Why is the Royal College of Physicians concluding the ecigs help smokers quit when a large body of evidence shows that, as consumer products, they don’t?

On April 18, 2024 the UK Royal College of Physicians published E-cigarettes and Harm Reduction: An Evidence Review, the latest in a series of reports it has published since 2007 endorsing e-cigarettes for harm reduction.  In this report, the RCP recommends that “e-cigarettes should be promoted as an effective means of helping people who smokeContinue reading “Why is the Royal College of Physicians concluding the ecigs help smokers quit when a large body of evidence shows that, as consumer products, they don’t?”

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.

Ecigs harm periodontal (gum) health

Our recently-published meta-analysis of the association between e-cigarette use and disease (now available open access) found that the risks of e-cigarettes were indistinguishable for cardiovascular disease, stroke and metabolic dysfunction, but did find lower risks for respiratory and oral diseases. Specifically, the risk for oral disease in e-cigarette users was about 13% below that ofContinue reading “Ecigs harm periodontal (gum) health”

British smokers understand risks of e-cig use better than a lot of British health officials and scientists

England remains the country in which the government and (most of the) health establishment continue to aggressively promote e-cigarettes as a better alternative to cigarettes. As a result, Sarah Jackson and her colleagues were concerned about the results of their latest survey of smokers’ attitudes towards e-cigarettes, reported in their paper Trends in Harm PerceptionsContinue reading “British smokers understand risks of e-cig use better than a lot of British health officials and scientists”

FDA needs to reconsider its promotion of the “continuum of risk” for e-cigarettes

As of February 22, 2024, the FDA was continuing to embrace the idea that there is a “continuum of risk” with combusted tobacco as the riskiest and e-cigarettes being substantially less risky. As a result, FDA promotes e-cigarettes as a way for smokers to reduce risk. This view is based on the fact that e-cigarettesContinue reading “FDA needs to reconsider its promotion of the “continuum of risk” for e-cigarettes”

COP10 delegates need to base decisions on latest e-cig evidence, not the same old studies e-cig advocates promote

In the lead up to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Tenth Conference of the Parties that starts today, advocates for e-cigarettes and other “reduced harm” tobacco products have been busy again arguing that delegates should embrace these products. In reviewing some of this material, I have been struck by the fact that theirContinue reading “COP10 delegates need to base decisions on latest e-cig evidence, not the same old studies e-cig advocates promote”

Youth living in vapefree homes much less likely to use e-cigs

While the reason for enacting smokefree laws and implementing voluntary smokefree policies has been to protect people from secondhand smoke, a well-established side effect is that they help adult smokers quit and help prevent youth smoking (laws, home policies). Now Jeremy Staff and his colleagues have shown that kids living in vapefree households are muchContinue reading “Youth living in vapefree homes much less likely to use e-cigs”

Opioids: Internal Documents reveal Corporate Strategy, National Tragedy

A new article, “Corporate Strategy, National Tragedy” in UCSF Magazine details how Dorie Apollonio and her pharmacy students have been mining the UCSF Opioid Industry Documents Archive to understand how the drug companies worked behind the scene to create the opioid epidemic on their way to maximizing profits. In the process, it provides practical examplesContinue reading “Opioids: Internal Documents reveal Corporate Strategy, National Tragedy”

Read Times (London) insightful articles detailing tobacco companies’ hidden efforts to protect vaping

Time of London investigative reporter Billy Kneber published four excellent articles documenting how major tobacco companies have been manipulating England to promote and protect e-cigarettes. While , as he notes, the strategies are nothing new, but the specific details provide important insights into the industry’s successes in England, including specific organizations and people and how theContinue reading “Read Times (London) insightful articles detailing tobacco companies’ hidden efforts to protect vaping”

More evidence that ecigs cause lung disease in youth like cigs; dual use is worse

Richa Mukerjee and colleagues’ new paper, “ENDS, cigarettes, and respiratory illness: Longitudinal associations among US youth,” adds strong evidence to the conclusion that e-cigarettes cause lung disease (bronchitis, pneumonia, or chronic cough) among young people (age 12-17). They used 6 years of longitudinal data (where you follow the same people forward in time) to measureContinue reading “More evidence that ecigs cause lung disease in youth like cigs; dual use is worse”