Last week the FDA and CDC released their analysis of the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey. The 2024 report moved beyond earlier FDA and CDC summaries of NYTS results by including details on how heavily youth were using e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, as well as details on brand preferences and specific flavor preferences, including “ice”Continue reading “Implications of 2024 NYTS: Ban nicotine salts and clamp down on Zyn”
Category Archives: public health
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”
e-cig PG/VG and nicotine promote tumor growth and metastasis
E-cigarettes deliver nicotine to users by aerosolizing “e-liquid” that is a solution containing nicotine and flavoring agents. The solvent used to dissolve these elements usually consists of propylene glycol and glycerin (PG/VG), which is recognized by the FDA as “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) for ingestion (eating), so people generally don’t worry about it. InContinue reading “e-cig PG/VG and nicotine promote tumor growth and metastasis”
Genetic evidence that e-cigarettes increase cancer (and other disease) risk among young adults
E-cigarette advocates — as well as regulators like the FDA — are fond of pointing out that nicotine is not a carcinogen (chemical that causes cancer) and noting that because they do not involve combustion, e-cigarettes do not deliver many carcinogenic chemicals produced by burning cigarettes. A new paper by Stella Tommasi , Ahmad BesaratiniaContinue reading “Genetic evidence that e-cigarettes increase cancer (and other disease) risk among young adults”
FDA should not renew permission for PMI Swedish Match snus to make modified risk claims
My UCSF colleagues and I submitted this public comment to FDA last week opposing renewal of its marketing order allowing PMI’s Swedish Match Snus to make modified risk claims. (This is an updated version of the comment we submitted to TPSAC on June 10, 2024. I was backpacking when the comment was actually submitted, henceContinue reading “FDA should not renew permission for PMI Swedish Match snus to make modified risk claims”
The evidence that secondhand smoke causes breast cancer keeps piling up. When will Surg Gen, CDC, ACS and others start acting on this evidence?
In 2005 the California EPA found secondhand smoke caused breast cancer in younger women. (Related regulatory documents available here.) Amazingly, as of 2024 — 19 years later — neither the CDC (and the Surgeon General, who follows the CDC) nor the American Cancer Society list smoking or secondhand smoke as risk factors for breast cancer.Continue reading “The evidence that secondhand smoke causes breast cancer keeps piling up. When will Surg Gen, CDC, ACS and others start acting on this evidence?”
Criticism of our meta-analysis of e-cigarettes and disease and our response is published
NEJM Evidence has published two letters to the editor that raised questions about our meta-analysis, Population-Based Disease Odds for E-Cigarettes and Dual Use versus Cigarettes that concluded that for cardiovascular disease, stroke and metabolic disorder e-cigarette risks are similar to cigarettes and for respiratory and oral disease, while lower risk than cigarettes, the risks areContinue reading “Criticism of our meta-analysis of e-cigarettes and disease and our response is published”
DOJ and DEA should reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III to identify regulatory approaches from tobacco to apply to cannabis
My UCSF colleagues and I submitted this comment to DOJ supporting reschduling marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III ( PDF). The regulations.gov tracking number is lyx-h4jq-93z8. The Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Agency should reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III to allow consideration of the health, safety, and abuse liability impactsContinue reading “DOJ and DEA should reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III to identify regulatory approaches from tobacco to apply to cannabis”
DOJ’s proposed transfer of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III will facilitate research on cardiovascular impacts of cannabis use
My UCSF colleagues and I just submitted this public comment supporting moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III (PDF copy). The Regulations.gov tracking number is lyx-h4jq-93z8. The Department of Justice’s proposed transfer of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act will facilitate research on the cardiovascular impacts of cannabisContinue reading “DOJ’s proposed transfer of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III will facilitate research on cardiovascular impacts of cannabis use”
New meta-analysis of e-cigs and cardiovascular disease shows increased risks
Chen Chen and colleagues recently published Assessing the association between e-cigarette use and cardiovascular disease: A meta-analysis of exclusive and dual use with combustible cigarettes that found significantly elevated cardiovascular disease risk in dual users (people who use both e-cigarettes and cigarettes) and former smokers who had switched to e-cigarettes compared to people who hadContinue reading “New meta-analysis of e-cigs and cardiovascular disease shows increased risks”
Stanton Glantz blog 