The RCP got this right: Promotion of tobacco harm reduction is playing right into the tobacco industry’s hands

I previously published three detailed critiques of the 2024 UK Royal College of Physicians report E-cigarettes and Harm Reduction: An Evidence Review for being an incomplete and selective review of the literature in three areas — underestimating the magnitude of disease risk caused by e-cigarettes, ignoring the large body of real world evidence that e-cigarettesContinue reading “The RCP got this right: Promotion of tobacco harm reduction is playing right into the tobacco industry’s hands”

Smokers who use e-cigs as for smoking cessation are more likely to end up dual users than to “switch completely” or stop smoking and vaping

E-cigarette enthusiasts, including the FDA and the NHS and others in England, and some in New Zealand and Canadian governments continue to promote “switching completely” from cigarettes to e-cigarettes as a form of harm reduction. I just found another paper that shows that the reality is that adult smokers who use e-cigarettes as a smokingContinue reading “Smokers who use e-cigs as for smoking cessation are more likely to end up dual users than to “switch completely” or stop smoking and vaping”

Register for free UCSF indusry documents workshop Oct 8

Registration is now open for the UCSF Annual Tobacco and Other Industry Documents Workshop. The workshop, which is a joint project of UCSF’s Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education and the UCSF Library will again be held virtually on October 8th from 9am-12:15pm Pacific Time. Participants will gain comprehensive knowledge of UCSF’s Industry DocumentsContinue reading “Register for free UCSF indusry documents workshop Oct 8”

Wide-ranging podcast with ProfGlantz

Douglas County Oregon Public Health recently released an hour long interview Mitchell Kilkenny conducted with me covering everything from how I got involved with tobacco control through secondhand smoke’s effects to our recent research showing that for for many diseases e-cigarettes have indistinguishable risks to smoking, why the tobacco free generation” is a bad idea,Continue reading “Wide-ranging podcast with ProfGlantz”

FDA should not renew permission for PMI Swedish Match snus to make modified risk claims

My UCSF colleagues and I submitted this public comment to FDA last week opposing renewal of its marketing order allowing PMI’s Swedish Match Snus to make modified risk claims. (This is an updated version of the comment we submitted to TPSAC on June 10, 2024. I was backpacking when the comment was actually submitted, henceContinue reading “FDA should not renew permission for PMI Swedish Match snus to make modified risk claims”

Criticism of our meta-analysis of e-cigarettes and disease and our response is published

NEJM Evidence has published two letters to the editor that raised questions about our meta-analysis, Population-Based Disease Odds for E-Cigarettes and Dual Use versus Cigarettes that concluded that for cardiovascular disease, stroke and metabolic disorder e-cigarette risks are similar to cigarettes and for respiratory and oral disease, while lower risk than cigarettes, the risks areContinue reading “Criticism of our meta-analysis of e-cigarettes and disease and our response is published”

DOJ and DEA should reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III to identify regulatory approaches from tobacco to apply to cannabis

My UCSF colleagues and I submitted this comment to DOJ supporting reschduling marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III ( PDF). The regulations.gov tracking number is lyx-h4jq-93z8. The Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Agency should reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III to allow consideration of the health, safety, and abuse liability impactsContinue reading “DOJ and DEA should reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III to identify regulatory approaches from tobacco to apply to cannabis”

New meta-analysis of e-cigs and cardiovascular disease shows increased risks

Chen Chen and colleagues recently published Assessing the association between e-cigarette use and cardiovascular disease: A meta-analysis of exclusive and dual use with combustible cigarettes that found significantly elevated cardiovascular disease risk in dual users (people who use both e-cigarettes and cigarettes) and former smokers who had switched to e-cigarettes compared to people who hadContinue reading “New meta-analysis of e-cigs and cardiovascular disease shows increased risks”

FDA should consider the significant public health issues, especially for youth, created by PMI co-marketing of its Swedish Match General Snus and ZYN oral nicotine products and not reauthorize modified risk claims for General Snus

My colleagues at UCSF and I submitted this comment to the FDA Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee opposing extension of PMI’s current authorization to make modified risk claims because its co-marketing with its ZYN nicotine pouch is fundamentally misleading. TPSAC is holding a meeting to discuss the modified risk request on June 26, 2024. AContinue reading “FDA should consider the significant public health issues, especially for youth, created by PMI co-marketing of its Swedish Match General Snus and ZYN oral nicotine products and not reauthorize modified risk claims for General Snus”

Implications of new RCT showing similar effects on quitting for nicotine e-cigs vs varenicline

Almost all the randomized controlled trials of e-cigarettes as clinical interventions for smoking cessation have compared e-cigarettes to nicotine replacement therapy.  Varenicline, which is a prescription medication that works by blocking nicotine receptors rather than replacing the nicotine that cigarettes provide, is more effective than NRT.  Anna Tsiku and colleagues new paper “Electronic Cigarettes vsContinue reading “Implications of new RCT showing similar effects on quitting for nicotine e-cigs vs varenicline”