December 23, 2014
Kudos to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services for mounting the first media campaign (at least that I know of) designed to educate the public about the fact that e-cigarettes are not just "harmless water vapor."
You can see the ad here.
They are also featuring a link to information on e-cigarettes on the home page for the state quit line.
Their detaled fact sheet is here.
Educating people, including youth, that e-cigarettes are not just harmless watervapor is very important since thinking that they are safe is a major reason that nonsmoking kids start using them.
I can only hope that Governor Jerry Brown will let California, once a leader in tobacco control media, can catch up to Alaska.
December 22, 2014
Congressmen Henry Waxman and Frank Pallone and Senator Dick Durbin have written a letter to all the state attorneys general to use the MSA to reign in out-of-control e-cigarette advertising. Their statement and copies of all the letters are here.
They also (again) call for FDA action, but, as I have noted before, it will be years before anything meaningful materializes from the FDA. There is a lot that the states AGs can do. Here in California, for example, Attorney General Kamila Harris could enforce the consent agreement NJOY signed promising not to introduce flavors. There is also a lot of deceptive marketing going on all over the country.
December 22, 2014
The lead editorial in the Sacramento Bee yesterday (Sunday, December 21, 2014), "E-cigarette boom among kids more than Feds’ fault: Tobacco money keeps state sidelined" is worth reading everywhere.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article4654587.html#storylink=cpy
Here is what they said:
December 20, 2014
Amanda Fallin, Maria Roditis, and I just published "Association of Campus Tobacco Policies With Secondhand Smoke Exposure, Intention to Smoke on Campus, and Attitudes About Outdoor Smoking Restrictions" in American Journal of Public Health.
We surveyed California college students between September 2013 and May 2014 with a range of policies (smoke-free indoors only, designated outdoor smoking areas, smoke-free, and tobacco-free). We found:
- Stronger policies were associated with fewer students reporting exposure to secondhand smoke or seeing someone smoke on campus.
- On tobacco-free college campuses, fewer students smoked and reported intention to smoke on campus.
- Strong majorities of students supported outdoor smoking restrictions across all policy types.
- Comprehensive tobacco-free policies are effective in reducing exposure to smoking and intention to smoke on campus.
In short, smoke and tobacco free policies are widely accepted and are working on campus.
The paper is available here.
December 19, 2014
Last week, the University of Michigan released its NIH-funded Monitoring the Future survey that found that e-cigarette use had surpassed conventional cigarette youth among middle and high school students. The results appropriately received major press coverage (including US News, USA Today, NY Times) and, of course, dismissive commentaries from long-time industry apologists (example).
The results continue to contribute to the emerging picture of how the e-cigarette epidemic is developing and highlight the fact that it is necessary to keep the fact that the epidemic is still developing in mind when interpreting research results: