We strongly advocate for Tobacco 21 legislation and, in November 2018, we stopped selling non-tobacco and non-menthol-based flavored JUULpods to traditional retail stores, which represented 50% of our revenue at that time. In addition, we enhanced our online age-verification, strengthened our retailer compliance by conducting over 2,000 secret shopper visits a month, shut down our Facebook and Instagram accounts and work constantly to remove inappropriate social media content generated by others. We also continue to develop technologies to further restrict underage access with our retailer partners and distributors. These actions, however, have not been followed by others in the industry and by those selling counterfeit or compatible products.

We do not want or need non-nicotine users. Our market is the over 1 billion adult smokers worldwide who should have the opportunity to switch to vapor products if they so desire. We are seeing tremendous success so far. In a recent behavioral study undertaken by third-party researchers sponsored by the company, we have seen that nearly half of adult smokers who purchase and use JUUL products switch completely from smoking cigarettes within three months, with the rate of complete cigarette abstinence increasing over time.

We also believe our products are driving a historic reduction in the consumption of combustible cigarettes. As JUUL products have gained market share among adult smokers, cigarette sales have declined at an accelerating rate. In 2018, cigarette sales declined at an average of 5% year-over-year, the fastest rate of decline in a decade, according to IRI data which tracks retail sales. In 2019, IRI data show cigarette sales plummeting at more than 8% year-over-year through May. To put that in context, every 1% decrease in the smoking rate translates to 125 million packs of cigarettes that are never sold or smoked.

Read the entire op-ed here.

The piece also reviews JUUL Labs’ record of proactive action intended to address youth vaping, while preserving the unprecedented switching opportunity the JUUL system offers current adult smokers. This includes our industry-leading advocacy for Tobacco 21 legislation at the state and federal level, as well as our action plan, a set of initiatives that represent the most aggressive youth prevention actions of anyone in the industry. JUUL Labs has always acted in service to our core mission to help adult smokers switch from combustible cigarettes, which remain the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, while preventing underage use.

Key points from Kevin:

“Combatting youth use is critical for the success of our business. Our market is the over one million smokers in North Carolina and one billion worldwide who should have the opportunity to switch to vapor products if they so desire. We are seeing tremendous success so far as we believe our product is driving historic change in the consumption of combustible cigarettes.” –Kevin Burns, CEO JUUL Labs

“According to U.S. Nielsen data, cigarette sales that declined at an average rate of approximately 2.7% from 2011 to 2016 had historic declines of over 5% last year, increasing to over 10% recently. In North Carolina, recent data shows volume declines reaching almost 10%. These unprecedented trends represent a drop of over 13 billion fewer cigarettes smoked nationwide over the past year and over 400 million fewer cigarettes smoked in North Carolina alone.” –Kevin Burns, CEO JUUL Labs

“But we know that underage use endangers this incredible opportunity. That is why we have taken aggressive action and support the FDA’s recent draft guidance. And it is why we urge government agencies across the country to act against counterfeit, knockoff and other illegal vapor products, which are often made with unknown ingredients, with unknown quality standards, and with youth-appealing flavors and packaging.” –Kevin Burns, CEO JUUL Labs

Read the op-ed in its entirety here.