Smoking in United States of America
In the United States of America, smoking is allowed but tobacco products should follow some regulations. Under these regulations, health warnings on tobacco packaging including cigarettes are mandatory, the minimum legal age for their sales is 21 years, and there are no federal legal restrictions on smoking in public places. While tobacco advertising is regulated, not all forms of their advertising are banned. An excise tax of 32.16% with a total taxation rate of 37.36% is applied on cigarettes. Cigarettes can legally be sold with authorised documents. They may also be purchased through vending machines as well as through online channels. Importing cigarettes for trade is allowed with an appropriate import license. Despite these control measures, prevalence data show that smoking remains an important public health issue in the United States. There were 39.8 million current smokers in the country in 2024. This represents an overall adult smoking prevalence of 14.1%, with higher prevalence among men (17.1%) than among women (11.1%). In comparison, the overall current smoking prevalence was 12.3% in 2022. The adult daily smoking prevalence was recorded to be 10.01% in 2020. Smoking-related mortality also remains significant in the country. In 2021, smoking resulted in 360,370 deaths, including 216,986 male deaths and 143,383 female deaths. This shows that smoking accounted for 10.38% of all deaths in the United States in 2021, with a higher rate among men (11.9%) than among women (8.7%).
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January 27, 2022 by medium.com
Michael Bloomberg loves data. Except when he doesn’t.
Michael Bloomberg, the philanthropist and former New York City mayor, made a fortune estimated at $70 billion by selling data, so it’s no wonder that he loves to talk about data and its value.
His foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, which says it is “using data to save lives” makes grants to cities to deploy data and evidence. Bloomberg said during his presidential campaign that “data is more important than ever in the era of fake news and alternative facts.” He tweeted: “In God we trust. Everyone else: bring data.” He tweeted, again: “Let science, and good data, and good evidence guide your policy.”
January 27, 2022 by thewellnews.com
FDA Blunders by Favoring Combustible Cigarettes Over Vastly Safer Smoke-Free Products
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month authorized the marketing of two combusted, filtered cigarettes as modified risk tobacco products. The products, 22nd Century Group Inc.’s “VLN (Very Low Nicotine) King” and “VLN Menthol King,” which produce all of the smoke and thousands of toxins of traditional cigarettes but practically none of the nicotine, are the first combustibles to be awarded MRTP status. Many tobacco research and policy experts question how VLN cigarettes met the FDA’s tough MRTP standard, which requires products to “significantly reduce harm and the risk of tobacco-related disease to individual tobacco users [...]
January 26, 2022 by civilbeat.org
Hawaii Gets An F For Keeping E-Cigarette Flavors Within Kids’ Reach
Hawaii’s tobacco report card is out – and the state got mixed grades.
Hawaii got an A for keeping public spaces free of smoke but earned an F for failing to prevent access to flavored tobacco products such as menthol cigarettes and fruity-flavored electronic cigarettes, according to a report by the American Lung Association.
While cigarette smoking has fallen to record lows in recent years due to a raft of tobacco control laws and gruesome yet effective public information campaigns, advocates and officials warn Hawaii and the nation remain in the grips of a “vaping epidemic” among high school students and young adults.
January 26, 2022 by regulatorwatch.com
Wishing Well | Saying “Happy Birthday Mr. Bloomberg”
Billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg is the man behind many of the organizations and initiatives dedicated to the destruction of vaping.
Arguably, he’s the single most important person to educate on vaping’s potential to save the lives of millions of smokers. But how to reach him?
Joining us today is Dr. John Oyston to discuss a charming new project to educate Mr. Bloomberg while wishing him a Happy 80th Birthday!
January 24, 2022 by filtermag.org
Signs of Anxiety in the Anti-Vaping Camp as Big Decisions Brew
Amid a months-long wait for clarity on the future of vaping in the United States, people on all sides of the tobacco harm reduction debate are growing anxious.
On January 14, a collection of public health nonprofits and tobacco control groups [...] sent a letter to Mitch Zeller, the director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). The groups—many of which are funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg and all of which want to clamp down on vaping—urged the agency to “expedite” its decisions on products that remain on the market without authorization.
January 20, 2022 by fox13memphis.com
Anti-tobacco groups urge FDA to act on outstanding applications for e-cigarettes
WASHINGTON — It’s been more than four months since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was supposed to decide which e-cigarette products can remain on the market, but the agency still hasn’t completed some of the reviews.
In response, several anti-tobacco groups sent a letter to the FDA urging it to take action on the outstanding premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) and pushed for the FDA to deny applications for flavored e-cigarette products.
January 19, 2022 by pressherald.com
Portland council to consider banning sales of flavored tobacco products
The city of Portland soon could join other municipalities nationwide in banning the sale of flavored tobacco products as part of an effort to address an increase in youth tobacco use and prevent youth and other marginalized groups from becoming addicted.
The City Council will give initial consideration to a ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products Wednesday and could vote on the proposal next month.
“Addiction or usage among kids is off the charts,” said Councilor Tae Chong, [...] “Use of cigarettes has gone down – but with flavored tobacco, it’s spiked. It’s almost like kids have replaced flavored tobacco over cigarettes.”
January 18, 2022 by theamericanconsumer.org
New ACI Report Highlights the Dangers of Overregulating E-Cigarette and Vaping Products
[...] the American Consumer Institute (ACI) released a report, co-authored by Steve Pociask and Liam Sigaud entitled “How Regulations Endanger the Public Health: A Review of the Evidence on E-Cigarette Risks and Benefits, and Policy Missteps.”
With some lawmakers looking to impose restrictions, bans, and excessive taxes on these products, this report investigates the empirical evidence surrounding the consumer risks and benefits of e-cigarettes and vaping products relative to smoking tobacco. [...]
January 18, 2022 by consumerchoicecenter.org
SMOKING IS UP FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A GENERATION. THE PUBLIC HEALTH LOBBY IS TO BLAME
It often takes a long time for health policy influencers, advocates, and proponents to admit fault.
When it is about topics such as diet fads, saturated fats, food pyramids, and sugar consumption, long-held consensus beliefs and government actions later proved erroneous have had a lasting negative impact.
But nothing has been more egregious and harmful in our current age than the public health lobby’s persistent denialism of the harm reduction value of nicotine vaping products and other alternatives to cigarettes.
January 14, 2022 by patch.com
NJ Smokers Spend Millions On Cigarettes In A Lifetime: Study
NEW JERSEY — Being a daily smoker could cost New Jersey residents more than $2 million over a lifetime, a new study shows.
A new study by WalletHub measured the costs — financially, not physically — of maintaining that nicotine addiction.
WalletHub calculated the costs of smoking a pack a day (factoring in current pricing as well as historical pricing), health care costs, income losses, and other costs associated with smoking and with secondhand smoke. The study does not factor in e-cigarette use.