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- Category: January 2023
A frontrunner in the global effort against smoking, the European Commission recently made clear in its Beating Cancer Plan that its objective was to create a ‘tobacco-free generation’, aiming at reducing the European Smokers to less than 5% of the overall Union’s population by 2040.
The Commission embraces the ‘endgame’ strategy, a term in vogue in the public health community to describe a world where tobacco products have been phased out completely, or their sales severely restricted. It is no surprise that the Commission recently decided to register a European Citizen’s Initiative calling for ending the sale of tobacco and nicotine products to citizens born in 2010 and onwards.
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- Category: January 2023
Taiwan looks set to become the next country in Asia to ban nicotine vaping products.
On January 12, amendments to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act effectively cleared the legislative floor. Now, the legislation only awaits a presidential nod—a formality given that President Tsai Ing-wen is from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party that proposed it.
The news, which arrives not long after the Philippines enacted relatively pro-vape regulations, has elicited strong reactions from consumers, policy experts and medical experts, who had some hopes that the tide might be turning in favor of tobacco harm reduction (THR).
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- Category: January 2023
The team consisted of researchers from the United States, Nepal and India. They conducted a cross sectional study looking at data held in a database covering 154,856 individuals.
Bizarrely, they managed to discover that vaping poses more of a cancer risk than smoking – quite some effort given the accepted levels of reduced harm e-cigs offer.
They say they found, “that e-cigarette users have 2.2 times higher risk of having cancer compared to non-smokers. Similarly, traditional smokers have 1.96 higher odds of having cancer compared to nonsmokers.”
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- Category: January 2023
A Knowledge Action Change scholar Martha Mwase has developed an innovative chatbot designed to assist individuals in their efforts to quit smoking. The chatbot [...] shares information and advise on smoking, quitting and switching to safer means of nicotine consumption.
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- Category: January 2023
Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) offers a promising approach to addressing the significant burden of smoking in Afghanistan. Over three million Afghans smoke daily, making it a leading cause of preventable deaths in the country. While the previous Afghan government implemented various tobacco cessation policies and strategies, these measures were only partially effective in reducing the number of smokers or smoking-related deaths. In 2021, community-based initiatives in Kabul and Herat started advocating for Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) as a novel, realistic, and practical approach proven to promote smoking abstinence and minimize tobacco harm.
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- Category: January 2023
E-cigarettes currently divide public opinion, with some considering them a useful tool for smoking cessation and while others are concerned with potentially adverse health consequences. However, it may take decades to fully understand the effects of e-cigarette use in humans given their relative newness on the market. This highlights the need for comprehensive preclinical studies investigating the effects of e-cigarette exposure on health outcomes. Here, we investigated the impact of chronic, low-level JUUL aerosol exposure on multiple lung outcomes. [...]
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- Category: January 2023
Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) users have greater lung inflammation than cigarette smokers and non-smokers, according to a new study published online in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. This study is the first to provide evidence that vaping e-liquids with e-cigarettes creates a unique inflammatory response in the lungs that is different from cigarette smoking.
E-cigarette usage has increased dramatically in the past several years, particularly among adolescents and young adults. While many people assume that e-cigarettes are safer than conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes can cause pulmonary inflammation and increase the risk of lung disease. [...]
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- Category: January 2023
On January 19, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that the cases of Triton and Vapetasia, two US-based vapor companies that filed petitions for review against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), be reheard en banc. The move negates a previous 2-1 decision that sided with the agency. The FDA had previously issued marketing denial orders (MDOs) to Triton, a manufacturer of a variety of vaping products, and Vapetasia, an e-liquid brand.
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- Category: January 2023
Although fewer US adults are smoking cigarettes than ever, smoking remains the cause of the most preventable disability and death, and the nation’s smoking regulations are getting mixed grades from the American Lung Association.
The association’s annual State of Tobacco Control report, published Wednesday, gives the federal government an A grade for its media campaigns that encourage people to quit smoking or vaping, or to avoid starting in the first place.
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- Category: January 2023
The US Food and Drug Administration issued marketing denial orders for two menthol e-cigarette products marketed by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company. The agency said Tuesday that Vuse Vibe Tank Menthol 3.0% and the Vuse Ciro Cartridge Menthol 1.5% should not be marketed or distributed.
“The applications for these products did not present sufficient scientific evidence to show that the potential benefit to adult smokers outweighs the risks of youth initiation and use,” Dr. Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products said in an agency news release.
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- Category: January 2023
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The government is contemplating on prohibiting electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) if found to be harmful to public health, according to Vice President Ma'ruf Amin.
"We will consider (the prohibition of e-cigarettes), but in principle, everything that is dangerous will be prohibited by the government," Amin stated at the University of Indonesia here, Thursday.
The vice president promised that thorough assessment of the effects of e-cigarettes on public health will be conducted before the government takes its decision.
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- Category: January 2023
The criminalisation of nicotine vaping risks “unintended consequences” including fuelling the black market, causing worse health outcomes and even potentially putting people in prison when we should be trying to keep them out, the Australian Alcohol and other Drugs Council (AADC) says.
It is an offence in all states and territories to supply a nicotine vape to someone without a prescription, and to either possess or use one without a prescription.
Despite the restrictions, nearly one million Australians now regularly vape, double the number in 2019-2020, according to the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA). An estimated 11% of 16-to-24-year-olds are regularly vaping, PHAA said.
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- Category: January 2023
E-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc is in early talks with three tobacco giants for a potential sale, strategic investment, licensing or distribution deal, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Juul, which was reportedly looking to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, has had separate discussions with Philip Morris International Inc (PM.N), Japan Tobacco Group (2914.T) and Altria Group Inc (MO.N), the report said.
A deal is not imminent and the discussions may not result in a sale or partnership, the people told the Journal.
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- Category: January 2023
Shops selling illegal vapes and the sale of vaping products to children are the top threats on the UK's High Streets, according to Trading Standards officials.
Hundreds of thousands of vapes which flout current laws have been seized.
And there is concern that cheap, brightly-coloured vapes are ending up in the hands of 12 and 13-year-olds.
The government said it was considering what more could be done to protect children from vaping.
Child health experts said they were already "deeply disturbed" by the rise of children and young people picking up e-cigarettes.
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- Category: January 2023
Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke called on Wednesday for a ban on nicotine pouches, noting that, like e-cigarettes and vaping, they can be a stepping stone to smoking for young people.
”Our goal is to prevent our children and young people from smoking," Vandenbroucke said. "If you are fully committed to a smoke-free generation, you must ensure that young people come into less contact with smoking or anything related to it.”
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- Category: January 2023
If you thought Mexico’s drug war was only about illegal drugs like fentanyl or cocaine, you would be wrong. The country’s war on nicotine has just dealt people who smoke cigarettes or vape a serious blow. A law took effect on January 15 that imposes a total ban on smoking in all public places—you can now only smoke in your home or outdoors on private property. It simultaneously imposes tighter restrictions on nicotine vapes, which also cannot legally be used in public places.
There is also a total ban on the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products. For shops that sell cigarettes, it is now against the law to openly display them.
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- Category: January 2023
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control recently published the results of the 2021 South Carolina Youth Tobacco Survey for high school students in the Palmetto State. There is welcome news for those who may be concerned about a supposed youth vaping epidemic as e-cigarette use seems to have peaked in 2019 and declined in the years since. Moreover, youth use of traditional tobacco products, including cigars, cigarettes, and smokeless products, is at record lows.
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- Category: January 2023
A RECENTLY published article in the Medical Journal of Australia by Associate Professor Becky Freeman and colleagues has reported notable increases in New South Wales e-cigarette consumers between 2016 and 2020.
Overall, e-cigarette use increased from 6.6% of survey respondents to 13% in 2020. The proportion of 18–24-year-old respondents using e-cigarettes tripled to 27.2%, and the proportion of 25–39-year-old respondents using e-cigarettes doubled to 16.1%. For smokers and recent quitters aged 40 years and over, there was no substantial change in the use of e-cigarettes.
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- Category: January 2023
Veteran journalist, speaker and writer has been writing on foundations, nonprofits and global development since 2015 and has written extensively on the role of Michael R. Bloomberg and his philanthropic organization's continued war on tobacco harm reduction. In this episode of Across the Pond, Marc joins Martin and Lindsey to discuss how he came to start researching on Bloomberg and tobacco harm reduction and his thoughts on where the future is for adults who smoke.
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- Category: January 2023
E-cigarettes – commonly called “vapes” – and the companies behind them continue to present challenges to public health in Australia, according to public health experts.
In a new study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, experts working in tobacco control, including researchers, public health intervention developers, public servants, and health practitioners were interviewed about the challenges and opportunities associated with e-cigarettes in Australia.
Most of the 34 experts interviewed expressed concerns about the appeal and uptake of e-cigarettes among young people, with the potential for this use to lead to tobacco cigarette smoking.