Despite opposition from a tobacco industry-funded campaign, San Francisco County voters passed a measure to ban the sale of flavored tobacco a few weeks ago. Former NYC mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said, “[this] shows that the tobacco industry, no matter how much money it spends on misleading ads, can be …
Even amid America’s opioid crisis, the World Health Organization’s latest research reminds us that it is tobacco and alcohol abuse that do the most harm – killing almost 6,000,000 people a year. The abuse of alcohol and tobacco robs the global population of over 200,000,000 more disability-adjusted life-years than illegal …
Smoking trends have been compared to a spring, a metal coil requiring continuous downward pressure to remain suppressed, rather than a screw, which once driven down stays down. This natural experiment demonstrated that suspending a major anti-tobacco campaign was associated with a disruption to the downward trajectory of smoking, and …
Market research in Canadian provinces shows that IQOS producer Philip Morris International is taking advantage of small gaps in tobacco regulations in order to attract attention to their product. These strategies include launch parties and “meet and greet” events, the opportunity for customers to exchange traditional cigarette packs for an …
For years the tobacco industry has been fighting the push for standardized packaging featuring graphic warning labels and pictures. The author calls this effort a “multipronged trade strategy” after researching internal industry and government documents. This included shifting the discussion of tobacco control away from health and onto trade benefits, …
It is no surprise that big tobacco have turned to social media given increasing regulations for packaging and print advertisements. Using Twitter in particular, tobacco companies are purposefully crafting socially and environmentally conscious images and building their reputation as good employers. With this voice they are able to critique tobacco …
In light of recent prodding by prominent health organizations, the FDA has released a statement addressing the rise in popularity of JUUL products among youths. According to Commissioner Gottlieb’s statement, the FDA has been “conducting a large-scale, undercover nationwide blitz to crack down on the sale of e-cigarettes”, with a …
Due to their federally-recognized sovereign status, American Indian and Alaska Natives populations are exempt from certain tobacco taxes and smokefree laws. Tobacco companies have recently been found trying to exploit this, using ploys designed not only to increase sales, but to create a sense of goodwill among the communities. These …
The Truth Initiative recently released a report looking at the tobacco exposure young adults experience while streaming online content. They found that 79% of the most popular shows among young adults featured smoking. The biggest offender was Netflix’s “Stranger Things”. Read more here.
Koop Director Commentary: This is one of a number of studies in which e-cigarette use among adults trying to quit smoking impaired the ability to quit using cigarettes. My smoking cessation colleagues often counter that this finding is not surprising because smokers who try e-cigarettes are the ones that have …