Juul Labs, the nation’s largest e-cigarette maker, is looking to open its first U.S. shops in Houston and Dallas, renewing concerns among public health officials who have long waged campaigns against smoking.

The San Francisco company has not made a final decision to open its own stores, but has hired two employees for the Texas stores, according to a company representative.

“We haven’t made a decision to open retail locations, but are exploring it,” the spokesman, who declined to be named, said. “Houston and Dallas are at the top of the list.”

Public health officials worry Juul’s expansion into brick-and-mortar retail threatens decades of anti-smoking campaigns that have changed social norms and perceptions around smoking tobacco. Although cigarette use has been declining over the decades, e-cigarette use has surged in recent years, particularly among teenagers and young adults drawn to electronic gadgets, vaping contests and fruity flavors of smoke.

“We are definitely concerned,” said Sherri Onyiego, a Harris County Public Health doctor and medical director for chronic disease prevention. “E-cigarettes may be less harmful than cigarettes, but it doesn’t mean that they’re harmless or safe. The Juul store would be potentially another access point for kids.”

Early adoption

E-cigarettes — battery-powered devices that vaporize liquid nicotine into an aerosol mist that can be inhaled, or “vaped” — entered the U.S. market around 2007 and have grown more popular over the past five years.

Last year, more than 3.6 million youth nationally, including 1 in 5 high school students and 1 in 20 middle school students, reported using e-cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 11 million adults in the U.S. use e-cigarettes, according to the CDC.

Juul dominates the U.S. e-cigarette market with a nearly 76 percent market share last year, according to Nielsen convenience store data. Wells Fargo Securities projects $9 billion in e-cigarette sales in 2019.

Juul claims e-cigarettes can help adult tobacco smokers quit. However, the Food and Drug Administration has not approved e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid, and research is mixed on its effectiveness.

Juul e-cigarettes, which look like an USB flash drive and start from around $35 for a device, contain a high level of nicotine, a highly addictive substance that can disrupt sleep patterns, affect moods and cause birth defects among pregnant smokers. A single Juul pod contains as much nicotine as a pack of 20 regular cigarettes, according to the CDC.

State legislatures are raising the legal smoking age to combat the growing popularity of e-cigarettes. The Texas Legislature earlier this month passed a bill raising the smoking age statewide to 21 from 18, except for military personnel. Gov. Greg Abbott has yet to sign the bill into law. Juul has been in support of these so-called “Tobacco 21” legislation.

Limiting access

If Juul moves forward with its U.S. stores, the company would scan identification cards at the door and only admit adults ages 21 and older, the Juul representative said.

Juul would only sell only tobacco, mint and menthol products in its stores, keeping sales of its mango-, cucumber-, fruit- and cream-flavored tobacco products to its e-commerce website. There also would be measures to detect bulk buyers looking to sell Juul products to minors, he said.

“The store policy would be 21 and up, regardless of local laws,” according to the spokesman. “We want to encourage more adult smokers to switch off of regular smoking, but also make sure young people can’t get their hands on these things.”

Juul is looking to open its Houston store in the former American Apparel location off Westheimer in Montrose, according to Desiree Edge, an employee of Aesop, which is in the same shopping center. The retailer was told of the plan by a representative of the landlord.

Lewis Property Co., which owns and leases the shopping center, did not respond to requests for comment. Juul would not confirm any locations it is considering in Houston, nor give a timeline for its possible brick-and-mortar expansion.

Edge, a Montrose resident for nearly 15 years, said she was disappointed to hear Juul is looking to open a store in her neighborhood, about a mile from her fourplex home. The 33-year-old mother of three school-aged children, including an 11-year-old son who will attend nearby Lanier Middle School, said she is worried that the Juul store will increase e-cigarette use among teenagers, who eat at restaurants and go thrift shopping along Westheimer.

“I’m pretty devastated,” Edge said. “I’m worried about the children. These things look like a flash drive so it’s easy to hide. The addiction and acceptability of these things, that’s what’s concerning to me.”

paul.takahashi@chron.com

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