Category Archives: e-cigarettes

More evidence that dual use is worse than smoking

Krisha Reddy and colleagues just published “ Respiratory Symptom Incidence Among People Using Electronic Cigarettes, Combustible Tobacco, or Both” in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine that showed that dual use of e-cigarettes and cigarettes doubled the odds of developing respiratory symptoms (aOR 2.22, 95% CI 1.79-2.75). This was a statistically significantly biggerContinue reading “More evidence that dual use is worse than smoking”

Exposure to e-cigs in music videos associated with more e-cig use in real life

It has been well-established for over a decade that exposure to onscreen smoking in movies causes kids to smoke. Now, Anuja Majumundar and colleagues at USC have used similar methods as in the early movie studies to show that the more e-cig promotions young adults (age 18-24) see in music videos the more likely theyContinue reading “Exposure to e-cigs in music videos associated with more e-cig use in real life”

E-cig use associated with asthma, COPD in never-smokers

One of the excuses that e-cigarette advocates have used to dismiss the papers linking e-cigarette use with lung disease — that most e-cigarette users are current or former smokers — just got blown away with publication of a new study by Emine Bircan and colleagues of the association between e-cigarette use and lung disease inContinue reading “E-cig use associated with asthma, COPD in never-smokers”

Marijuana joints produce 3.5 times as much secondhand smoke as a Marlboro

Tobacco cigarettes are such strong sources of indoor air pollution that the only way to get acceptable indoor air quality is to make spaces smokefree. Now, Wayne Ott and colleagues have done a real-world study of the levels of pollution caused by smoking a joint (or a bong or vaping cannabis) and found that marijuanaContinue reading “Marijuana joints produce 3.5 times as much secondhand smoke as a Marlboro”

The biological evidence of e-cig dangers keeps piling up

Rachel Keith and Aruni Bhatnagar just published “Cardiorespiratory and Immunologic Effects of Electronic Cigarettes,” which is a nice overview of the growing biological evidence base that e-cigarettes have a lot of adverse health effects, many similar to cigarettes. This material is particularly important because the people who continue to promote e-cigarettes for “harm reduction” continueContinue reading “The biological evidence of e-cig dangers keeps piling up”

FDA can streamline reviewing e-cigs as consumer tobacco products by starting with key questions about use

On February 16, 2021, Mitch Zeller, Director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), published an update on FDA’s progress in handling the waterfall of applications for premarket authorization of new tobacco products (PMTA) and other applications from tobacco companies.  Everyone was expecting a large number of PMTA applications for new products to comeContinue reading “FDA can streamline reviewing e-cigs as consumer tobacco products by starting with key questions about use”

Public comment supporting USPS regulation against mailing all e-cigs (including cannabis)

My colleagues at UCSF and Stanford and I just submitted the following public comment supporting Postal Service regulations to prohibit mailing e-cigarettes and their components to implement recent Congressional legislation. This not only includes nicotine devices but also non-nicotine devices, including cannabis. We also suggested some technical clarifications to make sure there are no loopholes.Continue reading “Public comment supporting USPS regulation against mailing all e-cigs (including cannabis)”

UK study shows nondaily ecig use associated with significantly less quitting cigs

A recent paper published in Addiction, “The effectiveness of using e-cigarettes for quitting smoking compared to other cessation methods among adults in the United Kingdom,” found that the odds of 30 day smoking cessation among smokers motivated to quit were cut by a factor or 4 among nondaily e-cig users compared to people who didContinue reading “UK study shows nondaily ecig use associated with significantly less quitting cigs”

FDA should take Puff Bar at its word that it is not a tobacco product … and ban them as illegal drug delivery devices

The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act gave the FDA jurisdiction to regulate tobacco products, defined as products “made or derived from tobacco.” This means that any product that includes nicotine derived from tobacco is subject to FDA jurisdiction. There has been discussion in academic circles about nicotine delivery products being made fromContinue reading “FDA should take Puff Bar at its word that it is not a tobacco product … and ban them as illegal drug delivery devices”