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”

E-cig studies from England twice as likely to support e-cigs as studies from other countries

England is unquestionably the most pro-e-cigarette country on the planet, most recently evidenced by the fact that the government is giving away free e-cigarette starter kits to one million smokers despite the fact that e-cigarettes as consumer products don’t help smokers quit and may, in the long run, keep them smoking (even in England). TheContinue reading “E-cig studies from England twice as likely to support e-cigs as studies from other countries”

The 6-state Juul settlement includes some stronger provisions than earlier settlements

The latest settlements between six states (California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico and New York) and the District of Columbia and Juul, announced on April 11, 2023, mostly follows the earlier North Carolina settlement, but does include some stronger provisions, particularly compared to the earlier 33 state settlement. This summary is basedContinue reading “The 6-state Juul settlement includes some stronger provisions than earlier settlements”

Juul settlement should stop internet sales of Juul menthol pods in California

On April 11, 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that he (and six other states) has settled litigation against Juul for money, making some of the Juul documents from discovery public, and an agreement by Juul to curb some specific marketing activities. I will be providing a detailed analysis of the settlement later, butContinue reading “Juul settlement should stop internet sales of Juul menthol pods in California”

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”

FDA inches ahead by denying marketing order for RJR Vuse Solo menthol

FDA has continued to deny marketing authorization for menthol e-cigarettes with its March 17, 2023 announcement that it had denied marketing authorization for two RJR Vuse Solo menthol cartridges. This action follows FDA denials for RJR Vuse Ciro menthol and JTI Logic menthol e-cigarettes. While FDA does not make its detailed analysis public for marketingContinue reading “FDA inches ahead by denying marketing order for RJR Vuse Solo menthol”

Youth E-cig use much lower in countries that prohibit e-cigs

A new paper, Electronic cigarettes use and ‘dual use’ among the youth in 75 countries: estimates from Global Youth Tobacco Surveys (2014–2019) shows that countries that prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes, like Thailand and Brazil, have much lower levels of youth cigarette use than countries that allow them and have laws to restrict sales toContinue reading “Youth E-cig use much lower in countries that prohibit e-cigs”

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”

Three new papers detail FDA errors in authorizing Vuse Solo

Last week Tobacco Control published two peer reviewed scientific critiques of FDA’s authorization for RJ Reynolds to sell Vuse Solo e-cigarettes as well as a commentary on the two papers.  Both papers recommend FDA exercise its authority to withdraw authorization to sell Vuse Solo and the commentary because FDA did not demonstrate that marketing VuseContinue reading “Three new papers detail FDA errors in authorizing Vuse Solo”