Decoder with Nilay Patel Juul and the business of addiction, with Lauren Etter
Jun 29, 2021
Lauren Etter, an investigative reporter at Bloomberg News and author of "The Devil's Playbook," dives into Juul's dramatic rise and fall. She reveals how a tech startup aimed to disrupt smoking but instead ignited a youth nicotine crisis. The conversation touches on the complex relationship between Juul and traditional tobacco companies, regulatory challenges, and the innovative nicotine delivery systems that transformed vaping. Etter also explores the ethical implications of Juul's marketing strategies and the public health repercussions of this modern addiction.
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Juul's Rise and Fall
- Juul's founders, Stanford grad students, aimed to disrupt smoking by innovating the cigarette.
- Their innovation, nicotine salts, made vaping hit like a cigarette, leading to a youth vaping crisis.
Nicotine Salts: The Secret Sauce
- Juul's innovation wasn't the design, but the nicotine formulation, specifically nicotine salts.
- This made Juul's vape hit like a cigarette, unlike the harsh early vapes.
Tobacco's Struggle, Juul's Opportunity
- The tobacco industry struggled with impending regulation in the late 90s and early 2000s.
- This created an opportunity for Juul, unburdened by that baggage, to innovate.
