- no longer accept retail store orders for its flavored pods
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Juul will soon stop selling flavored e-cigarette packs in retail stores, but a workaround could make the ban pointless
Juul will no longer accept retail store orders for its flavored pods, but offerings from other e-cigarette companies could make the ban pointless.
On Tuesday, Juul announced it will no longer accept retail store orders for its flavored pods in an effort to lessen and eventually eliminate teen e-cigarette use. This news upset many Juul users, especially those who use the flavor pods as an alternative to traditional cigarettes. But a loophole could make the ban virtually pointless.
In an effort to see if the Juul news led to an increase in pod sales, I visited several smoke shops in Manhattan's East Village. I expected to see empty shelves from people trying to stock up. Instead, I found shelves lined with plenty of third-party pods that are marketed as compatible with Juul products.
When I asked one employee if he was concerned, he merely pointed to his vast selection of non-Juul pods, which the store displayed inside old Juul pod cartons and marked as being compatible with Juul pens. The brand eonsmoke, for example, offers similar flavors as the now-banned Juul pod flavors, like W
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Some Juul users may be unaware of third-party pods
One Juul user, Katie Thornton, has been Juuling for six months but didn't know third-party, Juul-compatible pods existed. If her favorite Juul pod flavor, mango, becomes inaccessible at her local gas station, Thornton says she will likely seek any alternative to Juul.
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There are mixed reviews about the quality of eonsmoke pods. In a Reddit thread about eonsmoke products, zEddi3 mentioned that the sides of the pod don't match up exactly with the pen base, but the flavors and overall quality were "
The FDA has yet to determine a full course of action for e-cigarettes, but they did suggest implementing a law that bans all e-cigarette products, including Juul and other e-cig brands.
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