The tobacco companies, including e-cig company Juul, tout their electronic age verification technology as an effective way to reduce youth use and argue against stricter regulation. I have long been concerned that this technology would also allow the companies to collect marketing information that couple be used to promote their products the second that theyContinue reading “Altria’s electronic age verification system is used to gather consumer data and promote products”
Category Archives: smoking
Tremendous new resource on tobacco industry issue ads now available
Rob Jackler just published Propaganda Crusades by Philip Morris International & Altria: “Smoke-Free Future” & “Moving Beyond Smoke” Campaigns Exposing the Hypocrisy of the Claim: “A Tobacco Company That Actually Cares About Health,” an encyclopedic analysis of Philip Morris and Altria’s issue advertising campaigns claiming that the companies have changed from promoting death for profitContinue reading “Tremendous new resource on tobacco industry issue ads now available”
More real world evidence that e-cigs make it harder to quit cigarettes
The evidence that e-cigarettes do not work for smoking cessation just keeps piling up. The latest high quality real world study, “Effectiveness of e-cigarettes as aids for smoking cessation: evidence from the PATH Cohort Study, 2017-19,” published by Ruifeng Chen and colleagues at UCSD in Tobacco Control reports on the association between e-cigarette use andContinue reading “More real world evidence that e-cigs make it harder to quit cigarettes”
A wide range of e-cigarettes similarly harm artery function as much as cigarettes
The whole harm reduction and reduced exposure frameworks that the FDA and others use to assess alternative inhaled tobacco products assumes that the specific details of the aerosol that these products deliver to users has a substantial effect on risks. New research by Poonam Rao, Matt Springer, and their colleagues at UCSF raises serious questionsContinue reading “A wide range of e-cigarettes similarly harm artery function as much as cigarettes”
High school student use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes fell after the San Francisco flavor ban took effect
San Francisco’s experience continues to be a central issue as localities and states continue to debate legislation ending the sale of flavored tobacco products, including the tobacco companies’ effort to overturn California’s flavor ban by forcing a referendum on it. Results from the 2019-20 California Student Tobacco Survey show that that, compared to the surveyContinue reading “High school student use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes fell after the San Francisco flavor ban took effect”
The e-cig gateway has two doors
When people talk about the “gateway effect” of e-cigarettes, they are usually referring to the first gateway: the fact that never-smoking kids who initiate nicotine use with e-cigarettes are more likely to start smoking cigarettes than youth who never try e-cigarettes. E-cig enthusiasts dismiss these studies by invoking the “common liability” theory which asserts thatContinue reading “The e-cig gateway has two doors”
Ecig enthusiasts respond to criticism that they selectively cited the science by ignoring the conclusions of the papers they do cite
In addition to the excellent paper by Samet and Barrington-Trimis the American Journal of Public Health recently published two letters to the editor — one from Wasim Maziak and one from me — criticizing the paper “Balancing consideration of the risks and benefits of e-cigarettes.” That paper argues that concerns over youth e-cigarette use needsContinue reading “Ecig enthusiasts respond to criticism that they selectively cited the science by ignoring the conclusions of the papers they do cite”
E-cigs: What about helping the smokers?
A lot of the discussion of e-cigarettes has been about the millions of youth who are starting nicotine addiction with them. While the tobacco companies are obvious beneficiaries of this fact, no one — not even the companies — publicly claims that this is a good thing. The goal is to “help addicted smokers quitContinue reading “E-cigs: What about helping the smokers?”
Youth smoking and vaping growing in e-cig friendly New Zealand
New Zealand, like England, the US FDA, and a few other countries, has embraced e-cigarettes. Like other e-cig enthusiasts, the Health Ministry minimizes risks to kids. In particular, its “Position statement on vaping” says: There is no international evidence that vaping products are undermining the long-term decline in cigarette smoking among adults and youth, andContinue reading “Youth smoking and vaping growing in e-cig friendly New Zealand”
Vaping disrupts mitochondria and promotes inflammation independent of the effects of past smoking
The fact that many e-cigarette users are former or current cigarette smokers (dual users) complicates understanding the health effects of e-cigarette use. Stella Tommasi, Ahmad Besaratinia and their colleagues at USC have used sophisticated genomic analysis of white blood cells (leukocytes) collected from people to pry these effects apart. In their paper, “A novel roleContinue reading “Vaping disrupts mitochondria and promotes inflammation independent of the effects of past smoking”
Stanton Glantz blog 