Read articles from United States of America

October 22, 2020 by nejm.org

The 2020 U.S. Surgeon General’s report on smoking cessation is the first such report to focus on this topic since 1990. Its release came as the Department of Health and Human Services was investigating an outbreak of deadly lung injuries linked to the use of e-cigarette, or vaping, products. Although these products pose a new public health challenge, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the burden of death and disease associated with tobacco use in the United States is still overwhelmingly caused by combusted tobacco products, especially conventional cigarettes. [...]

October 22, 2020 by clivebates.com

To mark the annual US Food Drug and Law Institute Tobacco and Nicotine Products Regulation and Policy Conference (21-23 Oct), where FDA traditionally gives an update on its plans for nicotine regulation, I thought it worth noting that the centrepiece of its comprehensive strategy for nicotine seems to have disappeared.   This would be a proposed rule lowering nicotine levels in cigarettes with a view to making them sub-addictive – persuading adults to quit and adolescents to never start.  The trouble is that consumers, markets, producers, and criminal networks have a way of thwarting such bold measures.

October 21, 2020 by rollcall.com

Marijuana legalization advocates, afraid that efforts to win ballot initiatives would go up in smoke given the challenges of a pandemic, are fired up about chances in five states this fall.

The difficulty of safely getting signatures in person helped doom marijuana legalization efforts in some states, like Idaho and Missouri. But voters will decide next month whether to legalize recreational marijuana in four states, only one of which is reliably Democratic: Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota. Mississippi will also consider a pair of ballot initiatives to legalize medical marijuana.

October 21, 2020 by foxbaltimore.com

Baltimore City leaders want to impose a 30% tax on the distribution of electronic smoking devices.

City Council President and Democratic nominee Brandon Scott is spearheading the proposal, which was introduced during a routine city council meeting Monday. “Taxing vapor products like combustible cigarettes for example is a move in the wrong direction, said Alex Clark, CEO of consumer organization The Consumer Advocates for Smoke Free Alternatives Association. “Increasing the cost of these products is likely to discourage people from switching to a smoke free alternative.”

October 21, 2020 by medicalxpress.com

More than 480,000 U.S. deaths per year, as well as diseases affecting 16 million living Americans, can be attributed to cigarette smoking, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In particular, this behavior continues to be overrepresented among those with mental illness, substance use disorders, and socioeconomic disadvantage. Led by Stephen T. Higgins, Ph.D., [...] the study sought to determine if reducing the nicotine content of cigarettes decreases smoking rates and nicotine dependence severity among adults with psychiatric disorders or socioeconomic disadvantage.

October 20, 2020 by eurekalert.org

New Orleans, LA - A review of heat-not-burn (HNB) tobacco products from the laboratory of Dr. Jason Gardner, Professor of Physiology at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, reports an association with elevated blood pressure, increased heart rate, cell death, and circulatory dysfunction shown by early studies. Additionally, chemicals found in the vapor produced by HNB devices have previously been shown to impair lung function, put users at risk of heart attack and stroke, cause cancers, increase circulating low-density lipoprotein ("bad cholesterol") and more. [...]

October 19, 2020 by nationalreview.com

Vaping is supposed to be a form of harm reduction, that is, allow nicotine addicts to have access to the drug without the harmful tars and chemicals in cigarettes that cause cancer, heart disease, and other maladies.

Last year, the Journal of the American Heart Association published a study finding that vaping posed as great a heart risk as smoking itself. That study fueled public policies at all levels of government to stifle the industry. A lot of small business people had their livelihoods destroyed or damaged as a result.

October 19, 2020 by missoulian.com

It’s time to end the flavor trap and stop Big Tobacco from targeting Missoula kids with flavored e-cigarettes, cigarillos, hookah, chew and other products.

As Missoula physicians who treat local children, we believe the industry already has had too much lead-time in enticing youth with its deadly products and creating a new generation of users. We need to act now. After hearing the call for action from dozens of community members [...] we are excited that the Missoula City Council has introduced an ordinance to restrict the sale of all flavored tobacco products in our community.

October 19, 2020 by psychologytoday.com

We can spot them from a mile away.  Vapers—disappearing in a huge cloud of smoke every time they take a hit.  Their cars look like fog machines if they are vaping while driving, and they are painfully visible in public as well. [...] According to a study by Sareen Singh et al. (2020), electronic cigarette use has skyrocketed in the United States, rising to unprecedented levels among young people. They examined patterns of what they term the “youth vaping epidemic,” potential harms stemming from the use of e-cigarettes, and the public health, clinical, and regulatory responses to youth e-cigarette use. 

October 16, 2020 by vapingpost.com

The CVA is referring to a recent report released by tobacco company Altria. “Over the last several months, we’ve observed an increase in the number of age 50 and older smokers in the cigarette category,” said Altria CEO Billy Gifford. “We believe these smokers had previously switched to e-vapor products, but recently returned to cigarettes due to negative publicity and regulatory and legislative developments in the e-vapor category.”