Juul CEO apologizes to parents: 'I'm sorry their child is using the product'

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - The CEO San Francisco-based Juul is apologizing to parents who have teens addicted to e-cigarettes and vaping. 

In an interview with CNBC, CEO Kevin Burns, who joined Juul in 2017, was asked about what he would like to say to the parents of teens who've become addicted to their products.

"First of all," Burns said, "I'd tell them that I'm sorry that their child is using the product. It's not intended for them. I hope there was nothing that we did that made it appealing to them. As a parent of a 16-year-old, I'm sorry for them. I have empathy for them, in terms of what the challenges they're going through."

The apology comes as company faces growing scrutiny for the number of teens addicted to the product.

According to the FDA, there are an estimated 3.6 million middle and high school students in the U.S. who regularly use e-cigarettes.

Juul is the largest producer of those vaping products.

E-cigarettes have been marketed as a way for adults to kick the habit of smoking regular cigarettes. But Juul has been criticized for marketing moves that appeared to target kids  by using a youthful social media campaigns to advertise... and creating fruit and candy-flavored vaping products.

The FDA does not regulate e-cigarettes and the agency has delayed a decision to do that until 2021.

In the absence of that regulation, the city of San Francisco decided to step in.

A ban on the sale of e-cigarettes in this city, goes into effect next year.