Read articles from United States of America

October 18, 2019 by theguardian.com

Juul has agreed to a settlement restricting its youth advertising practices, the first legally binding commitment related to marketing to children for the embattled e-cigarette company.

Under the new guidelines, Juul is prohibited from advertising on social media or media outlets with younger readers – specifically, if at least 15% of a publication’s audience is under 21. It cannot advertise within 1,000ft of schools or playgrounds and will be prohibited from using models under the age of 28 in its advertisements. [...]

October 17, 2019 by nytimes.com

In 2009, not long after Dr. Margaret Hamburg became commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, a package arrived at her home. Inside was a clunky device called an e-cigarette.

“It was my first exposure to this emerging, new technology,” Dr. Hamburg recalled.

The package was sent by an antismoking activist as a warning about a product that was taking off in the United States. But over the next decade, the federal government — across the span of two presidential administrations — allowed the rise of a largely unregulated industry that may be addicting a new generation to nicotine.

October 17, 2019 by bu.edu

The proposed legislation, titled Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act (H.R. 2339), would raise the age for buying nicotine products to 21, regulate the sale of vaping products to be more like cigarette sales, further limit advertising, and ban all flavored nicotine products—from menthol cigarettes to mango Juul pods. Siegel, a longtime anti-tobacco advocate, voiced his support for the bill, with the exception of the ban on flavored e-cigarette products.

October 16, 2019 by rand.org

Adolescents who use vaping products are not only more likely to smoke cigarettes but are also likely to increase their use of both products over time, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

The research, which provides insight into patterns of vaping and cigarette smoking as youth transition into young adulthood, also finds that the increased use of both e-cigarettes and cigarettes over time cannot be attributed to other risk factors, such as consuming alcohol or marijuana.

October 16, 2019 by bloomberg.com

Michigan’s ban on flavored e-cigarettes was temporarily blocked by a state judge, who ruled that the emergency provision short-circuited normal lawmaking procedures.

The ruling Tuesday is at least the second to temporarily bar enforcement of a state measure targeting e-cigarettes amid a rising epidemic of illnesses and deaths linked to vaping. An emergency ban on flavored e-cigarettes instituted by New York state was blocked this month by a state appeals court following a challenge by the Vapor Technology Association, a Washington-based trade group. [...]

October 16, 2019 by thehill.com

Matthew Myers still doesn’t trust the tobacco industry. The president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, who successfully fought the powerful tobacco lobby in the late 1990s, is worried that the progress he and other health advocates have made over the past two decades is being eroded amid the rise of smokeless tobacco and flavored e-cigarettes.

“The tobacco industry today continues to do what it has always done, which is to prevent the government from taking the action that everyone knows is necessary to protect the public,” Myers said during a recent interview with The Hill.

October 15, 2019 by medicalnewstoday.com

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are investigating a lung injury outbreak registered across the United States since the beginning of October. While the cause of the outbreak remains unknown, the CDC warn against using e-cigarettes, particularly those that contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or nicotine. Although vaping products and electronic cigarettes are often advertised as less harmful than regular cigarettes, the debate over the health effects of e-cigarettes is ongoing.

October 11, 2019 by cbsnews.com

E-cigarette users may no longer be able to purchase life insurance at cheaper rates than those who smoke regular tobacco products. As more illnesses and, in some instances, deaths are reported from vaping, insurers now appear to be charging the same high premiums for both categories. The nation's fourth-largest life insurer, Prudential, says vapers who inhale from a hand-held electronic vaporizer rather than a traditional cigarette will now be classified as regular smokers and pay more when applying for individual life coverage, according to a company statement on Wednesday.

October 11, 2019 by reason.com

Minnesota is poised to join the panic-driven crusade against vaping, a move that's guaranteed to drive even more business through well-established smuggling channels.

In Minnesota, as elsewhere, cigarette smuggling is well established. In a 2012 article, Tax Foundation economist Patrick Fleenor traced the black market import of smokes right back to the imposition of a tax in 1947.

"By the mid-1950s, official figures show, the sale of legal, tax-paid cigarettes had plunged 20 percent below the national level," Fleenor wrote. [...]

October 11, 2019 by theguardian.com

The electronic cigarette Juul was invented as a means to help its two co-founders quit smoking. But it’s surprisingly hard to quit the quitting tool. I found out 27 days ago when I took a final puff of my USB-shaped nicotine vape, which over the past year had become an extension of my arm.

When I first picked up a Juul, it seemed innocent enough: I was out on a Saturday night and I felt itchy for a new vice. At 25, I had made it through most of my life without smoking cigarettes, save for when I was out on the weekends and bumming them from friends.