The rise of Juul on campus

The $16 billion e-cigarette company has found a breeding ground in students

The first time John bought a Juul, it was, in his words, an “impulse buy.”

The finance sophomore said that he bought his first unit late in his first semester on campus. He said that the idea came to him on a whim while riding around with friends in Lafayette.

“Let’s go buy a Juul,” John said of his decision that night.

Juul Labs’ profile has skyrocketed since the company spun off from PAX Labs a mere fourteen months ago. The company was reportedly valued at $16 billion in July, and the nicotine-based e-cigarette continues to grow in popularity by the day.

Originally introduced in 2015, Juul is, as described by the company’s website, “the smoking alternative, unlike any e-cigarette or vape.” The flash drive-sized device has curried favor among smokers with its discreet profile, and in May, the company’s market share clocked in at 64 percent.

“Let’s go buy a Juul,” John said of his decision that night.

Dr. Amy Copeland, a psychology professor at LSU, said a Juul user becomes accustomed to the nicotine the product contains through releases of dopamine in the brain’s reward pathways. She said that the product’s various flavor pods have the added effect of introducing non-smokers to nicotine without the flavor of nicotine itself.

“It’s those pleasant associations through classical conditioning,” Copeland said.

The psychology professor said a “lure of vaping” exists that draws high school and college students to options such as Juul. She said that while smoking e-cigarettes may seem more attractive than smoking traditional cigarettes, many of the same risks exist.

“College students don’t really seem to be aware of the risks of e-cigarettes,” Copeland said.

Copeland said that many of her patients are substance abusers, and while she is in favor of them kicking their addiction, she advises they stay away from electronic options like Juul. She said that she often advises those who are nicotine naïve to stay that way.

“I say stay away from it if you’re not smoking it,” Copeland said.

Kathryn Saichuk, Assistant Director of the LSU Wellness and Health Promotion office, reiterated the risk of nicotine addiction Juul users face. She said that the risk of using any product that is a carcinogen is dangerous to the brain and the body.

“The reality of anything that we inhale that’s not air, not clean quality air,” Saichuk said, “is we damage our lungs.”

Saichuk said that once a person’s lungs are damaged, there is no path to total healing. She used a heart attack as an example of an ailment that one can recover from in contrast to the lifelong effects of lung damage.

The wellness expert said the effects of smoking may not be felt while one is in their 20s, 30s or even 40s, but once they reach their 50s and 60s, the consequences could be severe.

“Now you’ve got signs of COPD, now you’ve got signs — you’re getting pneumonia,” Saichuk said. “These are all things that are gonna be debilitating or can be lethal.”

While John said he has felt virtually no side effects from his Juul in the nine months since he bought his first unit, he said he feels a slight shortness of air when he uses the product a lot compared to when he goes without it.

The finance student also said that on occasion, using the Juul will give him a nicotine buzz that can leave him lightheaded and leg-locked.

“A whole body thing,” John said of the buzz. “Just kind of like ‘whoa.’”

The sophomore said that over the time he’s owned a Juul, the frequency with which he gets a buzz from the product has become increasingly rarer. He attributed the decline to a possible increase in his nicotine tolerance over the last nine months.

Across the room, one of John’s roommates asks why the 20-year-old still uses his Juul. For the finance sophomore, the answer is simple.

“It wakes me up,” John said.

The sophomore said in addition to the boost the Juul gives him, he also uses the product to relieve stress. He cited a car accident he was involved in over spring break as a catalyst for an uptick in his usage of the Juul shortly after the incident.

John used the example of chewing tobacco users using sunflower seeds to quit to describe his relationship wth his Juul. Despite having never smoked cigarettes, the sophomore said he feels using the Juul is almost muscle memory for him at this point.

Using a Juul can be a costly investment for anyone who picks up the habit. Units retail at $34.99 each, while packs, each containing four pods, retail at $15.99 each.

While ultimately small in the face of $16 billion, John said his contribution to the Juul Labs fortune is not insignificant. In the nine months since buying his first unit, the sophomore said he has bought three units in total and uses about one pack per week.

When asked for an estimation of how much money he has spent on Juul units and packs, John said it was “a few hundred dollars for sure.”

One look around John’s apartment is all it takes to see the investment he’s made into using a Juul. One unit lies on a coffee table while a roommate exhales a cloud of smoke from across the room. Another unit stands upright, plugged into an Xbox to charge.

Looking back, John said that he likely would pass on buying a Juul if confronted with the choice again. He said he likely would still use the product from time to time, but without one of his own, he wouldn’t use it nearly as often.

“I’d probably still hit it at parties,” John said.

While John said he has never really tried to quit, he said he has gone a week or more at times without his Juul after the product left a bad taste in his mouth. He said that his current plan is to quit after college, though he admits he may stop before then.

Until then? The sophomore said using the Juul is “just kind of something to do.”