Surprise! PM and BAT condemn ANVISA decision to keep e-cigarettes out of Brazil

Philip Morris and BAT both issued statements condemning ANVISA’s decision to maintain and strengthen e-cigarette regulations to keep the products (and other ENDS products) out of Brazil. Not surprisingly, they use the same generic arguments Big Tobacco uses against almost all regulations. The reality is that, as I noted in my post congratulating ANVISA, whileContinue reading “Surprise! PM and BAT condemn ANVISA decision to keep e-cigarettes out of Brazil”

Brazil strengthens its ban on ENDS, including e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products

On Friday, April 19, 2024, the board of ANVISA, the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency strengthened its already-strong ban on electronic nicotine systems (ENDS), which includes e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. In stark contrast to the US Biden Administration, which just caved to industry pressure and blocked the FDA’s well-conceived ban on menthol cigarettes and flavoredContinue reading “Brazil strengthens its ban on ENDS, including e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products”

Tobacco industry denormalization supports stronger tobacco control policies

Tobacco industry denormalization — the strategy of educating people about the predatory behavior of the tobacco industry — is used in many high income states and countries. Now, Roengrudee Patanavanich and I have published “Awareness of tobacco industry tactics among tobacco control communities in Thailand and its association with attitudes towards tobacco industry and perceptionsContinue reading “Tobacco industry denormalization supports stronger tobacco control policies”

Heated tobacco products damage human lung function as much as cigarettes

Philip Morris has aggressively promoted its heated tobacco product (HTP) IQOS all over the world as a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes based on the fact that IQOS delivers lower levels of some combustion products than cigarettes. IQOS is the most populat HTP in Japan, and other tobacco companies make similar claims for their HTP.Continue reading “Heated tobacco products damage human lung function as much as cigarettes”

Read the behind scenes story of the 1964 Surgeon General Report on Smoking and Health

The 1964 Report on Smoking and Health represented a turning point in the history of tobacco in the United States and the world. Now Don Shopland [photo above], who at the time was an eighteen year-old, “newly working at the National Library of Medicine,” who found himself moonlighting for the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee thatContinue reading “Read the behind scenes story of the 1964 Surgeon General Report on Smoking and Health”

Over 1 million previously secret Juul documents now available, with more to come

The UCSF Industry Documents Library released another 519,000 new Juul Labs documents, bringing the total number of documents to 1,053,233. This is about one-quarter of the complete collection of more than 4 million documents. Check out the Juul documents here.

Contrary to public position, Juul founders wanted to attract former and non-smokers from the beginning

Juul co-founders Adam Monsees and James Bowen portray themselves as idealistic entrepreneurs committed to improving the health of billions of adult smokers with no intent to sell nicotine to non-smokers. Documents released as part of the settlement of North Carolina’s lawsuit against Juul, however, tells quite a different story. In particular, Monsees & Bowen’s 2006Continue reading “Contrary to public position, Juul founders wanted to attract former and non-smokers from the beginning”

Juul’s internal playbook opens a rare window into influence in Washington

Nicholas Florko at StatNews just published an excellent piece using the newly-released Juul internal documents to describe how the company worked behind the scenes in Washington all the way down to local governments to influence, legislators, the Administration, regulatory agencies, local governments and public opinion generally by campaign contributions, quietly hiring a range of politicalContinue reading “Juul’s internal playbook opens a rare window into influence in Washington”

Banning menthol leads a quarter of menthol smokers to quit

The two justifications for the FDA’s proposed product standard prohibiting menthol cigarettes and cigars are (1) it will reduce youth initiation, and (2) it will help menthol smokers to quit. Now Sarah Mills and colleagues have published a review and meta-analysis of the effects of menthol bans around the world, The Impact of Menthol CigaretteContinue reading “Banning menthol leads a quarter of menthol smokers to quit”

Relevant to COP10: Pharmaceuticalisation as the tobacco industry’s endgame

Yogi Hendlin, Eileen Han and Pam Ling’s new paper Pharmaceuticalisation as the tobacco industry’s endgame provides a detailed analysis of how the multinational tobacco companies have developed and used the companies efforts to reposition themselves a source for “clean” nicotine while simultaneously maintaining and expanding their sales of cigarettes and other “traditional” tobacco products whereContinue reading “Relevant to COP10: Pharmaceuticalisation as the tobacco industry’s endgame”