According to a recent post on the blog of Dr. Michael Siegel, the vaporizer company Pax Labs has developed a new e-liquid and e-cigarette with a blood absorption profile more closing matching that of a real cigarette. Pax Labs calls this new e-cigarette system the JUUL.

Nicotine Salts Provide JUUL’s “Nicotine Hit”

The primary feature of the JUUL e-cigarette is the fact that its e-liquid contains nicotine salts extracted from leaf-based tobacco. According to a study commissioned by Pax Labs, e-liquid never creates the same concentration of nicotine in the blood as a tobacco cigarette would. In addition, a tobacco cigarette creates a much higher peak in blood-nicotine levels, which the smoker feels as an immediate “nicotine hit” — something that is difficult to achieve with current e-cigarette technology.

Pax Labs claims that the nicotine salts in the JUUL e-cigarette more closely mimic the “nicotine hit” achieved by smoking a cigarette.

Pax Labs Targets Unsuccessful E-Cigarette Quitters

For Pax Labs, this release appears incredibly well-timed. According to a recent survey (link removed in 2023 due to 404 error) of 5,679 Americans conducted by Reuters and Ipsos, as many as 10 percent of Americans — and 15 percent of those under age 40  — now vape. Unfortunately, about 75 percent of those people also still smoke cigarettes. It would therefore seem that e-cigarettes don’t necessarily make it easier for all users to quit smoking.

Have you quit smoking since switching to e-cigarettes? Maybe you’re not a mainstream e-cigarette user. I was surprised by the news that the majority of the e-cigarettes sold in America are backed by Big Tobacco — the Vuse and Blu brands currently occupy 36 and 22.7 percent of the e-cigarette market, respectively, according to Nielsen. Although Nielsen doesn’t have data from all sales channels, their findings do suggest that most e-cigarette users are still primarily using small, “cig-a-like” devices rather than larger vaporizers with superior vapor production.

The JUUL e-cigarette features a rectangular design unlike anything we’ve seen previously.

One thing that remains unclear about the Pax Labs e-liquid study is the nicotine strength of the e-liquids that didn’t achieve the same blood-nicotine concentration of the new nicotine salt-based e-liquid. Although the e-liquid used in the Vuse e-cigarette contains a relatively high 48 mg per ml, many e-liquids top out at just 16 mg. It would be very easy to skew a study such as this by simply comparing a 16 mg e-liquid to the JUUL e-liquid, which contains a whopping 50 mg per ml.

Pax Labs Has Investors Excited

Nevertheless, looking at the JUUL it is immediately obvious that this is a completely new vaping system that merits further examination. The JUUL features an interesting rectangular design with a magnetic USB charger and drop-in cartridges. The heating coil is temperature-controlled, and from the picture to the right you can see that the wicking system is rather unique.

With the release of the JUUL e-cigarette and nicotine salt-based e-liquid, Pax Labs appears ready to compete with the big boys of the e-cigarette industry head on. The San Francisco-based company has secured $46.7 million in funding from various investment partners and has already begun sending review samples to e-cigarette websites such as this one. We are very excited for the opportunity to try this interesting new product, and you can look forward to reading our JUUL e-cigarette review in the very near future.