E-cigarette enthusiasts, including the FDA and the NHS and others in England, and some in New Zealand and Canadian governments continue to promote “switching completely” from cigarettes to e-cigarettes as a form of harm reduction. I just found another paper that shows that the reality is that adult smokers who use e-cigarettes as a smokingContinue reading “Smokers who use e-cigs as for smoking cessation are more likely to end up dual users than to “switch completely” or stop smoking and vaping”
Tag Archives: vaping
Calif updates state ban on sales of flavored tobacco products to close loophole and strengthen enforcement: A great model for others
When California passed its law prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco products in 2020, including menthol cigarettes, RJR and other tobacco interests forced a referendum to try and block the law. Voters upheld the law in 2022, and it went into effect. This law prohibited retail sales of tobacco products with a “characterizing flavor,” looselyContinue reading “Calif updates state ban on sales of flavored tobacco products to close loophole and strengthen enforcement: A great model for others”
Implications of 2024 NYTS: Ban nicotine salts and clamp down on Zyn
Last week the FDA and CDC released their analysis of the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey. The 2024 report moved beyond earlier FDA and CDC summaries of NYTS results by including details on how heavily youth were using e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, as well as details on brand preferences and specific flavor preferences, including “ice”Continue reading “Implications of 2024 NYTS: Ban nicotine salts and clamp down on Zyn”
Criticism of our meta-analysis of e-cigarettes and disease and our response is published
NEJM Evidence has published two letters to the editor that raised questions about our meta-analysis, Population-Based Disease Odds for E-Cigarettes and Dual Use versus Cigarettes that concluded that for cardiovascular disease, stroke and metabolic disorder e-cigarette risks are similar to cigarettes and for respiratory and oral disease, while lower risk than cigarettes, the risks areContinue reading “Criticism of our meta-analysis of e-cigarettes and disease and our response is published”
New meta-analysis of e-cigs and cardiovascular disease shows increased risks
Chen Chen and colleagues recently published Assessing the association between e-cigarette use and cardiovascular disease: A meta-analysis of exclusive and dual use with combustible cigarettes that found significantly elevated cardiovascular disease risk in dual users (people who use both e-cigarettes and cigarettes) and former smokers who had switched to e-cigarettes compared to people who hadContinue reading “New meta-analysis of e-cigs and cardiovascular disease shows increased risks”
FDA should not renew its authorization allowing PMI to claim modified risk for its Swedish Match General Snus
My colleagues at UCSF and Stanford and I submitted this comment to the FDA Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee opposing extension of PMI’s current authorization to make modified risk claims. (The committee is holding a meeting to discuss the application on June 26, 2004.) A PDF of the comment is here. (It will be submittedContinue reading “FDA should not renew its authorization allowing PMI to claim modified risk for its Swedish Match General Snus”
Cannabis associated with bad COVID-19 outcomes, like tobacco
Many studies have shown that current and past tobacco use is associated with poorer outcomes among people infected with COVID-19. Now Nicholas Griffin and colleagues have published a large well-done study showing that cannabis use is also associated with poorer outcomes among people who have developed COVID-19. The collected data on cannabis and tobacco useContinue reading “Cannabis associated with bad COVID-19 outcomes, like tobacco”
Implications of new RCT showing similar effects on quitting for nicotine e-cigs vs varenicline
Almost all the randomized controlled trials of e-cigarettes as clinical interventions for smoking cessation have compared e-cigarettes to nicotine replacement therapy. Varenicline, which is a prescription medication that works by blocking nicotine receptors rather than replacing the nicotine that cigarettes provide, is more effective than NRT. Anna Tsiku and colleagues new paper “Electronic Cigarettes vsContinue reading “Implications of new RCT showing similar effects on quitting for nicotine e-cigs vs varenicline”
English vaping reverses nicotine decline
In England, the country that has most aggressively embraced e-cigarettes, authorities have long minimized the effects of e-cigarettes on youth and argued that they were improving public health by attracting smokers or displacing cigarette use. Now Harry Tattan-Birch and colleagues have blown those arguments away. Their May 23, 2024 paper Trends in vaping and smokingContinue reading “English vaping reverses nicotine decline”
FDA did the right thing when it withdrew its 2022 Juul marketing denial order; it should finish the job quickly by prohibiting Juul on solid grounds
On June 6, 2024, two years after the FDA issued, then suspended its Marketing Denial Order for Juul e-cigarettes based on narrow toxicology issues, FDA formally withdrew the MDO. This does not mean that the FDA has authorized Juul for sale in the US, it just lets FDA start over in its assessment of whetherContinue reading “FDA did the right thing when it withdrew its 2022 Juul marketing denial order; it should finish the job quickly by prohibiting Juul on solid grounds”