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A28 SCIENCE
Friday 27 September 2019
What we know (and don’t) about Juul, teen vaping and illness

By MIKE STOBBE the ingredient in marijua-
AP Medical Writer na that produces a high.
NEW YORK (AP) — An out- Nearly one-fifth said they
break of vaping illnesses. A had only vaped nicotine
surge in teens using elec- products.
tronic cigarettes. They’re The investigation does
often spoken of in the same seem to be largely focused
urgent breath, but it’s not on products containing
clear how — or even if — THC, with some attention
they are connected. on ingredients added to
Following a shakeup at Juul marijuana oil.
Labs Inc., the largest U.S. Anecdotally, a common
seller of e-cigarettes, here thread has been products
are some questions and purchased on the street,
answers about vaping: not at dispensaries in states
WHAT HAPPENED WITH with legal pot sales. There
JUUL? is one puzzling outlier: A
The San Francisco-based death in Oregon linked to a
company that controls product bought at a legal
about 70% of the market cannabis retailer.
announced Wednesday Another consideration:
that it will no longer run TV, Juul and other brands of
print or digital advertise- In this April 16, 2019, file photo, a woman exhales a puff of vapor from a Juul pen in Vancouver, nicotine e-cigarettes have
ments for its e-cigarettes. Wash. been around for years, but
Juul, which rose to the top Associated Press the illnesses surfaced only
through viral marketing Recent surveys found 1 in 4 Rhode Island, Michi- to a caustic substance. recently.
that promoted nicotine high school seniors report- gan and New York have The only common factor WHAT DO OFFICIALS THINK
pods with dessert and fruit ed vaping nicotine in the banned flavored vaping in the illnesses was that the ABOUT VAPING OVERALL?
flavors, also said it’s replac- month before they were products. patients had all recently They’re divided. Some say
ing its CEO and promised asked about it. On Tuesday, the governor vaped. the devices seem to have
not to lobby against a pro- Health officials have said of Massachusetts ordered More than 500 people are helped accelerate a de-
posed U.S. ban on flavors. vaping may be a less- a four-month ban on the suspected or confirmed to cline in cigarette smoking,
Some health advocates deadly alternative for adult sale of vaping products. have gotten the illness and which would make them
were not impressed. smokers who are trying to Republican Gov. Charlie at least 10 have died. an important weapon
“No one should mistake quit cigarettes, but they’re Baker said he was alarmed WHAT’S CAUSING THE ILL- against the nation’s lead-
the company’s suspension worried about kids using the not only by the popularity NESSES? ing preventable cause of
of its marketing efforts as devices. Nicotine is harm- of vaping but also a rash of We don’t know. No single death.
anything other than a na- ful to developing brains, vaping-related breathing vaping product or ingre- But officials at the Centers
ked attempt to ease pub- and surveys suggest that as illnesses that have caused dient has been linked to for Disease Control and
lic pressure and curry fa- many as 1 in 8 high school deaths. them, and health officials Prevention have for years
vor with elected officials,” seniors vape nicotine daily. ARE THE RECENT VAPING haven’t released a na- worried that what’s in vap-
American Heart Associa- The youth vaping boom ILLNESSES RELATED? tional breakdown of what ing products was not well
tion chief executive Nancy has led to backlash. This That’s not clear. product each sick person understood. They also
Brown said in a statement. month, President Donald Over the summer, health vaped. feared e-cigarettes would
WHY ARE OFFICIALS CON- Trump said the government officials in a few states be- Among 53 of the earliest become a new way of in-
CERNED ABOUT JUUL? will act to ban thousands gan noticing reports of cases in Illinois and Wiscon- troducing kids to nicotine
Health officials say Juul has of flavors used in electronic people developing severe sin, the vast majority of pa- and potentially hooking
triggered an explosion in cigarettes because they breathing illnesses, with the tients said they had vaped them on tobacco products
teen vaping in recent years. appeal to underage users. lungs apparently reacting products containing THC, in the future.q

17 states sue feds over

Endangered Species Act rules

By GENE JOHNSON The new rules begin taking Seattle news conference.
Associated Press effect Thursday. They for The law, signed by Presi-
SEATTLE (AP) — Seventeen the first time allow officials dent Richard Nixon in 1973,
states sued the Trump ad- to consider how much it has been credited with
In this May 13, 2019 file photo provided by the National Park ministration Wednesday to would cost to save a spe- helping prevent the extinc-
Service is a female condor in Zion National Park, Utah.
Associated Press block rules weakening the cies. tion of more than 220 spe-
Endangered Species Act, They also remove blan- cies, including bald eagles,
saying the changes would ket protections for animals grizzly bears and hump-
make it tougher to protect newly listed as threatened back whales. It requires the
wildlife even in the midst of and make it easier for crea- government to list species
a global extinction crisis. tures to be removed from that are endangered or
The lawsuit, in federal court the protected list. threatened.
in San Francisco, follows a “It’s a death by a thousand The law also protects about
similar challenge filed last cuts for the Endangered 1,600 plant and animal
month by several environ- Species Act,” said Demo- species, designates habitat
mental groups, including cratic Washington Attorney protections for them, and
the Humane Society and General Bob Ferguson, an- assesses whether federal
the Sierra Club. nouncing the lawsuit in a activities will hurt them.q