Read articles from United States of America

November 21, 2018 by thehill.com

The Trump administration is under fire from GOP lawmakers and conservative groups over its proposed crackdown on e-cigarettes and menthol tobacco products. [...] It was a bold regulatory move from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb that broadly earned praise from Democrats and public health advocates.

“If adopted, these two proposals will have a greater impact in reducing tobacco use by youth and the African-American community than any regulatory measure ever undertaken by the federal government,” said Matthew Myers, [...]

November 21, 2018 by cei.org

In a new video interview from Reason.tv, Minton talks with John Stossel on how unwarranted fear mongering by public health advocates and their allies in government is undermining public health, by making it harder to purchase a product that can help smokers consume nicotine in a less harmful way than combustible cigarettes, or even potentially quit their deadly habit.

November 19, 2018 by ft.com

It is 54 years since the US surgeon general estimated the average smoker was almost 10 times as likely to die of lung cancer as a non-smoker, and 18 years since a class-action lawsuit resulted in a record — albeit subsequently overturned — $145bn damages award against Big Tobacco.

The past few days, in some industry watchers’ eyes, have been just important a moment in the fight against smoking. “I think it’s as big of a milestone, and builds off those earlier milestones,” said Joelle Lester, [...]

November 16, 2018 by washingtonpost.com

Twenty years ago this month, I joined 45 other state attorneys general to enter into the landmark settlement with the tobacco industry. Since then, the U.S. cigarette smoking rate fell from 24 percent of adults to 14 percent last year — the lowest ever.

We have the opportunity to go much lower. But we’re also at risk of reversing these gains if we fail to give smokers safe alternatives to cigarettes.

E-cigarettes are prompting a great deal of discussion and debate, especially regarding their use by children. [...]

November 16, 2018 by fda.gov

[...] the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new findings from the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) showing that more than 3.6 million middle and high school students were current (past 30 day) e-cigarette users in 2018, a dramatic increase of more than 1.5 million students since last year. According to the results [....] youth who use e-cigarettes also are using them more frequently and using flavored products more often than last year.

November 14, 2018 by nytimes.com

Facing mounting government pressure and a public backlash over an epidemic of teenage vaping, Juul Labs announced on Tuesday that it would suspend sales of most of its flavored e-cigarette pods in retail stores and would discontinue its social media promotions.

The decision by the San Francisco-based company [...] is the most significant sign of retrenchment by an industry that set out to offer devices to help smokers quit but now shoulders blame for a new public health problem: nicotine addiction among nonsmoking teens.

November 09, 2018 by theverge.com

The number of cigarette smokers in the US hit the lowest levels public health officials have ever seen, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced [...]. But even though e-cigarette companies tout vapes as alternatives to cigarettes, this dramatic drop in smoking isn’t necessarily because of a rise in vaping. Only about 14 percent of Americans over the age of 18 smoked cigarettes last year, down from more than 40 percent in 1965, the CDC reports. The record low number of cigarette smokers is good news [...]

November 09, 2018 by nypost.com

Vape on this: the Cuomo administration plans to ban flavored e-cigarettes next year because so many kids are getting hooked on them.

The state Health Department has issued regulations to prohibit the manufacture, sales and possession of the flavored e-smokes, which have become popular with teens.

“Regulations are necessary to address the alarming increase of e-cigarette use among New York’s youth. [...]

November 07, 2018 by heartland.org

The ongoing controversy over e-cigarettes and youth smoking has hit a proverbial regulatory wall. In September 2018, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb acknowledged “an epidemic of use of e-cigarettes among teens.” On August 8, 2016, the FDA’s “deeming rule,” which regulates electronic smoking devices in the same way it regulates other tobacco products, became effective, resulting in the federal prohibition on sales of e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18. Perhaps not a moment too soon.

November 07, 2018 by cstoredecisions.com

Popular-priced cigars remain strong in c-stores, premium cigars remain promising in at least some markets, and the threat of additional regulation—primarily impacting flavored product—remains a looming threat. Americans still like to buy cigars at c-stores. For the 52-week period ending Sept. 9, 2018, IRI scan data shows cigar category sales in convenience stores at just over $3.4 billion, an increase of 12.96%.