June 18, 2013
I just submitted the following public comment to the FDA
COMMENT ON CITIZEN PETITION ASKING THE U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION TO
PROHIBIT MENTHOL AS ACHARACTERIZING FLAVOR IN CIGARETTES[*]
Docket ID: FDA-2013-P-0435
June 19, 2013
Rather than prohibiting the use of menthol “as a characterizing flavor” are requested in the Citizen Petition, the FDA should simply prohibit the use of menthol (and menthol analogs) in cigarettes and, as it asserts jurisdiction over other tobacco products, those products as well.
There are two reasons for pursuing a prohibition.
June 6, 2013
Mitch Zeller, Director of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products, will be the keynote speaker for the 2014 UCSF "It's About a Billion Lives" symposium, to be held on the UCSF Parnassus campus from 8:30 am until 1:00 pm on Friday, January 31, 2014.
You can view the 2013 and 2012 symposia here.
June 4, 2013
Stanton Glantz, Professor of Medicine and Director of the UC San Francisco Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education is seeking an individual 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; and (2) Statistical and economic analysis of tobacco control programs and related issues. Data collection will involve researching written records, analyzing campaign contribution information, conducting interviews and doing field research.
June 3, 2013
Reuters reports that France will treat e-cigs the same as conventional cigarettes in terms of use in public places. It will also include them in the ad ban on tobacco products. This is a logical step that will protect bystanders from the toxic chemicals that e-cigarettes emit (albeit lower levels of toxic chemicals than super-polluting conventional cigarettes) that e-cigs emit.
As with a similar law the California State Senate just passed, this is a sensible step that does not prohibit people from using e-cigarettes in ways that do not impact other people.
Meanwhile, some venues, including San Francisco's baseball stadium, are acting to protect their patrons from e-cig emissions:
June 3, 2013
On Friday, May 31, 2013, I debated Mike Siegel about the merits of SB 648, a bill in the California legislature that would apply the same restrictions on the use of e-cigarettes that apply to conventional cigarettes/
This sensible bill passed the California Senate 21-10 on May 24 and is now in the Assembly.
The bill adds e-cigarettes to the existing state restrictions/prohibitions against the smoking of tobacco products. This includes state codes that prohibit smoking in places of employment and public buildings, within 20' of entrances to public buildings, school campuses, day care facilities, playgrounds & tot lots, retail food facilities, public transportation, and health facilities.
The bill would also add e-cigarettes to the existing prohibition against advertising of tobacco products in public buildings .
Mike's essential argument was that any restrictions on "life saving" e-cigarettes would discourage their use for smoking cessation. I pointed one of the two good studies of the use of e-cigs for cessation found no effect and the other found that e-cig users were less likely to quit smoking than non-e-cig users (details).