JUUL To End Retail Flavored Pods Sales, Social Media Accounts

CHICAGO (CBS)-- JUUL announced Tuesday the end of flavored pod sales to over 90,000 retail stores and the elimination of social media accounts. The changes are part of an initiative to restrict minors from accessing the e-cigarette products.

The e-cigarette company said while the flavors cucumber, mango, crème and fruit were intended to help adults switch to JUUL, flavors drive the "youth appeal."

This announcement comes days after Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a lawsuit against eight online e-cigarette retailers for illegally selling their products to underage Chicago residents. The lawsuit did not specifically target JUUL, but some of the eight online e-cigarette retailers sell JUUL pods.

Flavored JUUL pods are now only available on JUUL.com, where an age verification has been added. Online shoppers will now have to provide a name, date-of-birth, permanent address, and social security number.

JUUL will also eliminate their social media accounts, according to a press release.

"We understand that many young people get their information from social media," JUUL representatives stated. "To remove ourselves entirely from participation in the social conversation, we have decided to shut down our U.S.-based social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram."