September 27, 2019
While the nation is reeling from the scary reports of more than 500 severe lung illnesses and at least 9 deaths tied to e-cigarette use (and these numbers are expected to grow), Altria is rapidly moving to roll out is new IQOS heated tobacco product, beginning in Atlanta. Like Juul, IQOS boasts a sleek, modern design that imitates Apple products, and is sold in stores around the world that imitate Apple stores. Like Juul, IQOS is recharged electronically. And like Juul, IQOS comes in two menthol flavors (and these flavors are co-branded with Marlboro -- Marlboro Smooth Menthol and Marlboro Fresh Menthol). Nevertheless, Altria claims that IQOS will not be popular with youth, claims that the FDA has accepted.
September 26, 2019
Amy Hafez, Mariaelena Gonzalez, Maggie Kulik MC, Maya Vijayaraghavan, and I just published “Uneven Access to Smoke-Free Laws and Policies and Its Effect on Health Equity in the United States: 2000-2019” in American Journal of Public Health. It reviews the literature and finds that although overall smoking prevalence has declined, it remains high among many subpopulations that are disproportionately burdened by tobacco use, resulting in tobacco-related health disparities. Slow diffusion of smoke-free laws to rural regions, particularly in the South and Southeast, and uneven adoption of voluntary policies in single-family homes and multiunit housing are key policy variables associated with the disproportionate burden of tobacco-related health disparities in these subpopulations. Developing policies that expand the reach of comprehensive smoke-free laws not only will facilitate the decline in smoking prevalence among subpopulations disproportionately burdened by tobacco use but will also decrease exposure to secondhand smoke and further reduce tobacco-caused health disparities in the United States.
September 26, 2019
With the replacement of Juul CEO Kevin burns by Altria’s Chief Growth Officer K.C. Crosthwaite, Juul has dropped any pretense of not being a tobacco company.
Juul also announced that the company is suspending all broadcast, print and digital product advertising in the U.S., and is refraining from lobbying the administration on its recently announced policy that would pull flavored e-cigarettes from the market that haven’t received marketing authorization from FDA, and would “comply with the final policy” when effective. through the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) process. (Juul, however, is continuing to spend millions of dollars on ads that contain unauthorized reduced risk and cessation claims in its campaign to pass San Francisco Proposition C, which would replace the City’s existing e-cig regulations with ones Juul wrote.)
September 24, 2019
Our colleagues in England who remain wedded to e-cigs have been saying that the cases of lipoid pneumonia are an American phenomena. They missed this case report -- Respiratory failure caused by lipoid pneumonia from vaping e-cigarettes – published by BMJ showing the same problems are happening there as in America (and other countries).
Here is the abstract:
September 22, 2019
In a strongly worded editorial, "No on Prop. C: Don’t let Juul write San Francisco’s vaping laws," the San Francisco Chronicle came out foursquare against the Juul initiative, Proposition C.