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”
Category Archives: e-cigarettes
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”
Why is FDA withholding details of its approval for 8 Logic e-cigs and HTP?
In the past, when FDA announced that it was authorizing the sale of new products through the Premarket Tobacco Authorization process (PMTA), they released a detailed scientific summary of the rationale behind their decision known as the Technical Project Lead (TPL) report. These documents were released on the FDA web page announcing the positive decisions.Continue reading “Why is FDA withholding details of its approval for 8 Logic e-cigs and HTP?”
FDA sends another signal that it will authorize menthol ecigs despite high youth use
The FDA continues to telegraph that it is going to authorize the sale of menthol e-cigarettes. The first strong indication was not acting on the Vuse Solo menthol PMTA, which has allowed RJ Reynolds to continue selling menthol Vuse side-by-side (screen capture below) with the authorized tobacco flavor. Now, the FDA press release announcing itsContinue reading “FDA sends another signal that it will authorize menthol ecigs despite high youth use”
E-cigarettes more likely to lead to ongoing nicotine addiction than NRT
E-cigarette advocates and, more important, the FDA, takes it as given that e-cigarettes were developed as a harm reduction tool to help smokers quit cigarettes by “switching completely.” This assumption is, however, inconsistent with the tobacco companies’ actual reasons for developing e-cigarettes and other non-combustible products, including tobacco company products approved as NRT: To deterContinue reading “E-cigarettes more likely to lead to ongoing nicotine addiction than NRT”
Flavored tobacco sales bans reduce tobacco advertising: An added benefit
The evidence that comprehensive bans on the sale of flavored tobacco products work continues to grow. And the latest study by Louisa Holmes, Lauren Lempert and Pam Ling adds a new benefit: There is less tobacco product advertising in cities that have flavor bans. Their paper, Flavored Tobacco Sales Restrictions Reduce Tobacco Product Availability andContinue reading “Flavored tobacco sales bans reduce tobacco advertising: An added benefit”
Higher nicotine content and flavors increase e-cig abuse liability
As debates over nicotine and flavors in e-cigarettes continues to heat up, Mari Gades, Aleksandra Alcheva, Amy Riegelman, and Dorothy Hatsukami just published “The role of nicotine and flavor in the abuse potential and appeal of electronic cigarettes for adult current and former cigarette and electronic cigarette users: A systematic review” in Nicotine and TobaccoContinue reading “Higher nicotine content and flavors increase e-cig abuse liability”
Study claiming SF flavor ban increased youth smoking dissolves; it is not based on any data collected after enforcing the ban
The research letter, “A Difference-in-Differences Analysis of Youth Smoking and a Ban on Sales of Flavored Tobacco Products in San Francisco, California” Abigail Friedman published in JAMA Pediatrics in May 2021 concluded that “San Francisco’s ban on flavored tobacco product sales was associated with increased smoking among minor high school students relative to other schoolContinue reading “Study claiming SF flavor ban increased youth smoking dissolves; it is not based on any data collected after enforcing the ban”
New report highlights marketing of synthetic and “non-tobacco” nicotine products
Just as Congress is moving toward giving FDA explicit authority over non-tobacco nicotine products, Rob Jackler’s group at Stanford released a new report, “Marketing of ‘Tobacco-Free’ and ‘Synthetic Nicotine’ Products,” that details how these products are being promoted. In 2009 Congress gave the FDA jurisdiction over consumer products “made or derived from tobacco,” which includesContinue reading “New report highlights marketing of synthetic and “non-tobacco” nicotine products”