NEW YORK -- Demand for vaping pods in the city is heating up, with New Yorkers creating enough of a rush that vape and smoke shops have been charging higher prices for the flavored-nicotine refills, according to the New York Post.
The newspaper said smoke shops in New York’s East Village were marking up four-packs of Juul Pods from San Francisco-based Pax Labs by as much as 88%, charging $29.99 compared to the suggested retail price of $15.99. The actual Juul device sells for $49.99 and looks like a USB thumb drive, the Post said.
Speaking to the higher prices some retailers are charging, Tyler Goldman, CEO of Pax, said, “We’ve tried to police it, but it’s obviously a game of whack-a-mole to some extent.”
Pax has doubled monthly production to 2 million Juul Pods and hopes to get it up to 5 million by January, the Post reported.
The increased production will allow Pax to expand distribution across the city and country. “We want to be in 20,000 New York City smoke shops and bodegas by next year,” Goldman said.
The Juul device delivers its quick, cigarette-like rush by combining the pure, “freebase” nicotine used by most vaporizers with weak, organic acids to produce “nicotine salts” that are found naturally in tobacco leaves, said Adam Bowen, technology chief for Pax.
“That seemingly slight difference in chemistry makes a huge difference in how nicotine is absorbed,” Bowen said.
Image courtesy of Vaping Post.
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