Read articles from United States of America

December 11, 2020 by journalnow.com

December 11, 2020 by news-medical.net

This fall, South Dakota became the first state in the U.S. to legalize both medical marijuana and recreational marijuana in the same election. Haugaard, who long opposed any form of marijuana legalization, now must participate in the creation of a medical marijuana program.

South Dakota voters enshrined legal marijuana in the state's constitution. So if Haugaard had any thoughts about reversing the initiative once lawmakers reconvene on Jan. 12, they've been dashed.

"With a constitutional amendment, there's really not much we can do about it. It's written in stone until it's repealed," Haugaard said.

December 10, 2020 by news-medical.net

A team of researchers from Harvard Medical School, USA, the University of Arizona, USA, and other major institutions, have revealed some of the effects of cigarette smoke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on SARS-CoV-2 infection. They found that the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) protein and messenger RNA (mRNA) levels were decreased in the peripheral airways in patients with COPD. However, the levels were the same in central airways in smokers and those who never smoked.

December 10, 2020 by detroitnews.com

Starting January, longtime city residents will be the first to apply for certification and secure recreational marijuana licenses by the summer, city officials announced Wednesday. The city's long-awaited ordinance for recreational marijuana [...] guarantees no less than half of all licenses awarded will go to legacy residents.

"It's by far the most controversial provision," Duggan said. "The city will not issue a license to any business unless 50% of the licenses in that category are Detroiters. Which means if you're from outside the city, you can't get a license unless a Detroiter already has one. We'll never go below 50%."

December 10, 2020 by healthline.com

Having more time on their hands during the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t resulted in more young people taking up e-cigarettes in 2020.

If anything, it’s caused more of them to cut back, or even quit, according to a new study. [...]
Dr. Ilan Shapiro, a pediatrician for AltaMed in Southern California, said the survey provides some good news in 2020.

“The access to products is difficult,” Shapiro told Healthline. “If you’re home all the time, you’re being supervised more. They can’t share with other teens. It’s a social thing and, right now, that contact has diminished.”

December 09, 2020 by sandiegouniontribune.com

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended our lives, turning our homes into offices, classrooms and gyms to protect us from the deadly coronavirus. The pandemic has also disrupted the time-honored real estate rituals of open houses and in-person home tours, and we are now using virtual tours and other “non-touch” experiences to find a new home. [...] In a recent study of 220 apartments in San Diego County, we found nicotine residue in every unit, even homes of nonsmokers with strict smoking bans. In about 10% of homes of nonsmokers, we found levels of toxic tobacco residue as high as levels typically seen in homes of active indoor smokers. [...]

December 09, 2020 by eurekalert.org

A study of 200 teens and young adults used eye-tracking technology to determine that tagging vaping-related influencer Instagram posts with #ad or #sponsored was effective in grabbing attention. [...]
"The e-cigarette industry is paying these social media celebrities to do what they do best -- shape young people's behavior. And our study gives us some hope that placing labels on these posts might be an effective tool to discourage young people from picking up a harmful habit," said Liz Klein, the study's lead author and an associate professor of health behavior and health promotion at The Ohio State University.

December 09, 2020 by studyfinds.org

Cigarette smoking is not the socially accepted habit it once was in the United States. While science has helped new generations realize the dangers of smoking, a new study finds many children may be getting lured back into using tobacco. Researchers [...] say young teens who use e-cigarettes are much more likely to switch to normal cigarettes, even if they never intended to pick up the habit. “Research is showing us that adolescent e-cigarette users who progress to cigarette smoking are not simply those who would have ended up smoking cigarette anyway,” says lead study author Olusegun Owotomo in a press release. [...]

December 07, 2020 by prescottenews.com

A leading public health expert and anti-smoking advocate calls the San Francisco vote to ban smoking and vaping in residential apartments “the opposite of what we should be doing” to improve health outcomes.

The San Francisco board of supervisors voted 10-to-1 to prohibit smoking of traditional cigarettes as well as vaping, but they exempted cannabis which, Dr. Michael Seigel says, undermines the stated goals of risk reduction.

“If the principle here is that nobody in an apartment should be exposed to harmful combusted products from an adjacent apartment, then there’s no justification for saying, ‘we’re banning tobacco, but not cannabis.’”

December 07, 2020 by wnypapers.com

New York Attorney General Letitia James ordered dozens of retailers across the state to immediately stop selling e-cigarette products to underage customers and to stop selling flavored vaping products in violation of New York state law. Her office issued cease and desist letters to 47 retailers that were illegally selling tobacco products throughout New York state in Albany, Buffalo, Elmira, Hamilton, Nassau, Rochester, Saratoga County, Syracuse, Warren County, Watertown, and the New York City area.