Read articles from United States of America

September 07, 2018 by reuters.com

Most U.S. four-year colleges and universities as well as community colleges don’t have tobacco-free or smoke-free policies on campus, a new study finds. About 35 percent have tobacco-free policies that prohibit all tobacco use. Ten percent have smoke-free policies that prohibit cigarettes but not all tobacco. [...]

“Despite years of public health effort, only 59 percent of the U.S. population is covered by smoke-free non-hospitality workplace, restaurant and bar laws in 2018,” said senior study author Kelvin Choi, [...]

September 04, 2018 by news24.com

If you quit smoking and gain weight, it may seem like you're trading one set of health problems for another. But a new US study finds you're still better off in the long run. Compared with smokers, even the quitters who gained the most weight had at least a 50% lower risk of dying prematurely from heart disease and other causes [...]. The study is impressive in its size and scope and should put to rest any myth that there are prohibitive weight-related health consequences to quitting cigarettes, said Dr William Dietz [...]

September 03, 2018 by cei.org

The Food and Drug Administration has failed to approve a single reduced-harm nicotine product in the past year, despite unveiling a new “roadmap” in July 2017 that emphasized the role such products can play a reducing tobacco-related illness. That lapse does a huge disservice to millions of smokers who could benefit from switching from cigarettes to a far less harmful product. A year ago, the FDA claimed it would balance regulation against encouraging the development of harm-reducing products. [...]

August 31, 2018 by thepostathens.com

Cities across Ohio are raising the minimum age for tobacco product sales to 21 — a movement that advocates say could lead to a decline in smoking.

Cleveland, Columbus and Akron have all raised the minimum age for tobacco sales to 21. They are among more than 330 cities and counties across 21 states that have enacted such measures, according to Tobacco 21, an initiative by the Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation.

August 31, 2018 by medicalxpress.com

More and more Americans are putting out their cigarettes—for good.
The overall cigarette smoking rate among U.S. adults has hit an all-time low, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Preliminary data from the National Health Interview Survey showed that smoking rates declined from 15.5 percent in 2016 to 13.9 percent in 2017.

"Cigarette smoking among adults has been on a downward trajectory for decades," said Brian King, [...]

August 30, 2018 by heartland.org

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a “public comment of modified risk tobacco product applications (MRTPAs) for six Camel Snus smokeless tobacco products submitted by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.”
Experts at The Heartland Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, have researched the effects of smokeless tobacco and tobacco harm reduction products for more than 20 years. According to our research, the smoke in combustible cigarettes poses the biggest threat to smokers. [...]

August 29, 2018 by thehill.com

Fifteen years ago, a Chinese pharmacist sparked a global innovation race to end smoking by inventing a safer, more appealing way for smokers to get the nicotine they desire without the smoke that may kill them–the modern day e-cigarette.

Thousands of companies are now creating jobs and wealth competing to make quitting cigarettes easier, cheaper and more enjoyable. But smokers trying to switch to vaping face a host of obstacles. FDA regulation threatens to wipe out most e-cigarette businesses in a matter of years. [...]

August 28, 2018 by medicalxpress.com

E-cigarette use is prevalent among U.S. adults, especially among men; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons (LGBT); those who are unemployed; and those with chronic disease. E-cigarette use was also more common among those living in the South and West. [...] Researchers [...] used the largest and most extensive dynamic health survey—the 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) national survey—to determine the most up-to-date national and state-level prevalence of current e-cigarette use among U.S. adults.

August 28, 2018 by reuters.com

Roughly 10.8 million American adults are currently using e-cigarettes, and more than half of them are under 35 years old, a U.S. study suggests. One in three e-cigarette users are vaping daily, researchers report in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

“Electronic cigarette use is also closely associated with other high-risk behaviors,” said senior study author Dr. Michael Blaha, [...] “The most common pattern of use in the U.S. is dual use, i.e. current use of both traditional cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.”

August 27, 2018 by aappublications.org

Marijuana is one of the most widely used substances during pregnancy in the United States. Emerging data on the ability of cannabinoids to cross the placenta and affect the development of the fetus raise concerns about both pregnancy outcomes and long-term consequences for the infant or child. Social media is used to tout the use of marijuana for severe nausea associated with pregnancy. Concerns have also been raised about marijuana use by breastfeeding mothers. [...]