Read articles from United States of America
June 06, 2022 by ama-assn.org
How banning menthol cigarettes could save 6,000 Black lives a year
The AMA supports the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposal to ban menthol-flavored cigarettes, a move that will save hundreds of thousands of lives in the coming decades while reducing health inequities. The AMA joined a 2020 lawsuit (PDF) to compel the FDA to fulfill its mandate to take action on the agency’s own conclusions that banning the sale of menthol-flavored cigarettes would benefit the public’s health. AMA President Gerald E. Harmon, MD, said the organization was pleased the FDA is moving to “finally remove these harmful products from the market.”
June 06, 2022 by themainewire.com
Tobacco harm reduction–not prohibition–is the path forward for Maine
Last month, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it is developing “product standards to prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and prohibit all characterizing flavors (other than tobacco) in cigars.”
This is trodden ground for Mainers. Even before President Joe Biden signaled this move, nanny-state politicians and west coast activists have tried to import more radical policy into the Pine Tree State, with some success.
Just three years ago, Maine lawmakers passed and Gov. Mills signed into law a more-than-doubling of the tax on tobacco products other than cigarettes from 20% to 43% of the wholesale price. [...]
May 30, 2022 by theprint.in
Over 1 million youth started smoking daily, most used JULL e-cigarettes: US study
Nearly 2,300 adolescents and young adults became new tobacco smokers in the US over the period of 2017-2019 with the total number of users under 21 years of age vaping (using e-cigarettes) rising to over 1 million by 2019, accordingly to new published research. Of these, 56.3 per cent used Juul products in particular, according to research by John Pierce of the University of California San Diego in La Jolla, and colleagues in the May 30, 2022 edition of the online journal Pediatrics. Researchers reported that ‘JUUL Labs’ disrupted the e-cigarette market when they introduced the first high nicotine e-cigarette, a sleek product with candy and fruit flavourings. [...]
May 27, 2022 by filtermag.org
Documents Shed New Light on the FDA’s Vape Authorization Plans
Documents obtained by Filter provide insight into the Food and Drug Administration’s early planning of its much maligned premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) process to authorize e-cigarettes—or not—as “appropriate for the protection of public health.” They suggest, among other things, that the FDA may ultimately envisage a path to authorizing flavors other than tobacco and menthol, despite not having done so yet—and that the agency’s tendency to favor the largest companies, mostly with ties to the tobacco industry, has deep roots.
May 26, 2022 by tobaccoreporter.com
Study Claims Vapes Have Higher Health Costs Than Cigarettes
The use of electronic cigarettes costs the United States $15 billion annually in healthcare expenditures—more than $2,000 per person a year—according to a study by researchers at the University of California San Francisco School of Nursing.
The study [...] is the first to look at the healthcare costs of e-cigarette use among adults 18 and older, according to the release.
“Our finding indicates that healthcare expenditures for a person who uses e-cigarettes are $2,024 more per year than for a person who doesn’t use any tobacco products,” said lead author Yingning Wang of the UCSF Institute for Health and Aging.
May 24, 2022 by sciencemediacentre.org
expert reaction to paper on e-cigarettes and spending on health services in the US
“These results appear to be based on two key assumptions.
“First, that the identified associations between e-cigarette use and poor health status are caused by e-cigarettes. The majority of people who use e-cigarettes are also former or current cigarette smokers. Despite the attempts at adjustment, it is likely that at least some of the association is actually caused by cigarettes. “The second assumption appears to be that the alternative is simply that these people would not be using e-cigarettes. However, we know that e-cigarettes help people to quit smoking cigarettes and that cigarette smoking causes enormous healthcare expenditure. [...]
May 24, 2022 by medicalxpress.com
Using e-cigarettes may lead to higher use of and spending on health services
Use of electronic (e) cigarettes appears to lead to substantially higher costs and excess use of healthcare services in the USA, suggests new research published in the journal Tobacco Control. Popularity of e-cigarettes as an alternative to traditional cigarettes and other tobacco products has grown in recent years with current use among young adults increasing from 2.4% to 7.6% between 2012 and 2018 in the USA, while e-cigarette prevalence among all adults remained stable and was 3.2% in 2018.
May 24, 2022 by bloomberglaw.com
FDA Must Be ‘Judicious’ in Vaping Enforcement, Califf Says
The head of the FDA says the agency needs more resources to speed up its review of e-cigarettes and is avoiding making hasty decisions that could incite lawsuits from the industry.
“This is an industry that has amazing capabilities on the legal front,” Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert M. Califf said during a House subcommittee hearing. “If we make one single error in the process, we can be set back for years in these applications.”
May 22, 2022 by filtermag.org
FDA Accused of Spreading Misinformation at E-Cigarette Summit
The annual E-Cigarette Summit in Washington, DC, is perhaps the most eclectic conference in tobacco control. Consumer advocates, vape shop owners, academics, [...] all gathered on May 17, as they have for the past several years.
Perhaps more than anything, the conference is a rare opportunity to publicly levy questions at higher-ups in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an agency not known for its transparency. So it didn’t take long for attendees to rise during the Q&A sessions and ask [...] why the FDA has continued to communicate so poorly the “continuum of risk”—the idea that some nicotine products are significantly safer than others.
May 18, 2022 by marijuanamoment.net
Marijuana Legalization Linked To Decreased Use Of Alcohol, Nicotine And Opioids, New Study Finds
Marijuana legalization is associated with decreased use of alcohol, nicotine and non-prescription opioids among young adults, according to a new study.
Researchers at the University of Washington analyzed data on substance use trends from 2014 to 2019, finding that people aged 21-25 were less likely to consume the arguably more dangerous drugs post-legalization in the state.
The study [...] analyzing data from 12,694 adults.
“Contrary to concerns about spillover effects, implementation of legalized nonmedical cannabis coincided with decreases in alcohol and cigarette use and pain reliever misuse,” the study abstract said.