News Briefs Archives
Tobacco-Related Science & Tobacco Control News
Camel Crush Cigarettes Favored By Teen Smokers, Increasing Market Share By Over 20 Percent
Camel gained over 20 percent more market share among 12-17 year olds and over 60 percent among 18-25 year olds in 2010, the most recent year analyzed, according to Citi's decade-long brand-specific study of youth smoker trends.
May 18, 2012 - Read more in Huffington Post
Targeting the Nation's Leading Killer At A Glance 2011
The CDC released an update on the state of tobacco control programs, which includes recommendations for tobacco control programs to reduce tobacco use and tobacco-related diseases.
May 2012 - Read more CDC....
New From Altria: A Nicotine Lozenge
U.S. tobacco giant Altria Group Inc. (aka Phillip Morris) is moving into uncharted territory: the tobacco-less nicotine product. The maker of Marlboro will launch a nondissolving, lozenge-shaped nicotine disc called Verve in coming days, the latest foray by Big Tobacco into experimental smokeless products amid falling sales for traditional cigarettes.
May 2012 - Read more Wall Street Journal
A "Responsible" Tobacco Company? Philip Morris International's Actions Contradict CEO's Claim
Confronted by activists - including youth who traveled to New York City to attend Philip Morris International's annual shareholders meeting this week - Philip Morris CEO Louis Camilleri downplayed tobacco's toll, dismissed youth concerns at shareholder's meeting.
May 11, 2012 - Read more Tobaccofreekids
Public Attitudes Regarding Banning of Cigarettes and Regulation of Nicotine
Knowledge of current public opinion is important as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) applies the best scientific evidence available to tobacco product regulation. Based on a nationally representative survey of the US adult population, researchers found that 43% support banning cigarettes, 65% support reducing nicotine, and 77% support reducing nicotine if such an action could cause fewer children to become addicted to cigarettes.
April 2012 - Read more AJPH
Blu e-cigarettes the leading electronic cigarette company acquired by Lorillard
Charlotte NC, Wednesday April 25th, 2012 - blu ecigs announced their acquisition by Lorillard, Inc, one of the oldest tobacco companies in America. Lorillard, through its Lorillard Tobacco Company subsidiary, is the third-largest manufacturer of cigarettes in the U.S. The company is now moving into the electronic cigarette market.
April 25, 2012 - Read More WIKI...
Smoking and the First Amendment
On June 22, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act into law.1 For the first time, Congress had given the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to directly regulate tobacco products, with the aim of improving public health.
December 22, 2011 - Read more at NEJM
Acute pulmonary effects of using an e-cigarette: impact on respiratory flow resistance, impedance and exhaled nitric oxide
Debate exists as to the scientific evidence for their claims that e-cigarettes have no health related ramifications.
December 22, 2011 - Read more at NCBI
Online Social Networks and Smoking Cessation: A Scientific Research Agenda
Smoking remains the leading cause of 443,000 preventable deaths and nearly US $200 billion in excess costs in the United States each year
December 19, 2011 - Read more at JMIR
Brazil Becomes Largest Country in World to Go Smoke-Free
Momentum for Tobacco Control Builds Across Latin America
With Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff signing a comprehensive tobacco control law this week, Brazil has taken historic action to protect its more than 190 million citizens from the deadly toll of tobacco use and secondhand smoke.
December 16, 2011 - Read more at Tobacco Free Kids
Tobacco industry dying? Not so fast, says Stanford expert
The cigarette industry is not dying. It continues to reap unimaginable profits. It's still winning lawsuits. And cigarettes still kill millions every year.
December 12, 2011 – Read more at Stanford University News
State Prevention Funding Cuts Threaten Progress Against Tobacco
States have slashed funding for programs to reduce tobacco use by 12 percent in the past year and by 36 percent over the past four years, threatening the nation’s progress against tobacco.
November 30, 2011 - Read more at Tobacco Free Kids
Smokeless Tobacco Use Related to Military Deployment, Cigarettes, and Mental Health Symptoms in a Large, Prospective Cohort Study Among US Service Members
To characterize smokeless tobacco initiation and persistence in relation to deployment, combat, occupation, smoking, and mental health symptoms.
November 30, 2011 - Read more at NCBI
Determination of nicotine and N-nitrosamines in house dust by pressurized liquid extraction and comprehensive gas chromatography—Nitrogen chemiluminiscence detection
House dust has been identified as a major source of environmental contaminants including pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phthalates, several metals, and other chemicals of human health concern.
November 15, 2011 - Read more at ScienceDirect
Smoking Rates Remain Highest in Kentucky, Lowest in Utah
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Nationwide, smoking rates range from a high of 29% in Kentucky to a low of 11% in Utah, according to Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index data collected in the first half of 2011
November 17, 2011 - Read more at Gallup-Healthways
The Smokers’ Surcharge
More and more employers are demanding that workers’ who smoke, are overweight or have high cholesterol shoulder a greater share……
November 16, 2011 – Read more in New York Times
Epigenetic Therapy Shows Potential in Advanced Lung Cancer
Treatment with drugs that target epigenetic changes in genes—chemical modifications that influence gene expression but do not involve changes in the sequence of DNA—showed promise in a small clinical trial of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), researchers reported last week
November 15, 2011 - Read more at elbirunblogspot
Mayo Clinic Study Confirms Smoke-Free Workplaces Reduce Heart Attacks
ORLANDO — Mayo Clinic researchers have amassed additional evidence that secondhand smoke kills and smoke-free workplace laws save lives.
November 14, 2011 - Read more at Mayo Clinic
Why California retailers stop selling tobacco products, and what their customers and employees think about it when they do: case studies
In California, some 40,000 retailers sell tobacco products. Tobacco's ubiquitousness in retail settings normalizes use and cues smoking urges among former smokers and those attempting cessation.
November 8, 2011 - Read more at BMC Public Health
Ruling Against New Cigarette Warnings Is Wrong on the Law and the Science; Justice Department Should Appeal to Protect Public Health
WASHINGTON, DC (November 7, 2011) — A federal judge's ruling blocking implementation of new, graphic cigarette warning labels is wrong on the science and wrong on the law. The Justice Department should appeal the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon to protect public health and preserve a critical requirement of the landmark 2009 law giving the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco products.
November 7, 2011 - Read more at Tobacco Free Kids
A Tool to Quit Smoking Has Some Unlikely Critics
If you want a truly frustrating job in public health, try getting people to stop smoking. Even when researchers combine counseling and encouragement with nicotine patches and gum, few smokers quit
November 7, 2011 - Read more at New York Times
Halted Between Good Health and Health of Children (Treating Smokers in a Health Care Setting)
This Journal feature begins with a case vignette highlighting a common clinical problem. The article ends with the authors' clinical recommendations.
September 29, 2011 > Read more …
Bill would raise taxes on all types of tobacco
A group of 14 U.S. senators — all Democrats — are using a familiar strategy as they try to raise the federal excise tax on tobacco products. The bill also would create "tax parity" on tobacco products.......
September, 2011 > Read more…
Bay Area elected officials urge FDA to ban menthol in cigarettes
Bay Area anti-tobacco advocates are lobbying elected officials to urge the federal government to ban the use of menthol in cigarettes and other tobacco products.
September 18, 2011 > Read more…
Big Tobacco’s Latest Deception: We Support Youth Tobacco Prevention
Altria and altruism just don’t mix. Neither does the tobacco giant's financial sponsorship of an "Adolescent Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Symposium" in Nashville next month.
Research Opportunities Concerning Youth and the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act
Enactment of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act creates a number of research opportunities, some of which are mandated by the statute. The Act establishes Food and Drug Administration jurisdiction over tobacco and reestablishes the FDA regulations initially issued in 1996 concerning the sale of tobacco to minors.
October 5, 2011 > Read more…
Smokeless Tobacco as a Nicotine Delivery Device: Harm or Harm Reduction?
Smokeless tobacco (ST) delivers nicotine in doses similar to those received in cigarette smoking but does not expose the user to the toxic combustion gases and particles that are responsible for most tobacco induced disease.
N L Benowitz 2011 > Read more…
Current Cigarette Smoking Prevalence among Working Adults
Cigarette smoking is among the most important modifiable risk factors for adverse health outcomes and a major cause of morbidity and mortality.
September 30, 2011 > Read more…
Cigarette Smoke Radioactivity and Lung Cancer Risk
To determine the tobacco industry's policy and action with respect to radioactive polonium 210 (210Po) in cigarette smoke and to assess the long-term risk of lung cancer caused by alpha particle deposits in the lungs of regular smokers.
September 27, 2011 > Read more…
The New Danger of Thirdhand Smoke: Why Passive Smoking Does Not Stop at Secondhand Smoke
Passive smoking exposure is a topic of great concern for public health because of its well-known adverse effects on human health
(International Agency for Research on Cancer 2004).
Octo ber 1, 2011 > Read more
More multi-family buildings in N.J. are going smoke-free
It's against the law in New Jersey to smoke in common areas of residential buildings, but property managers are increasingly turning their complexes completely smoke-free because of the health and financial benefits.
September 21, 2011 > Read more
Tobacco and media exposure in poor neighbourhoods: Implications for the incidence of smoking among community residents
It is an accepted truth that tobacco, as well as second-hand smoke, causes lung and other cancers. This health policy fact sheet examines the need and implications for tobacco control legislation in the United States.
September 21, 2011 > Read more
Bay Area elected officials urge FDA to ban menthol in cigarettes
Bay Area anti-tobacco advocates are lobbying elected officials to urge the federal government to ban the use of menthol in cigarettes and other tobacco products.
September 18, 2011 > Read more…
U.S. Department of Transportation Proposes to Ban the Use of Electronic Cigarettes on Aircraft
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced that the Department of Transportation is proposing to explicitly ban the use of electronic cigarettes on aircraft.
September 14, 2011 > Read more
Screening for Lung Cancer: It Works, but Does It Really Work?
A 62-year-old woman with a history of well-controlled hypertension presents for routine follow-up. She is asymptomatic and feels well. She has jogged 3 miles 3 times weekly for years, with no recent change in exercise tolerance.
September 5, 2011 > Read more
Screening for Lung Cancer: For Patients at Increased Risk for Lung Cancer, It Works
Screening for lung cancer is not currently recommended, even in persons at high risk for this condition. Most patients with lung cancer present with symptomatic disease that is usually at an incurable, advanced stage.
September 5, 2011 > Read more
Beliefs and Perceived Norms Concerning Smoking Cessation Program
Recruitment among African American Teen Smokers: What appeals to Youth and what turns them away?
A qualitative approach was used to investigate the beliefs and perceived norms about participation in smoking cessation programs among a sample of African American alternative school students aged 14 to 18 years old, in the United States who were current smokers.
September 2, 2011 > Read more…
Cardiology Rx for Change: Improving Clinical Attention to Tobacco Use and Secondhand Smoke Exposure in Cardiology
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among smokers. ¹Additionally, of the 53,000 annual U.S. smoker death attributed to secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure, about 40,000 are deaths from heart disease.
JJ Prochaska August 26, 2011 > Read more…
Smokeless Tobacco as a Nicotine Delivery Device: Harm or Harm Reduction?
Smokeless tobacco (ST) delivers nicotine in doses similar to those received in cigarette smoking but does not expose the user to the toxic combustion gases and particles that are responsible for most tobacco induced disease.
N L Benowitz - Published Aug 10, 2011 > Read more
State Preemption of Local Tobacco Control Policies Restricting Smoking, Advertising, and Youth Access --- United States, 2000--2010
Preemptive state tobacco control legislation prohibits localities from enacting tobacco control laws that are more stringent than state law. State preemption provisions can preclude any type of local tobacco control policy.
August 26, 2011 > Read more
Judge sets September hearing on cigarette ads
A U.S. judge on Tuesday set a September hearing on the tobacco industry's request to block Food and Drug Administration requirements for new graphic labels and advertising that warn consumers about the risks of smoking.
August 23, 2011 > Read more in Reuters
Smoking Linked with Chronic Pain
GLENVIEW,– Smokers are much more likely to report problems with persistent musculoskeletal pain than non-smokers, according to a new study reported in the Journal of Pain, published by the American Pain Society.
Aug. 23, 2011 > Read more in Newswise
How Safe Is Tobacco That Melts In Your Mouth?
Big name tobacco brands are ramping up their presence in the dissolvable tobacco game, and consumers in test markets, as well as regulators, are trying to figure out what make of the new products.
August 19, 2011 > Read more in Healthland Time
Researchers Alarmed at Rise in Hookah Use Among California Youth
Hookah use among California youth ages 18 to 24 is rising rapidly according to a study conducted by researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.
August 19, 2011 > Read more in Science Daily
Canine scent detection in the diagnosis of lung cancer: Revisiting a puzzling phenomenon
Patient prognosis in lung cancer (LC) largely depends on early diagnosis. Exhaled breath of patients may represent the ideal specimen for future LC screening
August 18, 2011 > Read more
Economic Factors Drive Smoking Decline Among Black Youth
PISCATAWAY, NJ – A new report in the American Journal of Public Health suggests that increasing cigarette prices combined with other social and economic factors appear to be behind the steep decline in smoking rates among African-American youth that occurred between 1970s and the mid-1990s.
August 18, 2011 > Read more
Barriers and Facilitators to Smoking Cessation Among Latino Adults
Previous studies have found that Latinos who smoke are less likely than non-Latino white smokers to use pharmaceutical aids such as nicotine replacement therapies or to receive physician advice to stop smoking.
May 2011 > Read more
Effect of the California Tobacco Control Program on Personal Health Care Expenditures
Large state tobacco control programs have been shown to reduce smoking and would be expected to affect health care costs. We investigate the effect of California's large-scale tobacco control program on aggregate personal health care expenditures in the state.
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
Researchers Identify Mechanism Underlying COPD Disease Persistence After Smoking Cessation
Cigarette smoke exposure fundamentally alters airway tissue from people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the cellular level……
Public Release EurekAlert: July 27, 2011 > Read more
E-Cigarette or Drug-Delivery Device? Regulating Novel Nicotine Products
On April 25, 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its intention of regulating “electronic cigarettes” as tobacco products, having failed in its initial attempt to regulate them as drug-delivery devices.
Nathan K. Cobb & David B. Abrams - July 21, 2011 > Read more in New England Journal…
Tobacco's Influence Runs Deep in California
When Assemblyman Isadore Hall shelved a bill last week that would have required most workplaces to be smoke-free in California, it was just a small example of the tobacco industry's long reach into the California Legislature.
July 20, 2011 > Read more in the Mercury news…
Hazards: Secondhand Smoke May Affect Hearing
Add yet another item to the long list of damaging effects of secondhand smoke: hearing loss in teenagers.
NICHOLAS BAKALAR – July 18, 2011 > Read more in the New York Times…
Smoking in Top Grossing Movies – United States, 2010
The National Cancer Institute has concluded that studies indicate a causal relationship between exposure to depictions of smoking in movies and youth smoking initiation.
July 15, 2011 > Read more in the CDC MMWR…
Most in US Want Ban on Smoking in Public: Poll
Most Americans want smoking banned in all public places but only 19 percent believe that cigarette smoking should be illegal in the United States, a Gallup poll published on Friday said.
July 15, 2011 > Read more at Reuters…
FDA Reorganizes at the Top, Taps Ex-Dartmouth Dean for Post
The Food and Drug Administration, whose relations with medical companies have been strained of late, named a former senior drug-company official and Dartmouth Medical School dean as its new deputy commissioner overseeing much of the agency's operations.
THOMAS M. BURTON July 13, 2011 > Read more in CDC MMWR