Cannabis use linked to doubling in risk of cardiovascular disease death

Wilhelm Storck and colleagues new paper “Cardiovascular risk associated with the use of cannabis and cannabinoids: a systematic review and meta- analysis” published in Heart adds to the case that, far from being safe, cannabis use poses substantial risks. In an accompanying editorial, “It is time to treat cannabis as an important risk factor forContinue reading “Cannabis use linked to doubling in risk of cardiovascular disease death”

Smoked and edible cannabis both inhibit normal blood vessel function in people

Our earlier epidemiology study linked cannabis use to cardiovascular disease in people. Because most people smoked cannabis in US population at the time, we could not distinguish the effects of inhaled cannabis from other forms of consumption, particularly edibles. Leila Mohammadi and her UCSF colleagues new paper “Association of Endothelial Dysfunction With Chronic Marijuana SmokingContinue reading “Smoked and edible cannabis both inhibit normal blood vessel function in people”

What will happen to CDC’s successful Tips from Former Smokers media campaign and 1-800-QUITNOW service?

In addition to the National Youth Tobacco Survey and other national surveys, the now-shuttered CDC Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) provided technical support and $82 million to support state health departments (zeroed out on April 26, 2025), provided through the National Tobacco Control Program, and prepared dozens of Surgeon General’s reports on smoking andContinue reading “What will happen to CDC’s successful Tips from Former Smokers media campaign and 1-800-QUITNOW service?”

This is not the first time a sale of CBS caused problems for 60 Minutes

On April 22, 2025, Bill Owens the executive producer of CBS’s 60 Minutes resigned, “saying he’s losing the freedom to run it independently.” He was presumably reacting to corporate meddling in 60 Minutes‘ journalism. Donald Trump was suing 60 Minutes for $20 billion over an interview they did with Kamala Harris. More important, CBS parentContinue reading “This is not the first time a sale of CBS caused problems for 60 Minutes”

UCSF adds 151k Juul documents to Truth Tobacco Documents Library, bringing total to 2.9 million Juul documents

The UCSF Industry Documents Library just released 151.079 new Juul documents, bringing the total to 2,880,772 documents in the JUUL Labs collection and 17,893,389 documents in the Truth Tobacco Documents Library. This new batch of documents includes social media presence reports, marketing campaigns, focus group findings, product design, and more. In partnership with the UniversityContinue reading “UCSF adds 151k Juul documents to Truth Tobacco Documents Library, bringing total to 2.9 million Juul documents”

Secondhand cannabis and tobacco smoke both increase cancer risk

The pro-cannabis advocacy group California NORML recently reported that it had successfully kept an exemption for cannabis use in the smokefree multiunit housing provision of the draft ordinance that the Oakland City Council approved on first reading on November 12, 2024.  Their posting includes two inaccurate statements dismissing the cancer risks of secondhand cannabis andContinue reading “Secondhand cannabis and tobacco smoke both increase cancer risk”

Oakland City Council should advance law making bar patios smoke-free and make multi-unit housing tobacco and cannabis smoke-free at November 12 hearing

On November 12, the Oakland City Council will hold a public hearing on a proposed Oakland Smoke-Free Bar Patios and Smoke-Free Multi-Unit Housing Ordinance introduced by Councilperson Dan Kalb.  The ordinance as proposed would close a loophole that allows smoking on outdoor bar patios and also make multi-unit housing tobacco smoke-free.  Unfortunately, the current draft ordinanceContinue reading “Oakland City Council should advance law making bar patios smoke-free and make multi-unit housing tobacco and cannabis smoke-free at November 12 hearing”

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”

Damage to offspring caused by moms’ e-cig exposure during pregnancy persists long after birth and makes offspring more sensitive to e-cig insults

Amber Mills and colleagues new paper Maternal use of electronic cigarettes and impact on offspring: a double-hit model is a follow-up study to their earlier work showing that mother (rat) exposure to e-cigarette aerosol during pregnancy harmed offspring. The new study shows that the adverse effects of in utero (i.e., to the developing fetuses inContinue reading “Damage to offspring caused by moms’ e-cig exposure during pregnancy persists long after birth and makes offspring more sensitive to e-cig insults”