Electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs has plans to convert Canada’s five million adult smokers into vapers, according to a story by Jenny Peng for the Toronto Star.
The San Francisco-based company was quoted as saying that its proposed expansion followed the passing of a Canadian law legalizing the sale of vaping products to those 19 years and older from May this year.
The company announced on Thursday that it intends to start selling products on an e-commerce website, and that, from this week, consumers would start to see them in vapor shops and gas and convenience stores across the country.
“The idea is to transition users off of combustible cigarettes and to a vaping system,” Mike Nederhoff, general manager of Canadian operations, was quoted as saying. After the initial introduction of a five percent nicotine-level pod, the company’s plan is to offer a three percent nicotine pod, and a 1.5 percent nicotine pod.
Not everybody is happy with the plans. Carolyn Tuckwell, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of South Coast British Columbia, which serves 12,000 young people and families annually, said that even if Juul stated it was not advertising to young people, there were features about the product and its portrayal of “happy” and “attractive” young people in its advertising that made it appealing to “underage youth”.
Juul launching in Canada
