How did electronic cigarettes
become the biggest thing on the streets?
Well, their rise to the top
started a lot like regular cigarettes.
There's no question that the e-cigarette industry
has ripped its tactics straight from big tobacco's playbook.
REPORTER: Take a look at the glamorous woman
in the blue dress smoking a cigarette in 1930
and this woman today in an ad for an e-cigarette.
The rugged cowboy then and now.
REPORTER 2: Both marketed relaxation, sharing,
travel, freedom and sex appeal.
E-cigarette manufacturers like Kandypens can be promoted
in DJ Khaled music videos,
just like tobacco corporations used to pay stars
to smoke their cigarettes onscreen.
Okay, that's just irresponsible.
Celebrities shouldn't be advertising
addictive substances to their fans,
which is why the only product I endorse is cabbage.
Cabbage,
it's the one thing
you definitely won't get addicted to.
Mmm. Mmm.
I don't want any more of this. No.
(laughter)
Now, to be clear, vaping companies aren't bad guys
because they advertise their product.
What made this a sinister industry is
who they were advertising their products to.
MAN: The FDA slamming popular e-cigarette maker Juul
for marketing directly to students.
Juul spent hundreds of thousands of dollars
to fund youth programming.
WOMAN 2: Two teenagers testified
that a Juul representative came to their school
to give an anti-vaping presentation,
and when their teacher left the room, they say
the representative repeatedly claimed
that Juul was safe to use.
WOMAN 3: 80% of teens who vape say they picked the product
because it comes in flavors that they like.
WOMAN 4: The teens say the sleek devices are easy to hide.
You can't fell if it's a teenager's lip gloss
or cologne or if it's a vape.
Uh, I think you can tell, because they're sucking on it.
I'm pretty sure
teenagers aren't taking drags off Eternity for Men.
(laughter)
Something tells me that kids get away with a lot
at this principal's school.
Just like, "Boy, it sure is remarkable
"how many students here are texting
about their eggplants getting rained on."
(laughter)
"These kids love gardening."
But when you look at everything,
from vape pen designs to their outreach,
you don't have to be a genius to realize
they wanted their products in the hands of teens.
And the flavors are probably the biggest red flag of all.
I mean, mango, cotton candy, jelly donut?
Like, these things are so targeted at kids,
I'm shocked that they didn't have,
like, a breast milk flavor.
But according to the vape lobby,
all these flavors are clearly for adults only.
MAN: The industry is not targeting children.
Just because you're an adult doesn't mean
that you don't like, uh, gummy bears.
I see adults buying...
you know, packs of gummy bears all the time.
I mean, just 'cause you're an adult doesn't mean
that you don't like good flavors.
Okay, okay.
I hear you, rodeo accountant. I hear you.
(laughter)
But you have to admit,
the vaping lobby's excuses sound a lot
like a pedophile's excuses.
"What? No? The candy and Disney movies
"I keep in my car are for me.
Adults like Moana, too!"
Now, in response to all this criticism,
the biggest e-cigarette company, Juul,
has recently curbed their marketing to kids.
And also, they've gotten rid of all their super-fruity,
fantastic, totally-adult flavors.
But unfortunately, it might be a little too little, too late,
because countless teens already addicted to vaping,
and schools across the country
are struggling with the outbreak.
WOMAN: It's a nationwide problem.
In Texas, some schools make kids roll up their long sleeves
so they can't hide the devices.
In Fairbury, Nebraska, they are randomly testing students
in extracurricular activities for nicotine.
There are vape sensors
in Illinois and New Jersey bathrooms.
MAN: One Alabama high school taking extreme measures
after a student was found passed out
in a bathroom after vaping.
The principal removing doors off stalls
in the boys' bathroom,
which some parents say is excessive.
Okay, hold up. Some parents say that's excessive?
Some parents think it's excessive
to force kids to shit in front of everybody?
Who are the other parents?
Who are the other parents who are like, "It's fine.
My kid doesn't deserve privacy"?
I mean, aside from T.I., who are the other parents?
(laughter, groaning)
Yeah, he's probably like,
"Take the doors off those stalls expeditiously."
Look, I think we can all agree
that neither kids nor schools should be responsible
for fixing this addiction crisis
that companies like Juul have helped create.
If anything, e-cigarette companies should be forced
to pay for the damage that they've purposefully caused.
It's the same way opioid companies are being forced
to pay for the work they've done
that caused people to be addicted.
Or how Nabisco had to pay for Cookie Monster's rehab.
You know? And you know what?
Just to give them a little extra incentive,
we should go to Juul's offices
and take the doors off of their bathroom stalls
until they fix the shit that they've done.
So in a nutshell...
-(applause and cheering) -In a nutshell...
That's how vaping became the crisis
that it is in America today.
And if you don't know, now you know.