JUUL’s move to get rid of fruity flavors may be too little, too late

47 ABC – The fruity flavored JUUL pods that were a hit among so many of their customers are now nowhere to be seen. The E-cigarette giant announced this month that they would pull flavors like mango and cucumber off the shelves in anticipation of a national ban.

The question is though, will this move help decrease the number of young people vaping, and the answer may be no.

“I’m afraid it may be too late for them,” said Lisa White, Supervisor of the Pulmonary Lab and The ABG lab at PRMC. “Those people are already addicted they’re going to continue to vape and to smoke or to switch over.”

The scary reality is the longer people vape, the higher their chances of getting sick become according to White. White says many users who she sees are dealing with shortness of breath, which could be a precursor to lung disease.

White said she’s hopeful that move away from the fruity flavors will help drop the number of people willing to try vaping for the first time. But the problem is if users aren’t using JUUL pods, they’ll just find another brand or worse, turn to the black market.

“A lot of people already do that anyway because they’re cheaper than JUUL pods are and from what I’ve heard you get longer use out of them,” said Chloe Birch, a student at Salisbury University.