California has enacted the first law, AB455, that requires sellers of single-family homes to disclose in writing any known indoor smoking, vaping, or thirdhand smoke contamination to prospective buyers. It also also directs the California Department of Toxic Substances Control to update its Homeowner’s Guide to Environmental Hazards to include thirdhand smoke information, a taskContinue reading “California Enacts World’s First Thirdhand Smoke Disclosure Law”
Category Archives: lung disease
Plain language summary of meta-analysis of ecigs and disease available
Last year we published “Population-Based Disease Odds for E-Cigarettes and Dual Use versus Cigarettes” that showed that some disease risks of e-cigarettes are indistinguishable from cigarettes and for others they on only slightly lower. This paper continues to attract interest, so I prepared a one page plain language summary, together with some frequently asked questions.Continue reading “Plain language summary of meta-analysis of ecigs and disease available”
E-cigarettes increase harm to smokers, so should not be promoted as a harm reduction strategy (in 10 slides) now available in 10 other languages
My blog post “E-cigarettes increase harm to smokers, so should not be promoted as a harm reduction strategy (in 10 slides)” has attracted a lot of interest, so I have translated it into 10 other languages. Click below to download. These translations were done with Powerpoint. If native speakers have suggestions for improvement, feel free toContinue reading “E-cigarettes increase harm to smokers, so should not be promoted as a harm reduction strategy (in 10 slides) now available in 10 other languages”
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””
Inhaled cannabis associated with increased risk of asthma and COPD independent of tobacco smoking
Answering the question of whether inhaling cannabis increases the risks of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been complicated by the fact that in the past almost all cannabis smokers also smoked tobacco, so it was difficult to determine whether the observed associations between smoking cannabis and these diseases was really due toContinue reading “Inhaled cannabis associated with increased risk of asthma and COPD independent of tobacco smoking”
The evidence for the ecig gateway to smoking keeps piling up; ecig advocates continue to nitpick
Su Golder and colleagues paper “Vaping and harm in young people: umbrella review” sums up the large existing literature on e-cigarettes’ effects on youth, defined as people under 25. In contrast to systematic reviews which find and draw conclusions based on summing up individual studies, this umbrella review is finds and sums up all theContinue reading “The evidence for the ecig gateway to smoking keeps piling up; ecig advocates continue to nitpick”
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”
Order free CDC Office on Smoking and Health publications by Friday Aug 15. After that they will be destroyed.
As part of its campaign to keep the public in the dark, the Trump Administration is closing the CDC Publication Warehouse on Friday August 15. You can still order these Office on Smoking and Health publications for free until then. You can order multiple copies if you want. Items not ordered by Friday will beContinue reading “Order free CDC Office on Smoking and Health publications by Friday Aug 15. After that they will be destroyed.”
Support CDC plan to reinstate NYTS by Aug 15 deadline to submit supportive public comments
In April 2025, the Trump Administration pulled the plug on the National Youth Tobacco Survey in the middle of collecting the 2025 sample, essentially blinding the federal government and the public from important detailed information on youth tobacco use. Now, they are proposing to reinstate it. If implemented properly, this is an important decision. ItContinue reading “Support CDC plan to reinstate NYTS by Aug 15 deadline to submit supportive public comments”
FDA ignores current science to give Juul a pass
Not surprisingly, on July 17, 2025, FDA authorized the sale of Juul tobacco and menthol e-cigarettes. I wish I could say that I am “not surprised” because during the 2024 campaign President Trump announced that he would “save vaping,” but, on reading FDA’s scientific justification (the Technical Product Lead report [TPL]), I found that theContinue reading “FDA ignores current science to give Juul a pass”