On April 28, 2022, FDA released its proposed tobacco product standard prohibiting menthol cigarettes. The justification for prohibiting menthol as a characterizing flavor includes a comprehensive review of the effects of menthol on smoking, including why menthol promotes cigarette initiation and how it makes it harder to quit smoking. In addition to summarizing the behavioralContinue reading “FDA proposed menthol ban in cigarettes is well done, except for the exceptions”
Category Archives: vaping
FDA authorizes NJOY e-cigs without disclosing reasoning; inaction allows menthol to remain on the market
Today FDA continued its trend of authorizing the sale of tobacco-flavored eicgs — this time the NJOY while leaving menthol versions on the market by not acting. On the NJOY website, menthol and tobacco pods are sold side-by-side, with menthol shown first (screen shot below). Following the precedent set when it authorized the sale ofContinue reading “FDA authorizes NJOY e-cigs without disclosing reasoning; inaction allows menthol to remain on the market”
AG settlements with Juul keep getting weaker, not stronger
When North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein settled the state’s lawsuit against Juul, I said it was a good start, but identified several shortcomings. Because the settlement contained a “most favored nation” clause it would benefit from stronger settlements in the future built on the foundation of the North Carolina settlement. That’s what happened inContinue reading “AG settlements with Juul keep getting weaker, not stronger”
Ecigs roll back the clock on kid quitting, too
E-cigarettes have reversed the long-term trend of declining nicotine addiction among kids. Now Richard Miech and his colleagues at USC have used the Monitoring the Future survey data on tobacco use behavior among 8th to 12th graders to study the prevalence of failed quit attempts for cigarettes (from 1997 through 2020) and e-cigarettes (for 2020,Continue reading “Ecigs roll back the clock on kid quitting, too”
FDA drags its feet on releasing scientific justification for authorizing Logic e-cigs and HTP
As I described before, FDA broke precedent by not releasing the full Technical Project Lead (TPL) reports summarizing its positive decisions on 8 electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products made by Logic Technologies. Instead, it just released 4 of the 56 pages, most of which constituted uninformative boilerplate. There is no excuse for withholding thisContinue reading “FDA drags its feet on releasing scientific justification for authorizing Logic e-cigs and HTP”
Fruit ecigs most popular first flavor, but kids who start with menthol/mint more likely to still be vaping as young adults
Jim Sargent, Jessica Barrington-Trimis and their colleagues at Dartmouth, USC, and other institutions just published an important study highlighting the importance of menthol/mint to long-term nicotine dependence among young adult e-cig users. Their paper, “First E-Cigarette Flavor and Device Type Used: Associations With Vaping Persistence, Frequency, and Dependence in Young Adults,” used data from theContinue reading “Fruit ecigs most popular first flavor, but kids who start with menthol/mint more likely to still be vaping as young adults”
Excellent legal analysis of protecting bystanders from cannabis use in multiunit housing
Dan Orenstein recently published an excellent review and analysis of extending smokefree multiunit housing laws to include cannabis, “Multiunit Housing and Cannabis: Good Laws Make Good Neighbors.” In particular, he considers the impact of the fact that cannabis remains illegal under federal law as well as prohibited from public use even in states that haveContinue reading “Excellent legal analysis of protecting bystanders from cannabis use in multiunit housing”
Why is FDA withholding details of its approval for 8 Logic e-cigs and HTP?
In the past, when FDA announced that it was authorizing the sale of new products through the Premarket Tobacco Authorization process (PMTA), they released a detailed scientific summary of the rationale behind their decision known as the Technical Project Lead (TPL) report. These documents were released on the FDA web page announcing the positive decisions.Continue reading “Why is FDA withholding details of its approval for 8 Logic e-cigs and HTP?”
FDA sends another signal that it will authorize menthol ecigs despite high youth use
The FDA continues to telegraph that it is going to authorize the sale of menthol e-cigarettes. The first strong indication was not acting on the Vuse Solo menthol PMTA, which has allowed RJ Reynolds to continue selling menthol Vuse side-by-side (screen capture below) with the authorized tobacco flavor. Now, the FDA press release announcing itsContinue reading “FDA sends another signal that it will authorize menthol ecigs despite high youth use”
E-cigarettes more likely to lead to ongoing nicotine addiction than NRT
E-cigarette advocates and, more important, the FDA, takes it as given that e-cigarettes were developed as a harm reduction tool to help smokers quit cigarettes by “switching completely.” This assumption is, however, inconsistent with the tobacco companies’ actual reasons for developing e-cigarettes and other non-combustible products, including tobacco company products approved as NRT: To deterContinue reading “E-cigarettes more likely to lead to ongoing nicotine addiction than NRT”
Stanton Glantz blog 