November 11, 2014
The International Journal of Enviromental Research and Public Health just published two papers by authors from Lorillard Tobacco reporting that "neither the e-cig liquids and collected aerosols, nor the extracts of the SLT or NRT products produce any meaningful toxic effects in four widely-applied in vitro test systems, in which the conventional cigarette smoke preparations, at comparable exposures, are markedly cyotoxic and genotoxic," and "exhaled e-cigarette areosol does not increase bystander exposure for phenolics and carbonyls above the levels observed in exhaled breaths of air." The second paper also reports virtually no nicotine in the exhaled e-cig aerosol.
November 10, 2014
E-cigarette enthusiasts, as well as much of the research on e-cigarettes, assumes that use will be concentrated among current smokers who are either using e-cigarettes to quit or reduce smoking. For example, the American Heart Association in its recent policy statement on e-cigarettes says, “Among never smokers, 0.7% were currently users (past 30 days), which indicates that few never smokers
who try e-cigarettes continue their use.”
Lauren Dutra and I recently reviewed the evidence that a substantial and growing minority of youth using e-cigarettes have never smoked conventional cigarettes.
There are several recent papers that show substantial e-cigarette use among never-smoking adults or adults who have long-since quit smoking.
November 8, 2014
The City of Chicago has gone way beyond then FDA and prohibited the sale of flavored tobacco products (not just cigarettes) within 500 feet of schools. Pro-tobacco forces immediately sued, making the usual claims that the law was unconstitutional, would destroy business, and was preempted by federal law and requested a temporary restraining order (TRO) prohibiting the city from enforcing the law. (The two industry filings are here and here.)
The city vigorously defended the law (responses here and here) and the judge refused to grant the TRO.
Two things about the decision were especially encouraging:
November 8, 2014
The WHO FCTC resisted pressure from e-cigarette ethusiasts, led by people from UK, to embrace e-cigarettes, and instead endorsed the science-based approach that the WHO TFI had recommended. Here is the relevant section from the draft COP report:
Electronic nicotine delivery systems [1] and electronic non-nicotine delivery systems [2]
October 28, 2014
Stanton Glantz, Professor of Medicine and Director of the UC San Francisco Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education is seeking two individuals interested in conducting a broad range of research projects related to tobacco control. These include: (1) State and local policymaking process as it relates to tobacco control. The project involves preparing detailed case studies on tobacco policy making in different states, including research on the development and passage (or defeat) of state and local tobacco control legislation, funding and management of tobacco control programs, efforts of public health advocates to promote public health programs, and opposition to tobacco control by the tobacco industry and its allies and surrogates; (2) Influence of the tobacco industry on the scientific process, particularly as it relates to efforts to regulate secondhand smoke and cigarette design. Data collection will involve researching written records, relevant laws, analyzing campaign contribution information, conducting interviews and doing field research.