'll ship you a free replacement in a heartbeat because it is so cheap for them to manufacture.

Aside from that, what bothers me with Juul and makes it possible for a competitor to potentially usurp them, even after the momentum they have behind them is how inconsistent the pod quality is. Let alone leaking, the pods degrade really quickly and juice sometimes seems to disappear. The liquid changes color and develops dark filaments even after less than a day passed since taking it out of its packaging.

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

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely not good for public health long-term. Their recruiter reached out to me last December and it was a hard no for me based on what I understood about the industry. People use them for starting to smoke just as much as stopping and they are also heavily used for non-nicotine products as well. I don't hold any moral judgements on the brand, or customers, but I was not going to spend my effort helping that becom…

Tobacco kills 7 MILLION PEOPLE A YEAR You confused your personal morality, which seems more based on "would this rule benefit everyone applied universally" with the question you were asked, which is of the "does this provide the greatest good to the greatest amount of people" variety. It's _possible_ that in the end, ecigs are not a net positive for humanity. But that is a belief without firm proof. They could be twi…

I made my own assumptions and came to the conclusion that this was net negative not net positive.

I guess we will find out in 30 years.

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

#93
post #40

You should be aware that many people stereotype vapers as being less intelligent, more impulsive, and generally trashier than non-vapers, similar to how those with tattoos, ear gauges, or other noticeable body modifications are stereotyped. In other words, unless you're already a smoker, vaping is a habit you should avoid taking up, because it can have negative social and economic consequences for you. And stereotype…

If you're not just trolling, you should be aware that many of us who choose to have tattoos or vape would consider it a positive if those choices kept people with beliefs like your own far away from us.

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

#94
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

High schools too, it's amazing how many kids use juul. I think a lot of them aren't even aware it's nicotine.

Is nicotine bad for you? I thought it was just what made cigarettes addictive, and all the other stuff is what made them unhealthy. Happy to be proved wrong -- I'll let some eCig friends know ;)

The main problem with nicotine is that it increases your risk for heart disease. It’s also somewhat carcinogenic.

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

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely not good for public health long-term. Their recruiter reached out to me last December and it was a hard no for me based on what I understood about the industry. People use them for starting to smoke just as much as stopping and they are also heavily used for non-nicotine products as well. I don't hold any moral judgements on the brand, or customers, but I was not going to spend my effort helping that becom…

Tobacco kills 7 MILLION PEOPLE A YEAR You confused your personal morality, which seems more based on "would this rule benefit everyone applied universally" with the question you were asked, which is of the "does this provide the greatest good to the greatest amount of people" variety. It's _possible_ that in the end, ecigs are not a net positive for humanity. But that is a belief without firm proof. They could be twi…

You, in fact, conflated the original question with a essentialized, worst case scenario that shoehorns a multivariate determination into a binary proposition. There are, after all, other methods of smoking secession beyond nicotene alternatives.

In fact, there are some methods of quitting an addictive substance that work by actually stopping the ingestion of the addictive substance in the first place.

Nicotene alternatives are akin to advertisers recommending you to take a break from Facebook when it's too overwhelming, instead of just deleting your account entirely, like a person with self control and agency might do when products and services continually make you regret ever starting to use them in the first place.

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

#96

What is Juul doing that led to such resounding success compared to all the other ecig makers?

1. Simple to use pod system eliminated the headache of using DIY devices where you buy the e-liquid, cartridge, and battery separately and fill your own cartridges.

2. Salt-based nicotine provides increased nicotine absorption and juul patented that. It's literally more addictive.

3. It blew the competition out if the water. The other ecig devices offered at convenience stores were underpowered, poor performing, and obviously low effort.

4. Distribution. Getting into convenience stores and gas stations was pivotal to their success but arguably the product quality drove distribution.

5. The device is sexy looking. It's a fashion statement.

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

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tobacco kills 7 MILLION PEOPLE A YEAR You confused your personal morality, which seems more based on "would this rule benefit everyone applied universally" with the question you were asked, which is of the "does this provide the greatest good to the greatest amount of people" variety. It's _possible_ that in the end, ecigs are not a net positive for humanity. But that is a belief without firm proof. They could be twi…

You, in fact, conflated the original question with a essentialized, worst case scenario that shoehorns a multivariate determination into a binary proposition. There are, after all, other methods of smoking secession beyond nicotene alternatives. In fact, there are some methods of quitting an addictive substance that work by actually stopping the ingestion of the addictive substance in the first place. Nicotene altern…

You misunderstand what is really bad about cigarettes. It isn’t the nicotine, but the tar (the burning of it). Heck, nicotine gum has long been used as a safe smoking cessation aide. Not to mention it is present in many new works vegetables.

Getting rid of the burning tar is a HUGE win for smokers, healthwise.

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

#99

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…

That’s a great article, and rather eye-opening. Juul may help cigarette smokers get away from tobacco, but wow — stories about teens and young adults taking Juul hits every 10-15 minutes are something else. That’s just plain addiction, taking them far beyond the threshold of diminishing returns, even for caffeine-like self-medication. There’s definitely a lot of money in creating addictions... this can’t be a long-te…

To be honest, nicotine has cognitive enhancing effects. Nicotine alone does not have detrimental effects (aside from vasoconstriction, but it’s a stimulant); the main risk comes from the unknown effects of long term exposure to inhaled chemicals like propelyne glycol/vegetable glycerin.

These chemicals are approved as food additives, though.

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