In an upcoming original series, Netflix is tackling the vaping crisis that’s left 39 dead and over 2,000 sick in the United States. The Broken docuseries — which will air on Netflix on 27 November — will look into issues within four big industries in America: vaping, plastic, counterfeit beauty products, and pre-made furniture. In a trailer released Wednesday, you'll get a sneak peek of each episode, including snippets from an interview with the co-founder of JUUL.
Broken's vaping episode focuses on JUUL products and their use among adolescents. “We have seen a rise in youth use of e-cigarettes that is unprecedented in our history,” an expert says in the trailer, over shots of teens exhaling billows of vape smoke. "We are absolutely against any use of our product by minors," asserts JUUL cofounder Adam Bowen says in the trailer.
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Last month, JUUL nixed the sales of many of their their e-pods in flavours such as mango and crème. Then just last week, JUUL Labs' CEO K.C. Crosthwaite said the company would stop selling the mint flavour, after research published in the medical journal JAMA found that almost 60 percent of high schoolers who vape use JUUL, with mint being the most popular flavour.
The worry over JUUL reached a fever pitch this year, after news of vaping-related illnesses started making headlines. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has been looking into the lung disease cases for months. Although they’re still researching reasons for the injuries cropping up among people who vape, last week, they had a “breakthrough.” Vitamin E acetate, an additive found in some vaping products (often those with THC) may be to blame, said the principal deputy director of the CDC, Dr. Anne Schuchat, MD.
President Donald Trump has also said he may raise the legal vaping age to 21 “or so,” to quash the unhealthy trend among teens.
There are still a lot of unknowns about the vaping industry, but — as officials work on finding treatments and reasons for vaping-related issues and illnesses — perhaps this new documentary series from Netflix will shed some light on how teens are interacting with the products, and how experts plan to help.