In mid-2024 Drs. Robert Jackler, Pam Ling and others learned that the for-profit medical company Medcape was offering a continuing medical education course on tobacco harm reduction sponsored by Philip Morris International that promoted the industry position that smokers could reduce risk by switching from cigarettes to “less risky” products, such as smokeless tobacco. MostContinue reading “Historical and political context for Philip Morris International’s continuing medical education courses on harm reduction: Implications for current product regulation”
Category Archives: public health
Heated tobacco products increase risk of metabolic syndrome more than smoking
The tobacco companies have been aggressively promoting heated tobacco products (HTP), including Philip Morris IQOS, BAT’s glo and JTI’s Ploom, as safer alternatives to cigarettes as part of the companies’ efforts to reposition themselves as “part of the solution” to the tobacco problem. Similar to e-cigarettes, they argue that these products are safer because theContinue reading “Heated tobacco products increase risk of metabolic syndrome more than smoking”
Dual use is not an intermediate condition on the way from cigarettes to “switching completely” or quitting
Discussion of potential harm reduction associated with the use of e-cigarettes assumes that smokers will “switch completely” from cigarettes to e-cigarettes or stop both tobacco products. Advocates of this view, including the US FDA, recognize and accept that this process may include a period of dual use in which smokers use both products. Now JosefContinue reading “Dual use is not an intermediate condition on the way from cigarettes to “switching completely” or quitting”
Dual cigarette and e-cig use increases human risk of lung cancer 40 times
As summarized in an earlier blog post, exposure to e-cigarette aerosol accelerates tumore growth and spread (metastasis) among established cancers. This effect is distinct from actually causing the cancer (i.e., carcinogenesis). Indeed, propylene glycol and vegetable glycerine (PG/VG), the primary solvents in e-liquid and which have been assumed to be inert are major causes ofContinue reading “Dual cigarette and e-cig use increases human risk of lung cancer 40 times”
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”
E-cig advocates publish results showing e-cig users have more respiratory symptoms than nonsmokers
E-cigarette advocate Riccardo Polosa, along with pro-harm reduction colleagues from around the world, recently published Respiratory symptoms among e-cigarette users without an established smoking history in the VERITAS cohort. Their paper presents strong evidence that sole e-cigarette users (i.e., people who are not also smoking cigarettes) are significantly more likely to experience respiratory symptoms thanContinue reading “E-cig advocates publish results showing e-cig users have more respiratory symptoms than nonsmokers”
FDA & NIH must support research to increase tobacco cessation reach and engagement to address populations disproportionately harmed by Big Tobacco
My colleagues and I submitted this public commento to FDA and NIH regarding their priorities for tobacco cessatio research. The Regulations.gov tracking number is m3p-2qiq-zm6w. A PDF version is available here. While it was not publicly available when we were preparing this comment, a lot of the suggestions overlap or complement the recently-released Surgeon GeneralContinue reading “FDA & NIH must support research to increase tobacco cessation reach and engagement to address populations disproportionately harmed by Big Tobacco”
Calif Dept of Public Health releases important report presenting policy recommendations that account for the fact that high potency cannabis now dominates the market
On October 4,2024, the California Department of Public Health its REPORT ANDRECOMMENDATIONS OF THE HIGH POTENCY CANNABIS THINK TANK TO THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA prepared by an independent panel of 13 scientist and clinician cannabis experts. It documents the fact that high-potency cannabis has overtaken California and national cannabis markets and summarizes the serious associatedContinue reading “Calif Dept of Public Health releases important report presenting policy recommendations that account for the fact that high potency cannabis now dominates the market”
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”
Stanton Glantz blog 