On Jan. 31, the Attorney General of North Carolina internal documents of e-cigarette company Juul Labs revealing the company spent 鈥渟ignificant sums鈥� of money on political donations, think tanks and Washington lobbyists, all made public in a 2021 settlement.
The settlement, in which Juul didn鈥檛 admit wrongdoing, came after a lawsuit against the company for alleged efforts to target teenagers. A Feb. 15 report on the documents by noted attempts by Juul in 2018 and 2019 to avert the onslaught of negative attention after the U.S. Surgeon General declared youth vaping an .
The Herald spoke to researchers at the University and what they mean for the e-cigarette industry.
鈥淎ll industries use lobbyists,鈥� said Jasjit Ahluwalia, a professor of behavioral and social sciences.
But Juul differed in its response to social and political pressure, he explained. In 2018 and 2019, 鈥淛uul was under the microscope with the FDA and the United States Congress鈥� because of widespread youth vaping, he said.
But, the documents highlighted by STAT News don鈥檛 illustrate illegal activity, Ahluwalia noted. Juul鈥檚 lobbyist and marketing activity may have crossed 鈥渁 moral line, but crossed no legal line,鈥� he said.
Suzanne Colby, a professor of behavioral and social sciences, also acknowledged that actions taken by Juul cited in the Stat News article were legal.
In Colby鈥檚 view, money can greatly influence statements made by think tanks or research institutes with potential significant impact on public policy.
A Juul spokesperson told STAT News that the company believes that 鈥渋t is fundamentally appropriate for companies like ours to participate in the public dialogue and engage with others who are part of that dialogue 鈥� This includes, under certain circumstances, providing those stakeholders with support for their work.鈥�
The spokesperson added that the company鈥檚 lobbying actions were part of efforts to 鈥渃ontribute to a more science- and evidence-based public discussion about how best to reduce the death and disease caused by smoking and to reduce underage appeal and access to tobacco and nicotine-containing products.鈥�
According to Colby, 鈥渢he field of tobacco science is very divided about e-cigarettes.鈥�
鈥淭here is evidence according to the most recent that e-cigarettes do help people who smoke, quit smoking,鈥� said Colby, the professor. 鈥淥n the other hand, they appeal to young people and can get young people using tobacco products who never would have otherwise.鈥�
She added that it is 鈥渦nfortunate鈥� that Juul opted to market itself as a 鈥渓ifestyle brand鈥� rather than a 鈥渕edicinal cessation route,鈥� thus catering to a much younger audience that is prone to nicotine addiction.
Juul did not respond to The Herald鈥檚 request for comment.
Kathryn DeCarli, 鈥嬧�媋 medical oncologist and palliative care physician at Lifespan, sees many cancers caused by long-term smoking. But she doesn鈥檛 recommend vaping as a means to help quit smoking due to a lack of robust research.
鈥淧art of the problem is that there鈥檚 such a wide variety of products on the market,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here could be different chemicals in each of them.鈥�
Medical cases of e-cigarette and vaping-associated lung injury provide some insights into the effects of nicotine inhalation in the body, added DeCarli, who authored the report 鈥�.鈥� But she emphasized that there is still much to learn.
E-cigarette products can cause acute and 鈥減otentially life-threatening lung injury鈥� for a small subset of people, she noted.
If patients ask whether vaping is an alternative to traditional tobacco use, DeCarli instead recommends strategies like nicotine replacement 鈥� often self-administered through a patch, piece of gum or lozenge 鈥� or cognitive behavioral therapy, a widely-used form of psychological treatment.
DeCarli said that part of her job is 鈥済iving someone the information they need to make the best decisions for their own health.鈥�
鈥淚f someone wants to continue smoking, it鈥檚 not my job to make that decision for them,鈥� she said.
Ranjana 鈥淛aanu鈥� Ramesh is a Bruno Brief-er, photographer and Senior Staff Writer covering science & research. She loves service, empathetic medicine and working with kids. When not writing or studying comp neuro, Jaanu is outside, reading, skiing, or observing Providence wildlife (ie: squirrels).
Claire Song is a Senior Staff Writer covering science & research. She is a freshman from California studying Applied Math-Biology. She likes to drink boba in her free time.
