Read articles from United States of America

February 23, 2022 by journalnow.com

February 22, 2022 by ctpost.com

After a lengthy battle last year, Connecticut’s Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont is still supporting a ban on flavored e-cigarette vapor products. It would be the third time a flavor ban bill was brought before the General Assembly. While the initial ban came during a so-called public health outbreak, all of the proposals have featured support from anti-harm reduction groups who purport that banning e-cigarettes and flavored e-liquids will protect youth. If Connecticut lawmakers truly want to protect youth, they would understand that bans are ineffective and ultimately make the issue worse.

February 22, 2022 by news-medical.net

A new study by researchers at The Ohio State University College of Medicine gives insight into what happens to the cardiovascular system of adolescents when they vape.

In the mouse study, researchers found that vaping had a significant and long-term cardiovascular effect on adolescent males but not females. The results were published today in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers said the findings heighten the concern about vaping, especially in youth. [...]

February 21, 2022 by inquirer.net

Cigarette smoking in the United States went up for the first time in two decades amid the persistent public health lobby against less harmful alternatives such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, according to an international consumer advocacy group.

“Nothing has been more egregious and harmful in our current age than the public health lobby’s persistent denialism of the harm reduction value of nicotine vaping products and other alternatives to cigarettes,” Consumer Choice Center (CCC) deputy director Yaël Ossowski said in a blog post on the organization’s website.

February 18, 2022 by pressherald.com

Our community and country are seeing unprecedented health challenges right now.

We are in the midst of a pandemic that continues to evolve, change, make people sick and frustrate everyone. When there is an opportunity to directly impact our community’s health and safety, it is essential that we act to do so.

This is why I am urging the Brunswick Town Council to vote in favor of a recently proposed ordinance to end the sale of flavored tobacco in our town.

I am a pediatrician at Martin’s Point Healthcare, [...] I see firsthand the devastating effects of flavored nicotine in my practice every day.

February 18, 2022 by filtermag.org

On February 15, an administrative law judge dismissed a complaint issued from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Juul and Altria, which alleged the companies had violated antitrust laws. As a result, Altria, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, can keep its 35 percent stake in the e-cigarette company. The decision is preliminary, however, and the FTC can appeal through a vote by its commissioners.

The news, perhaps overshadowed by the Senate’s confirmation of Dr. Robert Califf as the next head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the same day, has major implications for vaping in the United States, even if experts are divided over what those are.

February 16, 2022 by filtermag.org

On February 15, the Senate narrowly confirmed Dr. Robert Califf as the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In a bipartisan nail-biter, six Republicans supported him and four Democrats opposed him. Bernie Sanders, an independent, also voted against him, and another senator withheld his vote.

Califf—a cardiologist who has served as the deputy commissioner of the FDA’s Office of Medical Products and Tobacco, as President Barack Obama’s FDA commissioner, and as the head of medical strategy at Alphabet, Google’s parent company—takes over the position from Janet Woodcock, [...]

February 14, 2022 by wishtv.com

Anti-smoking advocates are arguing against a proposal that would reduce Indiana’s new tax on electronic cigarettes before it even takes effect.

The proposal approved by the Republican-dominated state Senate last month would cut the 25% tax charged on cartridges such as Juul devices to 15%.

The Legislature approved the higher rate last year to start July 2022.

Health groups urged a House committee on Thursday to keep the 25% rate, saying they believed vaping devices should face taxes similar to cigarettes to discourage young people from using them.

February 11, 2022 by filtermag.org

On February 7, City Council members in Portland, the largest city in Maine, voted unanimously to ban the sale of flavored “tobacco products.” The amendment bars the sale of all flavored nicotine products, including vapes. It does not exempt menthol. And it explicitly prohibits flavored products that use synthetic nicotine, like Puff Bar.

It will take effect on June 1, the same day as a similar ordinance in Bangor, another city in Maine. Maine’s state-level legislators, meanwhile, are pushing for a statewide flavor ban, which could come to a vote in early spring.

February 10, 2022 by bloomberglaw.com

Thousands of vapors are awaiting their fate in the marketplace as the FDA works past a court-ordered deadline to review whether their benefits to adult smokers outweigh the risks of teen addiction.

The Food and Drug Administration is still assessing 55,000 premarket applications for e-cigarettes from Juul Labs. Inc. and other companies that are currently on the shelves, an FDA spokesperson told Bloomberg Law. The agency was tasked with deciding, by Sept. 9, 2021, how to regulate nearly 6.7 million of these products after expanding its authority over tobacco.