Read articles from United States of America

March 10, 2022 by nytimes.com

New York State will soon announce plans to usher in its first outlets for retail sales of marijuana by the end of the year, giving applicants access to stockpiles of the drug grown by local farmers and offering sweeteners like new storefronts leased by the state.

The only catch? To be one of the state’s first licensed retailers, you or a member of your family must have been convicted of a marijuana-related offense.

The policy, to be announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday, is part of a concerted push to assure that early business owners in the state’s projected billion-dollar marijuana industry will be members of communities [...]

March 09, 2022 by filtermag.org

Lawmakers have inserted language into a federal spending bill that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory authority over synthetic nicotine, clamping down on a legal gray area for vapes. The proposed legislation would change the definition of a “tobacco product,” which currently means anything made or derived from tobacco, to include products “containing nicotine from any source”—with the exception of foods with trace amounts.

Legislators are working quickly to pass the omnibus spending bill, in part to avoid a government shutdown. [...]

March 09, 2022 by reason.com

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seems intent on banning nearly all of the nicotine vaping products currently available in the United States, even though it acknowledges their harm-reducing potential as an alternative to combustible cigarettes. But under current law, the FDA's e-cigarette authority is limited to nicotine derived from tobacco, which means the synthetic nicotine in products made by companies such as Puff Bar is beyond its purview. A fast-tracked spending bill that Congress is expected to pass by Friday includes a provision that would close that escape hatch by redefining "tobacco products" to include products that have nothing to do with tobacco.

March 09, 2022 by upi.com

People who vape may be setting themselves up for developing diabetes, even if they don't smoke traditional cigarettes, a new study suggests.

Among more than 600,000 U.S. adults, researchers found that those who used electronic cigarettes were more likely to have prediabetes than people who'd never vaped or smoked. The link was seen even among e-cigarette users who said they had never smoked traditional cigarettes.

Prediabetes refers to blood sugar levels that are higher than they should be, but not yet at the threshold for diagnosing Type 2 diabetes.

March 08, 2022 by filtermag.org

At the end of February, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) entered two proposed tobacco standards—one for menthol in cigarettes and another for characterizing flavors in cigars—into the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) system. Observers have noted that this usually signals that such rules are in their final stages.

Nearly a week later, on March 3, Dr. Robert Califf, the new commissioner of the FDA, announced on Twitter that the public should expect to see the specifics of a federal menthol cigarette and flavored cigar ban by spring. [...]

February 28, 2022 by oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Even with decades of memorable warnings and data, people are still taking up the deadly habit of smoking, still facing the same – and even new ­– health risks. February marks Children’s Dental Health Month, a perfect time to call out the prevalence of vaping (using e-cigarettes) among adolescents.

More than 2 million middle school- and high school-aged U.S. teens reported vaping in 2021. In Oregon, just over 25% of 11^th graders and 13% of 8^th graders said vaping was their entry into smoking. The most recent Oregon Healthy Teens Survey report also shows that roughly 60% of students believe that vaping every day poses only a moderate, slight, or no risk at all of general harm.

February 24, 2022 by regulatorwatch.com

The fight to save vaping in the United States appeared almost over when FDA issued Marketing Denial Orders to over 300 vaping product manufacturers, thus requiring more than 5-million vaping products to be taken off the market. Today on RegWatch, hear from Eric Heyer, partner at the law firm Thompson Hine and litigator behind many of the court challenges on behalf of major U.S. vape manufacturers. [...]

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. [...]