December 20, 2019
As part of the $1.4 trillion spending bill Congress raised the national minim age for selling tobacco products from 18 to 21. When Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced his T21 proposal last summer, I expressed concern that it was a trap set on behalf of Big Tobacco (including Juul and other e-cig interests) to pass a bill that would support the industry blitzkrieg at the state level to pass weak and unenforceable T21 legislation that the industry could then use as an excuse not to enact flavor bans, smokefree laws, and taxes.
But, thanks to efforts of pro-health members of Congress and work by health advocates, Congress passed and the President signed a bill that will promote public health while only giving a little bit to the tobacco companies.
December 16, 2019
Dharma Bhatta and I just published "Association of E-Cigarette Use With Respiratory Disease Among Adults: A Longitudinal Analysis" in American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Here is the press release that UCSF put out summarizing the study:
E-Cigarettes Significantly Raise Risk of Chronic Lung Disease, First Long-Term Study Finds
‘Dual Use’ of Both E-Cigarettes and Smoked Tobacco is Riskiest, Say Authors
December 13, 2019
This ad is being published in The Hollywood Reporter (December 13) and Variety (December 17) weekly editions.
The data show we've made substantial progress in reducing kids’ exposure from big-budget, all-fiction PG-13 movies. However, smoking by fictional characters in biographical dramas and smoking on popular streaming platforms pose substantial new risks.
December 11, 2019
“I am furious that the tobacco industry is targeting children yet again and profiting from their addiction.”
-Pete Briger
We are grateful to Pete and Devon Briger for endowing an international postodoctoral fellowship at the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. Here is the story UCSF just released about the gift:
November 25, 2019
My colleagues at UCSF (and Stanford) just submitted this public comment to FDA on the material FDA specifies that tobacco companies need to submit as part of the premarket tobacco marketing applications. Our comment highlights some items that need further clarification or other tweaking. We also provide a redlined version of the propsed rule that implements the changes we suggested. The regulations.gov tracking number is 1k3-9dik-7qka. A PDF of the comment is available here.