Three new studies add to the already overwhelming case that e-cigarettes are a gateway to combusted product use; two of these studies also show that combusted tobacco use predicts later e-cigarette use among youth. These studies are benefit from the fact that the data were collected relatively recently, which is important because e-cigarette technology isContinue reading “New studies for UK, Netherlands and Flanders and US confirm gateway effects of e-cigs to combusted tobacco products”
Category Archives: youth
New WHO report highlights falling cigarette use and challenges that new tobacco products pose to public health and implementation of the FCTC
On July 27, 2021 the WHO released the WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2021: addressing new and emerging products, its eighth such report. The good news is that it documents solid progress in reducing tobacco use. After over a century of growth, “between 2007 and 2019, smoking rates decreased from a global averageContinue reading “New WHO report highlights falling cigarette use and challenges that new tobacco products pose to public health and implementation of the FCTC”
“The Devil’s Playbook” is a great read
My definition of a good book on tobacco is that I learn things I didn’t already know from reading it. Lauren Etter’s new book, The Devil’s Playbook, easily meets and surpasses this standard. Deeply researched beginning with key events in the 1980s, she documents the rise and decline on Juul e-cigarettes and how, at leastContinue reading ““The Devil’s Playbook” is a great read”
Thai youth ecig use stays low since country banned imports and sales
While countries like the USA struggle with exploding e-cig use among youth, in Thailand, which bans the import and sales of e-cigarettes (which under Thai law also includes heated tobacco products), youth use remains stable and low. Roengrudee Patanavanich and colleagues (including me) recently published “Use of E-Cigarettes and Associated Factors among Youth in Thailand”Continue reading “Thai youth ecig use stays low since country banned imports and sales”
NC Juul settlement: It’s a start
On June 28, 2021, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein announced the first settlement of a state lawsuit against Juul for its marketing to youth “to hold JUUL accountable for its instrumental role in sparking the epidemic of youth vaping and its resulting nicotine addiction.” While the settlement represents a first step, a close readingContinue reading “NC Juul settlement: It’s a start”
More details on how menthol helps Big Tobacco keep kids hooked
Keeping menthol in cigarettes (and other tobacco products) has been a priority for the tobacco companies ever since they got it exempted from the characterizing flavor ban in the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that gave the FDA jurisdiction over tobacco products. The already-strong case for banning menthol just got stronger withContinue reading “More details on how menthol helps Big Tobacco keep kids hooked”
More direct evidence that SF flavor ban worked
Last year we published a paper on implementation of San Francisco’s ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products (including menthol) that reported that health department inspectors found high compliance with the flavor ban when they visited retailers. Now, Doris Gammon and colleagues have shown that the law virtually eliminated sales of flavored tobacco productsContinue reading “More direct evidence that SF flavor ban worked”
Amazon’s purchase of MGM is a good time to catch up with the major studios’ tobacco policies
Amazon is buying MGM for $8.45 billion to get its inventory of popular films and TV shows. It also plans to have MGM continue to produce new films aimed at a broad audience. In contrast to MGM (and Amazon), all the major studios that produce feature films have adopted policies to reduce or eliminate smokingContinue reading “Amazon’s purchase of MGM is a good time to catch up with the major studios’ tobacco policies”
We know a lot about how e-cigarettes cause disease
The evidence on the health effects of e-cigarettes was the subject of two recently published reviews that focus on cardiovascular, pulmonary and immunologic effects of e-cigarettes. These reviews complement earlier reviews on the pulmonary effects of e-cigarettes, e-cigarettes and smoking cessation, and the gateway effect for smoking among youth and young adults. Taken together theseContinue reading “We know a lot about how e-cigarettes cause disease”
What we can and cannot say about the immediate effect of SF’s flavored tobacco product ban
NOTE: This blog post was written before it came to light that the San Francisco data in the Friedman study was all collected before the flavor ban was being enforced. Without data after enforcement started, Friedman’s paper falls apart. Please read the recent blog post detailed why this is the case. On May 24, 2021Continue reading “What we can and cannot say about the immediate effect of SF’s flavored tobacco product ban”