Read articles from United States of America

January 14, 2021 by fda.gov

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport working in conjunction with agents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced [...] that they have seized 33,681 units of e-cigarettes with a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of $719,453. “Many counterfeit, unapproved or unauthorized products are likely produced in unregulated facilities with unverified ingredients posing a serious health concern to consumers. It is especially alarming when these types of counterfeit and unauthorized products find their way into the hands of children as studies indicate,” said CBP Port Director Timothy Lemaux. [...]

January 14, 2021 by patch.com

The City of Alexandria, in collaboration with the
Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition of Alexandria (SAPCA), has launched a vaping prevention social media campaign featuring
six short videos created by Alexandria teens to raise awareness of the dangers of e-cigarette use and encourage youth to stay substance-free. "E-cigarette" is an umbrella term for a variety of devices, including vape pens, that produce an inhalable aerosol containing thousands of harmful chemicals. Many e-cigarettes also contain nicotine, the addictive substance found in tobacco products.

January 13, 2021 by timesofsandiego.com

Last year, the California Legislature passed the toughest law in the nation to protect kids like mine from getting hooked on Big Tobacco’s menthol cigarettes and sugary-sweet, candy-flavored e-cigarettes. As a parent and a volunteer advocate for Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes, I felt like I could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The feeling was short-lived. A month before this life-saving law was set to take effect, the tobacco industry submitted signatures to reverse this measure through a referendum on the 2022 statewide ballot. [...]

January 13, 2021 by sciencedaily.com

Marijuana use increases throughout the calendar year, with use up 13 percent on average at the end of each year (2015-2019) compared to the beginning, according to a new study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

"We found that marijuana use is consistently higher among those surveyed later in the year, peaking during late fall or early winter before dropping at the beginning of the following year. We think this may be due, in part, to a 'Dry January' in which some people stop drinking alcohol or even stop using marijuana as part of a New Year's resolution," said Joseph Palamar, [...]

January 13, 2021 by cpr.org

Big Tobacco did something unusual in Marlboro Country last fall: It stood aside while Colorado voters approved the state’s first tobacco tax hike in 16 years.

The industry, led by Altria Group, one of the world’s largest tobacco companies, has spent exorbitantly in the past to kill similar state ballot initiatives. In 2018, Altria’s lobbying arm spent more than $17 million to help defeat Montana’s tobacco tax ballot initiative. That same year, it spent around $6 million to help defeat South Dakota’s similar measure.

January 12, 2021 by cstoredecisions.com

Outlawing the sale of flavored tobacco products for adults — such as cherry pipe tobacco and menthol cigarettes — would deepen New York State’s budget hole, threaten the survival of thousands of mom-and-pop retailers, and place the jobs of frontline workers at these businesses at risk.

That’s the conclusion of an economic study performed by Regional Economic Models Inc. (REMI) for the New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS). REMI estimated the proposed action would cost the state $3.4 billion in tax revenue over the next decade, cost shop owners nearly $500 million annually in lost sales, [...]

January 12, 2021 by thelancet.com

Marijuana smoke contains some of the same toxicants present in tobacco smoke. Marijuana smoking is prevalent among HIV+ individuals, but few studies have characterized smoke-related toxicants or associated health outcomes in exclusive marijuana users. This longitudinal study included 245 participants over age 40 (76% HIV+). 33 plasma and 28 urine metabolites of nicotine, ∆-9-trans-tetrahydrocannabinol, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and volatile organic compounds were assayed by liquid or gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. [...]

January 11, 2021 by ctinsider.com

The availability of vaping products would be sharply curtailed in Connecticut under bills that are being introduced in the General Assembly, including a ban on the sale of all nicotine products in pharmacies, and e-cigarettes within five miles of schools.

Lawmakers are also expected to reintroduce legislation from Gov. Lamont that failed in the closure of the General Assembly last March, to ban flavored vaping devices, in attempt to prevent teenagers and young adults from starting what data show can become lifetime habits.

January 11, 2021 by eurekalert.org

[...] researchers found that in 2014 people age 12 to 24 who used e-cigarettes were three times as likely to become daily cigarette smokers in the future. Among those who reported using a tobacco product, daily use increased with age through age 28. Daily cigarette smoking nearly doubled between 18 to 21 year olds (12 percent) and 25 to 28 year olds (21 percent).

"This is the first paper that actually looks at progression to dependent cigarette smoking among young adults. In these data, e-cigarettes are a gateway for those who become daily cigarette smokers," said the study's first author, John P. Pierce, [...]

January 08, 2021 by foxbusiness.com

Marijuana stocks are booming this week following the victories of Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in Georgia's Senate election runoffs, which will give Democrats control of the presidency and both chambers of Congress.

Canopy Growth, the first marijuana stock to ever be publicly traded in North America, is up 13.2% since the election Tuesday. "This new slate of leadership presents an incredible opportunity for national cannabis reform in the United States—the beginning of the end for the long-outdated prohibition on cannabis," David Culver, U.S. Vice President of Government Relations at Canopy Growth, told [...]