The UK government has come under fire for "totally inappropriate" support of an e-cigarette manufacturer accused of fueling the underage vaping epidemic in the ...
The UK government has come under fire for "totally inappropriate" support of an e-cigarette manufacturer accused of fueling the underage vaping epidemic in the US.
Juul Labs was promoted in an official newsletter published by the Department of Health and Social Care about the Prime Minister's plan to close a loophole allowing free samples to be given to children.
The press release - citing Rishi Sunak, England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and Health Minister Neil O'Brien - described the company as a leader in the fight against youth vaping, saying it took steps to ensure its products did not attract and Minors are not permitted to use it, and others in the industry are encouraged to do the same.
It also cited Joe Murillo, the former tobacco chief and chief regulatory officer at Juul Labs, in which he praised the U.K. government's policy and called for more to be done to combat underage use of the products. A briefing sent to reporters ahead of the policy's public announcement appears to have led directly to positive media coverage of Juul, with Murillo's quote being reprinted by four national newspapers.
But it failed to mention that the company has been blamed more than any other for fueling the epidemic of vaping among U.S. teens and has agreed to pay more than $1 billion in recent months to settle illegal marketing of its vaping products to consumers. Product allegations. children.
In the latest settlement in April, Juul agreed to pay $462 million to resolve a lawsuit brought by six U.S. states after it was accused of targeting teens through launches, product giveaways and the use of young models in social media ad campaigns. The company has not admitted wrongdoing and said the deals were part of its commitment to address past problems.
Health experts and campaigners say it is naive and inappropriate for the British government to promote Juul as an advocate for tackling youth vaping and raises questions about potential influence behind the scenes.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said her jaw dropped when she saw the completely inappropriate endorsement, which she said gave the impression the company was already Determine how e-cigarettes should be regulated.
"The government needs to make it clear that its policy on youth vaping will be determined by the evidence, not the interests of the industry," she said.
Professor Gurch Randhawa, director of the Institute of Health Research at the University of Bedfordshire, said: "It is worrying that any company accused of promoting young people's vaping through colorful packaging and a variety of flavors will be included in government policy announcements. ".
"Despite statements from e-cigarette companies that they do not market their products to children, their products are fueling the current vaping epidemic among young people in the UK," he said.
The Department of Health and Social Care said it had outlined bold action to crack down on youth vaping, including setting up an enforcement team to catch companies selling products to children under 18.
"We are working closely with all stakeholders to support our ambition to be smoke-free by 2030," a spokesperson said. It did not say how Juul came to be in the press release or why it decided to remove references to the company from a blog post published on its website.
Labour's shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has accused the Conservatives of celebrating a company that has been supplying children with e-cigarettes. “This seriously questions Rishi Sunak’s sincerity in taking meaningful action against harmful vaping. At the same time, a new generation of kids is getting hooked on nicotine,” he said.
Juul Labs, which has offices in London and is headquartered in Washington, D.C., said it was committed to supporting government efforts to provide adult smokers with alternative products while cracking down on underage vaping.
It added that since new leadership took over in 2019, it had implemented a company-wide reset to address underage vaping and that U.S. underage use of Juul products had dropped by 95%. A company spokesperson said: "We don't want any non-nicotine users, especially minors, to try Juul products, which exist only to keep adult smokers away from cigarettes. We continue to take steps to ensure that our products do not attract or be used by any minors and support policy and regulatory measures designed to prevent use by minors.
Research shows that e-cigarette use among young people is relatively low but increasing. NHS figures for 2021 show that 9% of children aged 11 to 15 use e-cigarettes, up from 6% in 2018.
The charities are calling for tighter restrictions on the marketing of e-cigarettes and the use of packaging and flavors they say make products appealing to children. Remove reference to company.
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