Stories

The US Food and Drug Administration needs to take a stronger stance against retailers that illegally sell tobacco products to children, according to a new report from the US Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General (OIG). In a report published Thursday, the OIG says that the FDA didn’t scrutinize repeat violators enough, and in some states, the agency may have been disproportionately focused on sellers in disadvantaged neighborhoods. The report also suggested that the FDA needs to do a better job overseeing online retailers and should work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to help crack down on online sales to kids.

Millions of Americans are being exposed to toxic secondhand smoke and have a byproduct of nicotine in their blood without even knowing it. That’s according to a new study published by University of Florida health researchers in the Nicotine and Tobacco Research journal. The findings suggest 56 million Americans are unknowingly and routinely exposed to toxic secondhand smoke. The researchers analyzed a survey of more than 13,000 adults and detected cotinine in the blood of 51% of people. Cotinine is an indicator that someone has been exposed to nicotine within a few days, primarily tobacco products. 

We don’t know in absolute terms, we might never know it with full precision, as the complexity of human biology makes it a daunting problem given the diversity of individual responses and potentially affected biological systems. However, we can make very robust estimates and inferences from the existing short and mid-term knowledge,  which is substantial: hundreds of well-designed experiments on emissions testing, biomarkers, pre-clinical and even clinical studies clearly indicate in about 10 years of rigorous observation that risks (understood as potential for harm) of vaping are dramatically reduced in comparison with smoking. [...]

THE MEDIA IS AWASH WITH CONCERNS about youth vaping. However a balanced assessment should consider both the harms as well as the benefits. I did a risk-benefit analysis based on the latest evidence and found that the benefits of youth vaping outweighed the risks at a population level. To be clear, kids should not vape or smoke or drink alcohol or use drugs. However, in the real world, some will do these things. Understanding the full impact is crucial as youth vaping is the main driver of vaping policy. Policy should be based on evidence, not on moral judgements or emotion.

Vaping does not act as a gateway into smoking, the most comprehensive study carried out suggests. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London said there was “tentative” evidence that products such as e-cigarettes might be speeding up the demise of smoking. Professor Peter Hajek, director of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine’s Tobacco Dependence Research Unit at Queen Mary University of London, said: “The results of this study alleviate the concern that access to e-cigarettes and other low-risk nicotine products promote smoking.

A new nationwide survey released [...] ahead of Stoptober shows nearly all (95%) ex-smokers see positive changes in their life as early as 2 weeks after quitting. Stoptober’s mass quit attempt will launch on 1 October, calling on smokers in England to join the thousands of others committing to quit. While smoking rates are declining, over 5 million adults in England still smoke and smoking remains the single biggest cause of preventable illness and death in the country - linked to 64,000 deaths a year.

Despite measures intended to limit nonsmokers' access to ECs, young people are increasingly utilizing them to stop smoking. Youth EC marketing has changed, with appealing, readily hidden, and addicting gadgets contributing to growing use. Researchers concur, however, that young individuals who do not smoke suffer possible health and psychological consequences, such as respiratory problems and the weight of addiction. EC usage has also been connected to later smoking.

A potential tenfold reduction in smoking-attributable deaths is possible if people who currently smoke were to switch to smoke-free products, Jacek Olczak, CEO of Philip Morris International Inc. [...] will explain the role smoke-free products can play in ending cigarette smoking globally and the human consequences of inaction. “For over a decade, PMI has championed a smoke-free future. Having invested more than $10.5 billion to scientifically research, develop, and commercialize smoke-free products—which today account for more than a third of our total net revenues—we are living this future,” says Olczak. [...]

France is planning to ban disposable vapes, or “puffs” as they’re known in the country, by the end of the year. The government is citing concerns over youth as justification—and claims that banning the vapes will help reduce smoking. On September 3, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne described an impending “new national plan to fight against smoking with, in particular, the prohibition of disposable electronic cigarettes, the famous ‘puffs’ which give bad habits to young people.”

BAT’s Chief Strategy and Growth Officer, Kingsley Wheaton, has called for smarter regulation and greater collaboration in order for countries to achieve their smokefree ambitions. [...] Kingsley said: “For Tobacco Harm Reduction to work, we need a level playing field of smarter regulation, better enforcement, a consistent and compelling science foundation, and the collective desire to help shape a sustainable future together for consumers… We must join forces externally with regulators and policy makers to try and create catalysts for positive change if smokefree ambitions are to be met.”