Greek cardiologist Konstantinos Farsalinos has been one of the e-cigarette industry’s most consistent supporters. Despite his behavior having all the hallmarks of undisclosed industry ties, until now no one was able to prove it. Now, using the Juul documents in the UCSF Industry documents library, investigators from The Examination, Le Monde (in English, in French)Continue reading “Juul’s Connection to ‘Independent’ Expert Farsalinos Revealed”
Tag Archives: smoking
E-cigarettes increase harm to smokers, so should not be promoted as a harm reduction strategy (in 10 slides)
The tobacco industry has used claims of reduced harm to sell its products since the 1950s with its efforts to promote “safe cigarettes.” “Harm reduction” claims have been central to marketing of e-cigarettes since they were commercialized in 2003. The tobacco industry and its allies continue to use claims of reduced harm to argue againstContinue reading “E-cigarettes increase harm to smokers, so should not be promoted as a harm reduction strategy (in 10 slides)”
New Pesko et al paper supporting e-cigs ignores current science
Several people have asked me what I thought of the just-published paper E-Cigarettes in Historical Context—Innovation, Risk, and Regulation by Michael Pesko, Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, Rachel Fung and Neal Benowitz. Like other similar papers published by some of these people, the Pesko paper relies on the 7 year old 2018 National Academies of Science, Engineering andContinue reading “New Pesko et al paper supporting e-cigs ignores current science”
International Pediatric Association publishes position paper concluding that “e-cigarettes are not an effective harm reduction strategy for adults and pose a serious risk to nicotine naïve youth”
On October 10, 2025, the International Pediatric Association (IPA) published a landmark position paper, “E-Cigarettes and the Nicotine Epidemic: Statement From the International Pediatric Association,” in Pediatrics, the international peer-reviewed journal published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The paper concluded, “In contrast to early hopes and assumptions, e-cigarettes are not an effective harm reductionContinue reading “International Pediatric Association publishes position paper concluding that “e-cigarettes are not an effective harm reduction strategy for adults and pose a serious risk to nicotine naïve youth””
FDA’s product standard setting a maximum level of nicotine should be expanded to all tobacco products including e-cigs and nicotine pouches
My colleagues at UCSF and Stanford and I have submitted this public comment to the FDA on its prposed nicotine standard urging that the standard be extended to all tobacco products (PDF). The regulations.gov Comment Tracking Number: mfj-v5cz-15yf. The scope of FDA’s proposed tobacco product standard setting a maximum level of nicotine in tobacco productsContinue reading “FDA’s product standard setting a maximum level of nicotine should be expanded to all tobacco products including e-cigs and nicotine pouches”
FDA setting a maximum level of nicotine in tobacco products without exceptions for HTP and waterpipe will improve health
My colleagues at UCSF and Stanford and I have submitted this public comment to the FDA supporting a product standard limiting nicotine in tobacco products and opposing exceptions for heated tobacco products and waterpipe (PDF). The Comment Tracking Number in regulations.gov is mfj-vc5x-sbgb .FDA’s proposed tobacco product standard setting a maximum level of nicotine inContinue reading “FDA setting a maximum level of nicotine in tobacco products without exceptions for HTP and waterpipe will improve health”
Inhaled cannabis associated with increased risk of asthma and COPD independent of tobacco smoking
Answering the question of whether inhaling cannabis increases the risks of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been complicated by the fact that in the past almost all cannabis smokers also smoked tobacco, so it was difficult to determine whether the observed associations between smoking cannabis and these diseases was really due toContinue reading “Inhaled cannabis associated with increased risk of asthma and COPD independent of tobacco smoking”
Archival copies of Smokefree Movies and Smokefree Media websites are available
I ran the Smokefree Movies campaign from 2001 through my retirement from UCSF in 2020. This education/advocacy campaign put pressure on the motion picture industry to stop promoting tobacco to young audiences through specific policy changes. We advocated for these policies though paid advertising in the trade and general press and the Smokefree Movies website.Continue reading “Archival copies of Smokefree Movies and Smokefree Media websites are available”
In UK 7 times more 16-17 year olds smoking than if there had been no e-cigs
Jessica Mongilio and colleagues just published an innovative approach to assessing the association between e-cigarette use and smoking, the so-called gateway effect, that provides insights between the link between e-cigs and smoking and how it relates to changes in youth smoking prevalence over time. In their new paper “Risk of adolescent cigarette use in threeContinue reading “In UK 7 times more 16-17 year olds smoking than if there had been no e-cigs”
The evidence for the ecig gateway to smoking keeps piling up; ecig advocates continue to nitpick
Su Golder and colleagues paper “Vaping and harm in young people: umbrella review” sums up the large existing literature on e-cigarettes’ effects on youth, defined as people under 25. In contrast to systematic reviews which find and draw conclusions based on summing up individual studies, this umbrella review is finds and sums up all theContinue reading “The evidence for the ecig gateway to smoking keeps piling up; ecig advocates continue to nitpick”
Stanton Glantz blog 