Emerging, Hot Topic: What Youth Know Versus What They Think They Know about Pod-Style Vapes

Importance: Electronic cigarettes (“e-cigarettes”) are the most commonly used tobacco product among young adults, and the new pod-type vapes (e.g, “Juul,” “Suorin,” etc.) devices may put them at increased risk for poly-tobacco use and nicotine dependence.

Objective: To build an evidence base of reasons for and patterns of use of pod-type vapes among young adults .

Design, Setting, and Participants: Cross-sectional analysis of survey data collected in 2019 from 366 California young adults (mean age 20, SD=1.6), part of an ongoing prospective cohort study designed to measure use and perceptions of tobacco products.

Results: In our sample, 63.2% (n=222) were female; 17 were 12^th graders and 273 college students; 150 (42.7%) reported living with parents; 87 in college-owned and 87 in not college-owned apartments. Ever-use of Juuls was reported by 89 (24.5%), 82 (22.5%) reported e-cigarette use, and 86 (23.6%) cigarette use. Mean number of days used in past-30-days for Juuls was 6.5 (SD=8.3), 5.8 (SD=7.7) for e-cigarettes, and 0.8 (SD=1.8) and 8.8 (SD=9.3) for cigarettes. Only 11.9% (n=23) of Juul users could identify the correct concentration of nicotine in a Juul pod. Among ever-users of pod-type vapes, just 16.4% (n=19) reported they had used e-cigarettes prior to ever using pod-type vapes; 15.5% (n=18) could not remember.

Conclusions and Relevance:Young adults’ use of newer pod-type vaping systems is increasing rapidly, and young adults report high use-frequency and lack of knowledge about the nicotine content of these products. Taken together, these findings point to a lack of understanding of pod-type vapes’ addictive potential.