Covid 19: How harm reduction advocates and the tobacco industry capitalised on the pandemic to promote nicotine
2 June 2021 Stéphane Horel, Ties Keyzer. Source: The BMJ Scientific papers suggesting that smokers are less likely to fall ill with covid-19 are being discredited as links to the tobacco industry are revealed, report Stéphane
Spatial, temporal, and demographic patterns in prevalence of smoking tobacco use and attributable disease burden in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019
A systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 27 May 2021 GBD 2019 Tobacco Collaborators. Source: The Lancet Summary Background Ending the global tobacco epidemic is a defining challenge in global health.
The Tobacco Endgame
26 May 2021 JeffreyWillettPhD, StephanAchenbachMD, Fausto J.PintoMD, PhD, AthenaPoppasMD, Mitchell S.V.ElkindMD, MS. Source: Science Direct Eradicating a Worsening Epidemic A Joint Opinion From the American Heart Association, World Heart Federation, American College of Cardiology, and
Juul Wanted to Disrupt Big Tobacco. Instead It Created an Epidemic of Addiction.
25 May 2021 Sheelah kolhatkar, Source: New York Times THE DEVIL’S PLAYBOOKBig Tobacco, Juul, and the Addiction of a New GenerationBy Lauren Etter Beginning around 2017, upper-middle-class parents who already had the threat of online
FSFW’s 2020 tax return reveals deep links to the tobacco industry + other findings
27 May 2021 Source: STOP Industry Brief Since its beginning in 2017, the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW) touted “independence and transparency” as two of its core principles, despite being wholly funded by tobacco
Risk of lung cancer increased almost 10-fold among Australians smoking as few as 1-5 cigarettes per day
28 May 2021, Source: The Daffodil Centre New evidence reveals cancer risk increases with every cigarette, even for light smokers Today, in advance of World No Tobacco Day, The Daffodil Centre released an Australian first study, with
Big Tobacco Hooked Black Americans On Menthols. Now It Fights Ban As Racial Injustice
25 May 2021 Chris D’Angelo, Source: Huffpost Tobacco giant Altria is “feeding into the fears of Black folks” and “taking advantage of the climate of demand for social justice,” said one civil rights activist. The
Toxicity assessment of flavour chemicals used in e-cigarettes: current state and future challenges
22 May 2021 Sophia Barhdadi, Vera Rogiers, Eric Deconinck, Tamara Vanhaecke, Springer Link: Since its introduction more than a decade ago, the e-cigarette has gained an enormous popularity. One of the main reasons for the ever increasing
Juul Finds Hell Hath No Fury Like an Army of Really Rich Parents
14 May 2021 Lauren Etter, Bloomberg: If you want to turn a secretive hedge fund manager and his deep-pocketed allies into activists, hook their kids on vaping. An excerpt from the new book The Devil’s Playbook.
Could the COVID-19 Positive Asymptomatic Tobacco Smoker be a Silent Superspeader?
12 May 2021 Muscat Baron Y, Mattioli 1885: Abstract There appears to be a connection between COVID-19 infection and an airborne microscopic pollutant called particulate matter which has been suggested to act as vector for
Smoker, Former Smoker and COVID-19: Nicotine Does Not Protect Against SARS-CoV-2Fumador, exfumador y COVID-19: la nicotina no protege contra el SARS-CoV-2
16 March 2021 Jiménez-Ruiz CA, López-Padilla D, Alonso-Arroyo A, Aleixandre-Benavent R, Solano-Reina S, de Granda-Orive JI, Science Direct: To the Editor, We would like to thank Moril et al.1 for their interest in our paper and
Association Between Cigarette Smoking and COVID-19 Outcomes
17 May 2021 Alain Braillon, MD, PhD, JAMA Network: To the Editor Lowe et al1 must be commended for being the first to my knowledge to publish a study in a core clinical journal showing evidence that
Open letter to Nikkei
17 May 2021 Bangkok: SEATCA joins renowned organizations in tobacco control in expressing concern over the tobacco industry’s sponsorship in the 26th International Conference on the Future of Asia. The letter reminds the secretariat of
Op-Ed: Is FDA’s Cigarette Ban Just Smoke and Menthols?
3 May 2021 Kenneth E. Warner, PhD, MEDPAGETODAY: — Actually implementing a ban on menthol cigarettes and cigars could take years Cigarette smoking annually claims the lives of 480,000 Americans, accounting for a sixth of
The sheep’s clothing of tobacco giant Philip Morris
May 2021 Ties Keyzer, Tim Luimes, Eva Schram (The Investigative Desk) and Stéphane Horal (Le Monde), The Investigative Desk The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World claims to strive for a ‘smoke-free world’. In reality, founder
Paying lip service to publication ethics: scientific publishing practices and the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World
1 May 2021 Tess Legg, Michél Legendre, Anna B Gilmore, BMJ Journals: Abstract Litigation forced the dissolution of three major tobacco industry-funded organisations because of their egregious role in spreading scientific misinformation. Yet in 2017, a new scientific
Vaping the Venom: Oral Cavity Cancer in a Young Adult With Extensive Electronic Cigarette Use
1 May 2021 Darren Klawinski, Issa Hanna, Nathaniel K. Breslin, Howard M. Katzenstein and Daniel J. Indelicato, Pediatrics: Abstract Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity is one of the most common malignancies of the head and neck. Risk
Are menthol cigarettes more dangerous and when will they be banned in US?
1 May 2021 Graeme Massie, Independent: The US has announced that it will take steps to ban menthol flavoured cigarettes and all flavoured cigars within the next year. The Food and Drug Administration will work to change
Tobacco giant placing ‘stealth adverts’ on Facebook and Instagram, bypassing social media rules
26 April 2021 Matthew Chapman and Ferdinand Moeck, Newsbreak: The world’s third-largest multinational tobacco company has been running disguised adverts for its brands on Facebook and Instagram , enabling it to bypass social media site rules and national laws in order
Over 130 public health organizations and experts challenge American Public Health Association
1 March 2021 Kathleen Ruff, RightOnCanada.ca In a letter sent on February 16, 2021 over 130 public health organizations and experts around the world have challenged the American Public Health Association (APHA) to stop publishing and legitimizing
Again, Nigeria gets it wrong on tobacco control funding
26 January 2021 Philip Jakpor, The Niche: Nigeria’s 2021 national budget has not disappointed pessimists. Like previous years public health was relegated to the back seat in terms of priority and funding. The breakdown of
Suit filed against anti-smoking group over links to ‘Big Tobacco’
15 January 2021 The Journal: Several accusations have been made by the former anti-smoking foundation’s director of social media. A FORMER EMPLOYEE has filed a suit against the Smoke-Free World foundation, charging she was fired
Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach, California Make History for Public Health
5 January 2021 PR News Wire Their Ordinances to Ban the Sale of Tobacco Are in Effect Today SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — On January 1st, two cities in California made giant strides for public health by removing tobacco
Youth using e-cigarettes three times as likely to become daily cigarette smokers
11 January 2021 University of California – San Diago, Eurekalert: Age at first use and number of tobacco products consumed also increases addiction risk An analysis of a large nationally representative longitudinal study by University
Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine contender: Medicago’s breakthrough, ties to Big Tobacco and warnings a pandemic was coming
11 January 2021 Carolyn Jarvis & Emanuela Campanella, Global News: Under a winter’s snow cover on the outskirts of Quebec City, a high-tech greenhouse, set at a balmy 23 C, is growing row after row of a
Smoking associated with increased risk of COVID-19 symptoms
6 January, 2021 King’s College London, Science Daily: Smoking is associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 symptoms and smokers are more likely to attend hospital than non-smokers, a study has found. The study published
The tobacco industry, 2020: a snapshot
9 December 2020 Ruth E Malone, BMJ Journals: Abstract Tobacco Control as a journal has long been focused not only on addressing the negative disease-promoting impacts of tobacco products but on the industry that produced them.
Vaping could nearly triple the chance of smoking in teens
16 December 2020 Ohio State University: Eurekalert: COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new study offers strong evidence that kids who use e-cigarettes are more likely to take up smoking or smokeless tobacco, researchers say. Teen boys
FCTC Article 2.1 and the next horizon in tobacco policy: Phasing out commercial sales
December 2020 Chris Bostic, Marita Hefler, Guy Muller, Mary Assunta, Tobacco Induced Diseases: Webinars during COP Week 2020Webinar WHO FCTC Article 2.1: The Overlooked Article’s Impact on Endgame In the absence of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Tabare Vazquez, Uruguay Leader Who Slew Big Tobacco, Dies at 80
6 December 2020 Ken Parks, Bloomberg: Uruguay’s first left-wing president Tabare Vazquez, who beat tobacco maker Philip Morris in a landmark international court ruling and greatly expanded his country’s welfare state, has died in Montevideo.
Court upholds FDA regulation of e-cigarettes as tobacco products
1 December 2020 Brendon Pierson, Westlaw Today: (Reuters) – A federal appeals court has upheld the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products, rejecting challenges from the e-cigarette industry claiming the
The Risks of Another Epidemic: Teenage Vaping
23 November 2020 Jane E. Brody, The New York Times: “We’re stepping backward from all the advances we’ve made in tobacco control,” one investigator said. While most of us strive to avoid inhaling aerosols that
Philip Morris-sponsored articles in the Australian could breach tobacco advertising laws
18 November 2020 Amanda Meade, The Guardian: Anti-smoking campaigners say the tobacco giant is using the online articles to try to weaken bans on nicotine e-cigarettes and e-juice A series of Philip Morris-sponsored articles about
Vaping Industry Echoes Big Tobacco’s Misleading Call for Science
17 November 2020 Kit R. Roane, Jeffery DelViscio, Kelso Harper, Scientific American: To understand the battle over e-cigarettes, one must look to history—and big tobacco The on-screen type appears in boldface and capital letters. “WHAT
Vaping may increase respiratory disease risk by more than 40%, study finds
12 November 2020 Boston School of Medicine, Medical Express: A growing body of evidence points to the health risks of using e-cigarettes (or “vaping”). But because e-cigarettes are marketed as a less harmful alternative to
E-cigarettes can be ‘gateway’ to cigarettes for teens with no prior intention to smoke
9 November 2020 Children’s national hospital, Eurekalert: Cigarette smoking remains a leading preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. And while adolescent cigarette smoking has declined over the past several decades, e-cigarette
Smokers, especially those who begin young, are three times more likely to die prematurely
28 October 2020 American Heart Association, Medical Express: Current smokers faced nearly three times the risk of premature death from cardiovascular disease compared with people who never smoked, with the risk being higher among those
Does the COVID-19 pandemic provide an opportunity to eliminate the tobacco industry?
26 October 2020 John P A Ioannidis and Prabhat Jha, The Lancet Global Health: Tobacco use is the top modifiable global health problem, but the global tobacco market grows 3% annually. Most anti-tobacco measures to
‘Heat-not-burn’ alternative to e-cigarettes may harm heart
16 October 2020 American Physiological Society, Medical Express: A new review suggests “heat-not-burn” tobacco devices may threaten cardiovascular health. The review is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology. Heat-not-burn
Smoking epidemic’ linked to four of top five causes of death last year
23 October 2020 Rachel Clun, The Sydney Morning Herald: Almost 170,000 Australians died last year, with four of the top five causes of death linked to smoking, while dementia-related deaths increased as the population ages.
Using e-cigarettes during pregnancy could harm a baby’s development, researchers warn
16 October 2020 Alex Ward and Victoria Allan, Daily Mail: E-cigarettes may not provide a safer alternative to smoking during pregnancy, warn researchers. Nicotine in any form could negatively affect a baby’s development, said the psychologists.
Teens who use e-cigarettes up to five times more likely to start smoking
12 October 2020 Padraig Hoare, Irish Examiner : Teenagers are between three and five times more likely to start smoking if they have used electronic cigarettes previously, a new report has claimed. The Health Research Board (HRB),
Rock legend Eddie Van Halen has died after long battle with throat cancer
7 October 2020 Sarah Whitten, CNBC: Eddie Van Halen, guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Van Halen, has died after a long battle with throat cancer. He was 65. Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang, confirmed
Vaping increases the chances of regular smoking threefold, Australian review finds
29 September 2020 Melissa Davey, The Guardian: Every one of 25 existing studies examined found people who use e-cigarettes are more likely to take up ‘combustible’ smoking Using e-cigarettes triples the chance of a non-smoker
Effects of E‐cigarettes and vaping devices on cardiac and pulmonary physiology
MuChun Tsai, Min Kwang Byun, John Shin, and Laura E. Crotty Alexander, The Physiological Society: Abstract E‐cigarette aerosols are exceedingly different from conventional tobacco smoke, containing dozens of chemicals not found in cigarette smoke. It
Big tobacco giving retailers cash and international trips to promote products, study finds
28 September 2020 Melissa Davey, The Guardian: Former staff reveal covert tactics that ‘undermine plain packaging legislation’ Major tobacco companies are giving Australian retailers cash payments and taking staff on all-expenses-paid international trips, including to
Non-smokers who vape ‘at risk’ to start regular smoking: research
30 September Rachel Clun, The Sydney Morning Herold: People who had never smoked but who use e-cigarettes are three times more likely to start regular smoking. Research commissioned by the Federal Department of Health has
E-Cig Clouds Aren’t ‘Vapour’, Scientists Warn. That Word Just Makes Them Sound Safer
18 September 2020 Carly Cassella, Science Alert: Emissions from e-cigarettes are not harmless and calling them vapour is purposefully misleading, scientists argue. While the puffs from e-cigs aren’t exactly smoke, the term ‘vapour’ often brings
Fact or fiction? Debunking the myths around e-cigarettes
Dr Michelle Jongenelis, University of Melbourne; Christina Watts, Cancer Council New South Wales and Maurice Swanson, Australian Council on Smoking and Health, The University of Melbourne: E-cigarettes have clearly made their way into Australian society.
Smoking linked to bleeding in the brain in large, long-term study of twins
17 September 2020 American Heart Association, Science Daily: Summary: Researchers in Finland found a link between smoking and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), a type of bleeding stroke, in a study of more than 16,000 pairs of