The major fact the “Truth” Campaign is emphasizing is that “the amount of nicotine present in one Juul cartridge is equivalent to what is obtainable in one pack of cigarette.” Dr. Michael argued that this statement is absolutely inaccurate and as well fundamentally wrong.
Basically, the message American teenagers are receiving is that “instead of vaping one Juul pod, it is better to smoke 19 cigarettes” In fact, the twitter was flooded with different comments in response to the Truth Campaign statement. Some of the statements are:
“I don’t care about the dumb Juul thing; all I want to do is smoke 19 cigarettes”
“It is better to smoke 19 cigarettes, so guys, forget about the Juul pod thing”
The Juul pod containing the highest amount of nicotine would give you a nicotine equivalent of what is found in 3 cigarettes and not 20 cigarettes
Dr. Siegel clarified that this fact is not true even if we had to tackle the topic of nicotine alone. “We don’t need to have an advanced degree in mathematics to verify this claim. All we need is just two pieces of information;
- 1.About 12 mg of nicotine is contained in an average cigarette
- 2.The Juul pod has two concentrations and the most highly concentrated contains 40mg of nicotine
Thus, the amount of nicotine in every Juul pod is equivalent to what is obtainable in 3 cigarettes (not 20 cigarettes)”
“This comparison sends a wrong message to kids that instead of vape one Juul pod, it is better to smoke 19 cigarettes. This is insinuating that smoking is far better than Juuling”
Sadly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) joined the “truth” campaign to spread this misinformation. Their website currently states that “the amount of nicotine in 20 packs of cigarette equivalent to the amount in a single JUUL pod.”
It is disheartening that this information is now spreading like a plague. A news magazine with a parenting article once stated that “The amount of nicotine in one Juul pod is equivalent to what is obtainable in 200 puffs or one pack of cigarette. So if a user decides to go through one Juul pod in a day, he will be getting an equivalent amount of nicotine he would have gotten from smoking one pack of cigarette.”
Dr. Siegel, in his blog, went further to name countless media that are spreading this wrong information. He also stressed how this misinformation can be harmful to public health.
“Every kid is likely to believe that it is a better idea to smoke 19 cigarettes compared to vaping one Juul pod. This is a very bad comparison because it assumes smoking is far better than vaping” he said.
Even if the amount of nicotine inhaled by Juul users were the same, they will surely still be avoiding lots of other toxins
We must be aware that there are several other toxins that would still be avoided even if Juul vapers are taking the same amount of nicotine by smoking. This is because there are many toxins present in cigarettes which is absent in Juul and other e-cigarettes. Besides, the manufacturer has recently produced Pods that contain a reduced amount of nicotine.
Professor Siegel concluded by saying “this commentary is not discounting the fact that Juul has addictive potential like other nicotine products but to debunk the widely-spreading incorrect fictions about Juul pods. Some of these claims can negatively affect public health.”