The evidence that e-cigarettes are a gateway for smoking is strong and consistent. Now John Pierce and his colleagues have made that connection even stronger by showing that e-cigarette use strongly predicts daily cigarette smoking. (Previous studies measured current cigarette smoking, meaning in the past 30 days.) Their paper, “Use of E-cigarettes and Other TobaccoContinue reading “Youth e-cig use triples likelihood of daily cig smoking”
Category Archives: vaping
12 Senators ask FDA for details on ecig premarket review process
September 9, 2020 was the deadline for e-cigarette companies to submit their applications for premarket review to the FDA, a so-called premarket tobacco product application (PMTA). To date, FDA has approved a few PMTAs, most notably for Philip Morris’ IQOS heated tobacco product. The process has not been transparent and health groups and a publicContinue reading “12 Senators ask FDA for details on ecig premarket review process”
Good news: Youth e-cig use dropped in 2020
The CDC recently reported big drops in e-cigarette use between 2019 and 2020 (high school dropped from 27.5% to 19.6% and middle school dropped from 10.5% to 4.7%). As the figure above (courtesy of CDC.) shows, however, e-cig use is still very high, way above where cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use were nine years earlierContinue reading “Good news: Youth e-cig use dropped in 2020”
FDA authorized sales of Philip Morris’ IQOS 3 in an opaque process that gave short shrift to protecting the public health
On December 7,2020, FDA issued a marketing order authorizing Philip Morris Products to sell its IQOS 3 heated tobacco product, an updated version of the IQOS 2.4 system FDA had previously authorized for sale in April 2019. Based on FDA’s streamlined review of Philip Morris’ “supplementary application” comparing IQOS 3 to IQOS 2.4, FDA determinedContinue reading “FDA authorized sales of Philip Morris’ IQOS 3 in an opaque process that gave short shrift to protecting the public health”
Congress extends ban on mailing cigs to include all e-cigs, including marijuana vapes
The recent legislation Congress passed to fund the government included a provision extending the PACT Act’s prohibition on sending cigarettes through the mail to include e-cigarettes. This will go a long way to closing down internet e-cigarette sales which, despite assurances from the e-cig companies and FDA, cannot be effectively age-gated. The law also requiresContinue reading “Congress extends ban on mailing cigs to include all e-cigs, including marijuana vapes”
FDA’s proposed guidance to industry on how to conduct product perception studies is a good start, but needs more specifics
My colleagues at the UCSF TCORS, in collaboration with Stanford, GSU and U of Iowa just submitted a public comment to FDA on its draft guidance on how tobacco companies should conduct perception studies of their products that are to be submitted to FDA as part of applications for approval to market these products orContinue reading “FDA’s proposed guidance to industry on how to conduct product perception studies is a good start, but needs more specifics”
More evidence that e-cigs expanding nicotine addiction
Since the introduction of e-cigarettes to the U.S. market, use has increased rapidly among youth. Some have argued that, while not optimal, this increase represents kids who would otherwise have smoked cigarettes. In particular, Levy et al (Levy et al., 2017, Levy et al. 2018) concluded that the decline in U.S. youth cigarette smoking acceleratedContinue reading “More evidence that e-cigs expanding nicotine addiction”
Ordinance to make multi-unit housing in San Francisco (tobacco) smokefree advances
Today the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee unanimously forwarded an ordinance to the full Board of Supervisors (the City’s legislative body) to make buildings with 3 or more housing units smokefree. The public commenters strongly supported the ordinance with cogent stories about how they and their families were suffering from secondhand smoke drifting inContinue reading “Ordinance to make multi-unit housing in San Francisco (tobacco) smokefree advances”
Major EU scientific committee highlights e-cig dangers, gateway effect
On 23 September 2020, the European Commissions’ Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) issued its Preliminary Opinion on electronic cigarettes at a request from the Commission “to assist the Commission in assessing the most recent scientific and technical information on e-cigarettes. Findings presented in the scientific opinion will feed into the Commission’sContinue reading “Major EU scientific committee highlights e-cig dangers, gateway effect”
Evidence supporting banning menthol keeps piling up, making it even more of a social issue
Nicotine and Tobacco Research recently published four papers on menthol (menthol preference associated with greater nicotine dependence and greater urge reduction after smoking, biological effects of menthol on addiction. menthol use has not dropped among Black and Hispanic students, 85% of pregnant women smoke menthol and quit less) adding to the already-compelling case that mentholContinue reading “Evidence supporting banning menthol keeps piling up, making it even more of a social issue”
Stanton Glantz blog 