On April 28, 2022, FDA released its proposed tobacco product standard prohibiting menthol cigarettes. The justification for prohibiting menthol as a characterizing flavor includes a comprehensive review of the effects of menthol on smoking, including why menthol promotes cigarette initiation and how it makes it harder to quit smoking. In addition to summarizing the behavioralContinue reading “FDA proposed menthol ban in cigarettes is well done, except for the exceptions”
Author Archives: Stanton Glantz
We should all thank the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council for the FDA menthol rule
While many organizations and people contributed to the FDA finally issuing a draft rule to get rid of menthol in cigarettes and flavors in cigars, the one at the top of my list is the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council and the “three musketeers of menthol,” Valerie Yerger, Carol McGruder and Phil Gardiner. ThisContinue reading “We should all thank the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council for the FDA menthol rule”
Direct evidence that flavor sales bans substantially reduce youth cigarette and e-cigarette use
Most of the research on the effects of local and state bans on the sales of flavored tobacco products have assessed sales rather than actual use by youth. (They consistently showed big drops in sales of flavored tobacco products.) Summer Hawkins and colleagues at Boston College published “Flavoured tobacco product restrictions in Massachusetts associated withContinue reading “Direct evidence that flavor sales bans substantially reduce youth cigarette and e-cigarette use”
FDA authorizes NJOY e-cigs without disclosing reasoning; inaction allows menthol to remain on the market
Today FDA continued its trend of authorizing the sale of tobacco-flavored eicgs — this time the NJOY while leaving menthol versions on the market by not acting. On the NJOY website, menthol and tobacco pods are sold side-by-side, with menthol shown first (screen shot below). Following the precedent set when it authorized the sale ofContinue reading “FDA authorizes NJOY e-cigs without disclosing reasoning; inaction allows menthol to remain on the market”
AG settlements with Juul keep getting weaker, not stronger
When North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein settled the state’s lawsuit against Juul, I said it was a good start, but identified several shortcomings. Because the settlement contained a “most favored nation” clause it would benefit from stronger settlements in the future built on the foundation of the North Carolina settlement. That’s what happened inContinue reading “AG settlements with Juul keep getting weaker, not stronger”
APHA rapidly remedies error it made when accepting FSFW ad for AJPH
When I checked my email last Friday morning (April 15, 2022), I found a robust email conversation about the fact that the American Journal of Public Health, published by the American Public Health Association, featured an add from Philip Morris International’s Foundation for a Smokefree World soliciting grant proposals (examples above and below). The FSFWContinue reading “APHA rapidly remedies error it made when accepting FSFW ad for AJPH”
UCSF adds previously secret documents from McKinsey & Co to freely-available opioid industry documents archive
The UCSF/JHU Opoid Industry Document Archive just added 317 documents from McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm working with corporations and governments, including with major US opioid manufacturers, including Purdue Pharma as well as Endo Pharmaceutical, Johnson & Johnson and Mallinckrodt. In February 2021, McKinsey reached a $573 million agreement with attorneys general in 47Continue reading “UCSF adds previously secret documents from McKinsey & Co to freely-available opioid industry documents archive”
Ecigs roll back the clock on kid quitting, too
E-cigarettes have reversed the long-term trend of declining nicotine addiction among kids. Now Richard Miech and his colleagues at USC have used the Monitoring the Future survey data on tobacco use behavior among 8th to 12th graders to study the prevalence of failed quit attempts for cigarettes (from 1997 through 2020) and e-cigarettes (for 2020,Continue reading “Ecigs roll back the clock on kid quitting, too”
FDA drags its feet on releasing scientific justification for authorizing Logic e-cigs and HTP
As I described before, FDA broke precedent by not releasing the full Technical Project Lead (TPL) reports summarizing its positive decisions on 8 electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products made by Logic Technologies. Instead, it just released 4 of the 56 pages, most of which constituted uninformative boilerplate. There is no excuse for withholding thisContinue reading “FDA drags its feet on releasing scientific justification for authorizing Logic e-cigs and HTP”
Fruit ecigs most popular first flavor, but kids who start with menthol/mint more likely to still be vaping as young adults
Jim Sargent, Jessica Barrington-Trimis and their colleagues at Dartmouth, USC, and other institutions just published an important study highlighting the importance of menthol/mint to long-term nicotine dependence among young adult e-cig users. Their paper, “First E-Cigarette Flavor and Device Type Used: Associations With Vaping Persistence, Frequency, and Dependence in Young Adults,” used data from theContinue reading “Fruit ecigs most popular first flavor, but kids who start with menthol/mint more likely to still be vaping as young adults”
Stanton Glantz blog 