On April 19, 2023, Politico published “RJR uses California as test market for skirting upcoming national menthol cigarette ban” describing how RJR has been promoting its “non-menthol” cigarettes as a way to get around California’s prohibition on the sale of all tobacco products. According to the article California AG Rob Bonta is “investigating” what hisContinue reading “FDA has what it needs to prohibit “non-menthol” cigarettes”
Category Archives: smoking
Any e-cig use among young smokers increases odds of smoking in late adolescence
While it is well-established that youth who initiate nicotine use with e-cigarettes are more likely to start smoking and that e-cigarettes are expanding nicotine addiction, no one had examined whether e-cigarette use promotes continued smoking among youth. Now Brian Kelly and colleagues have published a well-done paper addressing that question: E-cigarette use among early adolescentContinue reading “Any e-cig use among young smokers increases odds of smoking in late adolescence”
Detailed changing use patterns of e-cigs and cigs shows harm enhancement for adults and youth
Until the advent of e-cigarettes nearly 20 years ago tobacco use patterns were pretty stable. Almost everyone who smoked tobacco smoked cigarettes with a few people smoking cigars. And some people used smokeless tobacco. With the advent of e-cigarettes and other new tobacco products, this situation has become much more complicated, particularly since some inContinue reading “Detailed changing use patterns of e-cigs and cigs shows harm enhancement for adults and youth”
Switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes does not reduce respiratory symptoms
Jonathan Berlowitz and colleagues’ new paper Cigarette‒E-cigarette Transitions and Respiratory Symptom Development adds to the already strong case that e-cigarette use increases the risk of respiratory symptoms and that dual use (using e-cigarettes while smoking cigarettes) is more dangerous than using either product alone. Most important, switching from cigarettes only to e-cigarettes only did notContinue reading “Switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes does not reduce respiratory symptoms”
YouTube videos from smokers on RJR “non-menthol” cigarettes say they are still flavored: Direct evidence they violate California law
Customer reviews posted to YouTube provide evidence that RJ Reynolds’ new “non-menthol” cigarettes are still flavored and violate California’s (and local) bans on the sale of flavored tobacco products. The most extensive example is a detailed product review: In a second video, at around :45, the woman says the Newport non-menthols “still have a hintContinue reading “YouTube videos from smokers on RJR “non-menthol” cigarettes say they are still flavored: Direct evidence they violate California law”
E-cigarettes damage human cancer-related DNA as much as cigarettes
The scientific evidence that e-cigarettes cause cardiovascular and pulmonary disease is more extensive than for cancer, probably because these diseases are manifest faster than cancer, which can take years. One way to gain insight into the relationship between e-cigarette use and cancer risk is to look for DNA damage that, over the long term, mayContinue reading “E-cigarettes damage human cancer-related DNA as much as cigarettes”
Even a little smoking is bad: Implications for harm reduction
I just came on two important papers — Association of Long-term, Low-Intensity Smoking With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study and Association between long-term low-intensity cigarette smoking and incidence of smoking-related cancer in the National Institutes of Health-AARP cohort by Maki Inoue Choi and her colleagues atContinue reading “Even a little smoking is bad: Implications for harm reduction”
RJR tries to slither around CA ban on sale of flavored tobacco products with Newport, too
RJ Reynolds, BAT’s US subsidiary, has released its third effort to keep selling flavored cigarettes with its new Newport cigarettes that offer “bold lasting flavor” now that it can’t sell menthol cigarettes. The problem with what Reynolds is doing is that the law prohibits the sale of flavored tobacco products, not just menthol flavored tobaccoContinue reading “RJR tries to slither around CA ban on sale of flavored tobacco products with Newport, too”
AG needs to stop Reynolds’ latest transparent attempt to flout California’s ban on the sale of flavored tobacco
After getting crushed at the ballot box and rebuffed by the Supreme Court, RJ Renolds is still trying to slither around California’s prohibition on the sale of flavored tobacco products. In addition to introducing Camel “ice” cigarettes, it is now promoting “Non-menthol Kool” only in California (screenshot of their website above). The packaging and promotionContinue reading “AG needs to stop Reynolds’ latest transparent attempt to flout California’s ban on the sale of flavored tobacco”
After sitting on cigarette warning labels, judge announces he will rule on their legality (in a month)
Perhaps in response to the Department of Justice threatening to go over his head to the Count of Appeals, Texas Trump Judge J. Campbell Barker who has been sitting on the FDA’s Congressionally-mandated cigarette pack graphic warnings for years has announced the he expects to rule on the industry’s challenge to the warning labels byContinue reading “After sitting on cigarette warning labels, judge announces he will rule on their legality (in a month)”
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