What the BAT chief scientist had to say about causality half a century ago

E-cigarette advocates, global warming deniers and social media companies continue to sidestep the implications of research showing dangers of their products by, among other things, retreating behind the high walls of claims that the evidence is not “causal.” To put these claims in context, it is worth re-reading the last couple paragraphs from our bookContinue reading “What the BAT chief scientist had to say about causality half a century ago”

DOJ spying on Congress’ viewing of Epstein files echos tobacco company spying on researchers

On February 9, 2026, as required by Epstein Files Transparency Act, the Department of Justice gave members of Congress access to the unredacted Epstein files, but just made four computer terminals at available. This reminded me of a similar situation back in 1999, when the British American Tobacco (BAT) company opened its Guildford Depository toContinue reading “DOJ spying on Congress’ viewing of Epstein files echos tobacco company spying on researchers”

DOJ should have been able to easily release properly redacted Epstein files by December 19, 2025 based on our experience managing the UCSF Industry Documents Library

The issue of redactions – both redacting names of victims and not redacting participants in Jeffery Epstein’s “social circle” —  documents has been in the news.  There have also been questions about why it took so long for DOJ to release around 3.5 million pages of documents, plus about 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. WorkingContinue reading “DOJ should have been able to easily release properly redacted Epstein files by December 19, 2025 based on our experience managing the UCSF Industry Documents Library”

UCSF makes 60,000 more Juul documents public, bringing total to 4.9 million documents so far

The UCSF Industry Documents Library added close to 60,000 Juul Labs documents produced by the Settling States in the multistate litigation against Juul Labs. Files include memos, emails, flavor focus group reports, prospective investor reports, support tickets and more. This brings the total number of Juul Labs files to 4.9 million documents and growing! CheckContinue reading “UCSF makes 60,000 more Juul documents public, bringing total to 4.9 million documents so far”

Juul’s Connection to ‘Independent’ Expert Farsalinos Revealed

Greek cardiologist Konstantinos Farsalinos has been one of the e-cigarette industry’s most consistent supporters. Despite his behavior having all the hallmarks of undisclosed industry ties, until now no one was able to prove it. Now, using the Juul documents in the UCSF Industry documents library, investigators from The Examination, Le Monde (in English, in French)Continue reading “Juul’s Connection to ‘Independent’ Expert Farsalinos Revealed”

E-cigarettes increase harm to smokers, so should not be promoted as a harm reduction strategy (in 10 slides)

The tobacco industry has used claims of reduced harm to sell its products since the 1950s with its efforts to promote “safe cigarettes.” “Harm reduction” claims have been central to marketing of e-cigarettes since they were commercialized in 2003.  The tobacco industry and its allies continue to use claims of reduced harm to argue againstContinue reading “E-cigarettes increase harm to smokers, so should not be promoted as a harm reduction strategy (in 10 slides)”

International Pediatric Association publishes position paper concluding that “e-cigarettes are not an effective harm reduction strategy for adults and pose a serious risk to nicotine naïve youth”

On October 10, 2025, the International Pediatric Association (IPA) published a landmark position paper, “E-Cigarettes and the Nicotine Epidemic: Statement From the International Pediatric Association,” in Pediatrics, the international peer-reviewed journal published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The paper concluded, “In contrast to early hopes and assumptions, e-cigarettes are not an effective harm reductionContinue reading “International Pediatric Association publishes position paper concluding that “e-cigarettes are not an effective harm reduction strategy for adults and pose a serious risk to nicotine naïve youth””

Archived copy of Tobaccoscam website and ads on smokefree hospitality is available

In 2002 I developed an educational campaign called Tobacco Scam designed to counter tobacco industry propaganda directed at restaurants and to expose the industry’s cooptation of the state and national restaurant associations. It was called “Tobacco Scam” because it highlighted how the tobacco companies were scamming restaurants and bars into opposing smokefree laws based onContinue reading “Archived copy of Tobaccoscam website and ads on smokefree hospitality is available”

Archival copies of Smokefree Movies and Smokefree Media websites are available

I ran the Smokefree Movies campaign from 2001 through my retirement from UCSF in 2020. This education/advocacy campaign put pressure on the motion picture industry to stop promoting tobacco to young audiences through specific policy changes. We advocated for these policies though paid advertising in the trade and general press and the Smokefree Movies website.Continue reading “Archival copies of Smokefree Movies and Smokefree Media websites are available”

UCSF launches new improved Industry Documents Library

Today the UCSF Industry Documents Library launched a complete redesign of the website that aligns with evolving institutional and user research needs and delivers a new and improved user experience. What’s new? Save the date – On Tuesday, September 9, 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT UCSF is hosting a live website open house and Q&AContinue reading “UCSF launches new improved Industry Documents Library”