Calif legislature advancing two bills to further weaken public health marijuana protections

Last week i blogged about the new evidence from California about the success in almost eliminating youth cigarette smoking and keeping vaping at less than half the national average. Unfortunately, the same Statewide California Student Tobacco Survey showed that youth marijuana use was substantially higher than tobacco use.  Specifically, almost one third (31.2%) of highContinue reading “Calif legislature advancing two bills to further weaken public health marijuana protections”

California holds youth vaping below half the national average while almost eliminating smoking

The recently-released Results of the Statewide 2019-20 California Student Tobacco Survey found that California is still making excellent progress in reducing youth tobacco use, doing much better than the US as a whole. This is particularly significant because California has never focused its tobacco control program on youth, but rather treated them as part ofContinue reading “California holds youth vaping below half the national average while almost eliminating smoking”

New studies for UK, Netherlands and Flanders and US confirm gateway effects of e-cigs to combusted tobacco products

Three new studies add to the already overwhelming case that e-cigarettes are a gateway to combusted product use; two of these studies also show that combusted tobacco use predicts later e-cigarette use among youth. These studies are benefit from the fact that the data were collected relatively recently, which is important because e-cigarette technology isContinue reading “New studies for UK, Netherlands and Flanders and US confirm gateway effects of e-cigs to combusted tobacco products”

More evidence that smoking makes COVID-19 worse

Kade Patanavanich and I published a meta-analysis that concluded that a history of smoking was associated with COVID-19 disease progression in August 2020 that was based on 19 papers. We just published an update, “Smoking is associated with worse outcomes of COVID-19 particularly among younger adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis” based on 46 papers.Continue reading “More evidence that smoking makes COVID-19 worse”

Onsite cannabis consumption laws rarely ensure clean indoor air

As more and more states legalize adult-use cannabis, the issue of marijuana lounges and other forms of onsite consumption have come to the fore. Like with tobacco smoke, the levels of indoor air pollution when people are smoking (or vaping) marijuana are substantial. The American Society for Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), whichContinue reading “Onsite cannabis consumption laws rarely ensure clean indoor air”

Long-established science supports maintaining and expanding smokefree casinos and other environments

While all commercial gaming in Atlantic City, Michigan and Pennsylvania were temporarily smokefree for a period of time because of the COVID-19 pandemic, smoking has resumed as mask mandates have expired. They did so despite the fact that the science on secondhand smoke has been well-accepted for a long time. The casinos have been encouragedContinue reading “Long-established science supports maintaining and expanding smokefree casinos and other environments”

New WHO report highlights falling cigarette use and challenges that new tobacco products pose to public health and implementation of the FCTC

On July 27, 2021 the WHO released the WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2021: addressing new and emerging products, its eighth such report. The good news is that it documents solid progress in reducing tobacco use. After over a century of growth, “between 2007 and 2019, smoking rates decreased from a global averageContinue reading “New WHO report highlights falling cigarette use and challenges that new tobacco products pose to public health and implementation of the FCTC”

“The Devil’s Playbook” is a great read

My definition of a good book on tobacco is that I learn things I didn’t already know from reading it. Lauren Etter’s new book, The Devil’s Playbook, easily meets and surpasses this standard. Deeply researched beginning with key events in the 1980s, she documents the rise and decline on Juul e-cigarettes and how, at leastContinue reading ““The Devil’s Playbook” is a great read”

How industry documents are made public matters: UCSF Library recommendations

An important aspect of the North Carolina Juul legal settlement as well as several of the opioid settlements have been provisions making the discovery documents public. As the tobacco experience richly demonstrates, these documents can educate the public, the media and policymakers and lead to positive change. An important technical detail is how the documentsContinue reading “How industry documents are made public matters: UCSF Library recommendations”

Thai youth ecig use stays low since country banned imports and sales

While countries like the USA struggle with exploding e-cig use among youth, in Thailand, which bans the import and sales of e-cigarettes (which under Thai law also includes heated tobacco products), youth use remains stable and low. Roengrudee Patanavanich and colleagues (including me) recently published “Use of E-Cigarettes and Associated Factors among Youth in Thailand”Continue reading “Thai youth ecig use stays low since country banned imports and sales”