Let’s talk about Big Vape
As a non-smoker/vaper, this documentary on Netflix was a revelation.
Like most documentaries about controversial subjects, I fully expected this to be mostly one-sided. I was anticipating a takedown of Big Vape. I was pleasantly proven wrong.
As a non-smoker not based in the USA, most of what I know about Juul is from the memes and this video CollegeHumor did.
I didn’t know, for instance, that Juul started as two college students who tried to create a safer way for smokers to quit cigarettes. I didn’t know that they were doing this for altruistic reasons. I also didn’t know just how bad it all went from there.
The filmmakers brought together a large group of people that represented every possible side of this situation. There are multiple former and current employees of Juul, tobacco historians and experts, adult and teen vapers, parents of said teen vapers, government officials, doctors, scientists… The list goes on.
That, along with a little under 4 hours worth of episodes, allow for a very nuanced coverage of the rise and fall of Juul. There was barely any sensationalization and I felt like everyone was treated fairly. I thought they all had a point even though some of those points felt like they contradicted each other.
(The only exception to this is the marketing person who said “Parents got upset because they forgot they had to parent their kids, and Juul aren’t responsible for that.” I won’t go too much into why I think that’s such a black and white way to look at things, but I vehemently disagree, even as someone who has no desire to have and doesn’t even like children.)
At the end of the last episode, all I felt was sadness. Here was a company led by two people who had the best intentions in mind. But the moment they put those intentions to the side to put profit at the forefront, intentionally or not, is the moment it all went downhill. From the marketing, to the creation of flavors, to branding of the iPhone of vaping, those are all intentions to make profits go up. None of those are necessary to make a product that will help smokers to quit inhaling carcinogenic tobacco smoke.
That is probably the biggest lesson in all of this. Greed, and of course our good ol’ enemy capitalism, can and will make even the most altruistic of us go down in flames.
The next lesson that isn’t as big but important nonetheless is everything should be in moderation. Nothing good ever comes out of a complete ban or no regulation of anything. In regards to Juul and vaping, turns out most if not all of the health issues that came out of vaping can be attributed to unregulated, unsanctioned third party suppliers of Juul pods. But it is still isn’t a good idea in general to put anything in our lungs that isn’t air we need to breathe. There are a lot of former cigarette smokers who are more accepted socially because they don’t reek of cigarette smokes while still getting their nicotine hit. But replacing one addiction with another isn’t always the best answer.
I’m not a smoker and I hate the smell of cigarettes. It’s a pain when going out in Indonesia because we are one of the biggest consumers (especially for men) and producers of tobacco products. Selfishly, I much prefer the smokers here vape instead. It doesn’t smell terrible, I won’t get secondhand smoking, and they can deal with their nicotine addictions the best way they can.
I can’t help but think there must be a way for this product (and other vaping products) to exist and replace cigarettes without making it easy for children to access. Didn’t we do it before with cigarettes? Why can’t the same be applied to vapes and other e-cigarette products?
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