Read articles from United States of America

July 29, 2021 by go.com

In the last decade, the popularity of traditional cigarettes -- particularly among teenagers -- has declined tremendously, while the use of electronic cigarettes has been on the rise.

But now a new smoke-free alternative called heated tobacco is slowly gaining a foothold in the U.S. market. Also known as heat-not-burn tobacco products, the devices heat up a cigarette without using an open flame.

July 16, 2021 by filtermag.org

Dr. Patt Denning has been a leading harm reduction advocate for over 30 years. A co-founder of the Harm Reduction Therapy Center (HRTC) in Oakland/San Francisco, she is also a highly influential author. [...] Denning and Little have educated thousands of people in the US and abroad through HRTC’s workshops. During the pandemic, HRTC parked its van at mobile drop-in sites, COVID-19 shelter-in-place hotels and COVID-19 Safe Camping Sites—providing free therapy, hot food and bottled water to the city’s most vulnerable residents. In a few months, they will open a new harm reduction-based drop-in center in San Francisco. [...]

July 14, 2021 by cnn.com

It was a pivotal public health crisis in America before the Covid-19 pandemic -- and then we stopped talking about it.

E-cigarettes became ubiquitous in high schools across the country, resulting in scores of teens addicted to nicotine. And though industry leader Juul Labs denied that was ever its intent, the company landed front-and-center in a heated debate.
In recent years, Juul, which once held the majority of the US e-cigarette market, has been embattled in a deluge of lawsuits and investigations into its products' appeal to kids. [...]

July 14, 2021 by theday.com

The new law signed by Gov. Ned Lamont that legalizes and regulates adult-use cannabis, will also have a positive effect on indoor air quality, according to officials from the Connecticut Department of Public Health. [...]
“This new law addresses changes to indoor smoking and vaping which will benefit the health of our residents,” said Acting DPH Commissioner Dr. Deidre S. Gifford. "Reducing the places where smoking and vaping are allowed sends an important message about just how dangerous these exposures are to your health. Exposing non-smokers to secondhand smoke and aerosol puts them at risk as well.”

July 13, 2021 by sciencedaily.com

North Carolina State University researchers have developed a new technique that can alter plant metabolism. Tested in tobacco plants, the technique showed that it could reduce harmful chemical compounds, including some that are carcinogenic. The findings could be used to improve the health benefits of crops.

"A number of techniques can be used to successfully reduce specific chemical compounds, or alkaloids, in plants such as tobacco, but research has shown that some of these techniques can increase other harmful chemical compounds while reducing the target compound," said De-Yu Xie, professor of plant and microbial biology [...]

July 13, 2021 by chicagotribune.com

July 12, 2021 by ehmresults.com

Even before COVID-19 ravaged our country, e-cigarettes posed a serious health threat to America’s youth. As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, the youth vaping crisis remains an urgency that Congress must address. 

Not only have changes in shopping habits during the pandemic made e-cigarettes easier for underage users to obtain, research published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that young people who vape are five to seven times more likely to be infected with COVID-19 than those who don’t. 

July 08, 2021 by lufkindailynews.com

Big strides are being made against the rapid spread of vape and e-cigarette products here and elsewhere in the United States.

June saw Texas take decisive action that will help limit underage access to vape and e-cigarette devices, while North Carolina took one of the biggest manufacturers to court over deceptive practices and won a large settlement this week.

On June 18, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 248, which will make e-cigarette and vape retailers accountable for the sale of their products the same way tobacco retailers are held to account. [...]

July 06, 2021 by nytimes.com

Sales have plunged by $500 million. The work force has been cut by three-quarters. Operations in 14 countries have been abandoned. Many state and local lobbying campaigns have been shut down.

Juul Labs, the once high-flying e-cigarette company that became a public health villain to many people over its role in the teenage vaping surge, has been operating as a shadow of its former self, spending the pandemic largely out of the public eye in what it calls “reset” mode. [...]

July 05, 2021 by denverpost.com

A survey of Colorado high school students found they were less likely to report drug use and suicidal thoughts during the pandemic than a year earlier.

The teens surveyed in fall 2020 were less likely to say they’d recently used alcohol, marijuana, tobacco or e-cigarettes than those who had participated in 2019. Fewer reported recently using prescription drugs without a doctor’s order, though the decline was small enough that it could have been a random fluctuation.