We take great care to curate the App Store as a trusted place for customers, particularly youth, to download apps. We're constantly evaluating apps, and consulting the latest evidence, to determine risks to users' health and well-being. Recently, experts ranging from the CDC to the American Heart Association have attributed a variety of lung injuries and fatalities to e-cigarette and vaping products, going so far as to call the spread of these devices a public health crisis and a youth epidemic. We agree, and we've updated our App Store Review Guidelines to reflect that apps encouraging or facilitating the use of these products are not permitted. As of today, these apps are no longer available to download.
On Friday, Apple announced the decision to ban apps related to vaporization, including the PAX Mobile App. We respect Apple’s leadership on important issues and commitment to ensuring that the App Store is a trusted place for consumers. However, we are concerned by this decision which, in the middle of a public health crisis tied to the illicit cannabis market, will prevent consumers in legal states from having access to important information and the ability to better control their cannabis experience. We hope to work in partnership with Apple to reconsider this decision and make our App available, in the interest of public health and safety.At PAX, we are committed to delivering technology that enables adults to make educated, informed choices. Millions of consumers in 34 legal states, including a large number of medical patients and veterans, rely on the PAX Mobile App to control their session size, set the correct temperature and have lockout abilities to prevent children from accessing our devices. Last Tuesday, we announced our new PodID feature, which—in light of the current threats posed by the illicit market—provides consumers with unprecedented access to information about what's in their pods, including strain information, cannabinoid and terpene profiles, access to state-regulated test results and more. While we work with Apple on a path forward, those who have already downloaded the PAX Mobile App on iOS will continue to have access to it, and it remains available on Google Play. For those who have chosen to be app-free or have not downloaded it, all PAX devices (PAX 2, PAX 3 and PAX Era) are designed to work without the App and allow you to change the temperature using the device alone. To find out how, visit PAX Customer Support. At the end of the day, this is about doing the right thing for our customers by creating technology that puts information at their fingertips. We believe consumers have a right to this transparency and level of control, so they can feel more confident about their consumption. And even more importantly, we believe it's a critical step in helping consumers to navigate the legal, state- regulated market and avoid the perils of the black market that has made so many so sick in recent months.To all of our customers, we are so grateful for your continued support as we work to establish cannabis as a force for good.