SISD police chief says students caught with JUUL e-cigs, but not yet a ‘trend’

The chief of police at the Socorro Independent School District told ABC-7 the district is not yet experiencing an increase in the use of a popular new e-cigarette among its students.

The company that produces the JUUL vaping device, which uses flavored nicotine cartridges, has recently come under fire from lawmakers. The Food and Drug Administration recently sent a warning letter to retailers suspected of selling the e-cigarette to minors.

“We are not seeing it as a trend in our schools,” said SISD Police Chief Jose Castorena, “From July of last year to date, we’ve only got seven cases.”

Castorena said “two or three” of the cases “included narcotics.” Students reportedly take out the vaping device’s cartridge “and introduce a controlled substance,” Castorena said.

The device can be purchased at local convenience stores for $35. Nicotine pods can be purchased separately for about $17 dollars. The device is charged through a USB port.

In a recent letter to Kevin Burns, the chief executive officer for JUUL Labs Inc., a group of U.S. Senators claimed JUUL’s vaping device is “undermining the our nation’s efforts to reduce tabacco use among youth and putting an entire new generation of children at risk of nicotine addiction.”

The letter was signed by eleven senators, including New Mexico Senator Tom Udall. The senators asked Burns to provide more information on the company’s product and urged the company to “immediately take action to reduce the use of your dangerous and addictive device.”

The letter cites data from the Centers for Disease Control stating cigarette smoking among American teenagers is at “record lows – dropping from 28 percent in 2000 to eight percent in 2016.” While cigarette use among teens has declined, the use of vaping devices and e-cigarettes has increased, the letter states.

“These reductions in youth cigarette use did not happen overnight, they occurred over time, in large part, thanks to a concerted national effort,” the letter states, “these gains are being threatened because of non-cigarette tabacco products, especially, electronic cigarettes like JUUL.”

In a news release, Senator Udall said, “In response to the efforts of myself and a group of my Senate colleagues, the FDA has taken positive first steps to safeguard our children from the insidious tactics that are being used to market these products to young people … we need to do much more to protect kids and the public from the potential hazards of tobacco products; and we must continue to demand transparency from the FDA and manufacturers about any dangers involved with the exposure to second-hand vapor from e-cigarettes.”

The Food and Drug Administration sent a warning letter to 40 retailers. The FDA reminded retailers about the consequences of selling e-cigarettes – specifically JUUL products – to minors.

ABC-7 spoke with high school students in West El Paso who say they have witnessed fellow students using JUUL.

“I’ve seen them recently – these past two years – they use them on campus and off campus. I think it’s a bad thing though,” said Angelica Guerrero, a Coronado high school student.

“I can say that 6 out of ten people have a JUUL in the school,” said Paul De La O, also a senior at Coronado. “You can see them in the restroom and wherever teachers are not looking – or where somebody can’t see them – so they won’t get in trouble.”

In a statement posted online, JUULs CEO Burns said his company is committed to keeping JUUL out of the hands of minors. “Let me be clear: we do not want teens or any other non-smokers to ever use our product,” Burns said, “I’m not only a JUUL employee, but more importantly, I am a parent of teenagers. I never want my 18-year-old-son or 15-year-old daughter to try JUUL. The product was designed with adult smokers in mind and their need to break the grip of cigarette dependency.”

Burns further stated his company is committed to “combat underage use of JUUL.” Burns said the efforts include “supporting state and federal efforts to raise the legal age of purchase for tobacco products to 21 and an initial $30 million investment over the next three years dedicated to independent research, youth and parent education, and community engagement.”