Last month, we reported that at least a third of all U.S. public schools tracked by the U.S. government are within one mile of a JUUL ($PRIVATE:JUUL) e-cigarette retailer. JUUL is currently under fire from the Federal Drug Administration for the way it positions and sells its products.
New data reveals that over half of all public schools — 52.81% — have at least one JUUL retailer within a one-mile radius. That means an average high-school student could take a 20-minute walk, a 10-minute bike ride, or a 4-minute drive to get to a store that sells an e-cigarette.
We normalized that data, collected straight from JUUL's website, and cross-referenced it with America's high school to create the widget below.
Search for a public school below to find out how many JUUL retailers are within a one-mile radius. Note that common school names have multiple listings in multiple states.
New Jersey leads all states in exposure to such stores, as 79.36% of all schools are at least one mile away from a JUUL retailer. Neighboring New York has a 76.36% exposure to retailers as well. And out of the 227 schools tracked within the District of Columbia, only four are more than a mile away from at least one retailer.
Montana and Missouri have the least exposure to JUUL retailers, with 13.11% and 13.75% of schools in those respective states having a retailer within a one-mile radius.
About half of schools that have a JUUL retailer nearby have at least one within a half-mile radius, essentially a short walk away from campus. New York and New Jersey once again lead all states in exposure, with over half of New York public schools having a store within a 10-minute walk.
The FDA is preparing to announce a ban of flavored e-cigarettes next week in order to combat teen smoking. This would effectively remove a major reason some teens are attracted to the product. In response, JUUL just announced that it would stop sales of most of its flavored products in retail stores.
Still, that doesn't prevent the amount of devices that are already in the hands of consumers, both of and underage. The Center for Disease Control reported a seven-fold increase in the number of JUULs sold in America from 2016 (2.2 million) to 2017 (16.2 million).
Despite the inquiry from the FDA, JUUL's follower count on Twitter, a social media network popular with young adults and teenagers, grew up until a regular purge of fake accounts. It currently has over 19,500 followers, with about a quarter of them under the legal age for purchasing tobacco according to recent research.
Although the number of retailers that sell JUULs is high, some, such as smoke shops, prevent children and teenagers from entering. Others are convenience stores such as 7-Eleven ($TYO:3380) that are open to anyone.
