If their lips are moving (about vaping.) Real world vaping study. Flavors help with quitting. Cause or effect of plain packaging. FDA loses cigars. Be careful what you wish for. Bad bans bad. The “truth” about health disparities and more!
Scroll to the bottom of this post for a link to the audio/video versions of this post!
RESEARCH // Cause or Effect of Plain Packaging
It’s good to see the negative consequences of policies being considered, but maybe they should also consider the possibility it’s not the plain packaging that reduced the appeal of vaping among the youth, but the misperception that they’re more harmful.🤔
Did you consider that the increased risk misperceptions maybe *causing* the reduced appeal to 16-19 year olds? In that case, any effect attributable to such a measure might be based on an implicit deceit – the use of similar packaging to cigarettes to suggest similar risk.
— Clive Bates (@Clive_Bates) August 9, 2023
RESEARCH // Be Careful What You Wish For
Instead of studying WHY (or WHAT) youth and young adults vape, researchers JUMP BLINDLY into trying to STOP “this alarming trend among North Carolinians.” Maybe they should first find out if it’s actually PREVENTING people from starting deadly smoking? 🤔
Teen smoking at a record low. Less than 2% of teen smoke daily. When I was a teen 30% of us were smokers. Teen vaping is also in steep decline (down 62% since 2019). So, their #SaveTheChildren propaganda is seriously flawed. We need to help 34 million smokers. #VapingSavesLives. pic.twitter.com/MjlAsXcU8d
— David P Forsyth (@DavidPForsyth) December 24, 2021
READ MORE: Carolina receives contract to study e-cigarette use
RESEARCH // Flavors Help With Quitting
“Less than a third of [subjects] in our study wanted something that tasted like tobacco.” Banning non-tobacco flavors, as some jurisdictions have done, “would only leave products that taste similar to cigarettes, and based on our study many smokers don’t want that reminder.”
Got a call from a guy in Iowa that I helped to quit smoking last year when he came in to meet Bernie, while on vacation. He's desperate to find the rose lemonade flavor I started him on. Had to inform him that thanks to @FDATobacco, he won't find it. 🙁 #harmpromotion
— Marc and Bernie (@SeismicPirate) July 27, 2023
READ MORE: Flavor Advice Boosts Chances of Switching From Cigarettes to Vapes
RESEARCH // Burying the Lead
The headlines ignore the fact that the “vaping” risks essentially disappeared when the subjects weren’t ALSO SMOKING. Additionally, while researchers accounted for current smoking, the abstract doesn’t account for FORMER SMOKING as an obvious factor.
Expert reaction to study of e-cigarette use and respiratory symptoms in adolescents and young adultshttps://t.co/2ga72vhzH3
— Jukka Kelovuori (@jkelovuori) August 18, 2023
READ MORE: Young people are at risk of harsh respiratory problems after 30 days of e-cigarette use, study says
RESEARCH // Just a Bit Ridiculous
Researchers theorize “lower gray matter” in the brain could lead to smoking and other “risky” behavior, yet teen smoking rates have reached record lows. Does that mean fewer teens have “lower gray matter” or that their theory is just a bit…ridiculous?
READ MORE: Reduced grey matter in frontal lobes linked to teenage smoking and nicotine addiction
RESEARCH // Vaping in the Real World
Results of a study funded by the National Cancer Institute “suggest that unguided e-cigarette use also leads to smoking cessation;” providing more “real-world” evidence that people DO successfully quit smoking on their own with the help of vapor products.
Press release on the newly published U.S. study showing vaping products work in the real world.
Lead author Dr. Matthew Carpenter takes a well deserved victory lap below.
https://t.co/sM8sWDOttd pic.twitter.com/hmuQyd1m57— Gregory Conley (@GregTHR) August 18, 2023
RESEARCH // More CVD Patients Choosing Vaping
Despite discovering only a TINY number of CVD patients who vape never smoked, and smoking has been declining among CVD patients because many are now choosing low risk vaping, the researcher says the “trend” of vaping in these groups is “not optimistic.”🤦♂️
https://twitter.com/heartresearchuk/status/1646152076815212554
READ MORE: E-Cigarette Use on the Rise in US Adults With CVD
RESEARCH // Missing the Point
The latest Gallup poll found that smoking has ticked up after making yearly declines – mostly since vaping took off. Maybe that’s because 54% of the public now wrongly believes vaping is “very harmful,” so they’re afraid to make the switch? Then the authors helpfully suggest that “public health experts may want to make sure young adults get that message, too.”
Is the adamant refusal to acknowledge that vaping is replacing smoking, particularly among younger people, official @Gallup policy?
By the way, nobody smokes e-cigarettes. pic.twitter.com/aIP2Ad9hH1
— Phil (@phil_w888) August 18, 2023
READ MORE: U.S. Cigarette Smoking Rate Steady Near Historical Low
TOBACCO HARM REDUCTION // How To Save Lives In The EU
I think the goal, if we want to fight tobacco-related mortality, is to get people to stop smoking cigarettes because cigarettes actually kill people.
I can tell you how we are not achieving this … overregulating products that have a serious potential to take market share away from cigarettes. Nicotine pouches, Swedish snus and e-cigarettes are examples of this.”
~ Sara Skyttedal, Member of the European Parliament
READ MORE: Sweden’s ultra-low smoking rate*
TOBACCO CONTROL // Bad Bans Bad
As former law enforcement, one would think he of all people would understand how the dangers of prohibition can outweigh the “dangers” of the prohibited product – as those pointed out in this article. In fact, an old tweet shows that he once did. What happened to THAT Mayor Eric Adams?
READ MORE: NYC fights illegal flavored vapes: Using lawsuits to go after purveyors targeting kids
TOBACCO CONTROL // The ‘Truth’ About Health Disparities
Another misleading article from Truth Initiative. What they don’t say is:
👉 Health disparities exist for African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, LBGTQI+, women & people with mental illness even without smoking.
👉 There’s no evidence people in these groups wouldn’t have smoked in the absence of menthol.
Also, note what’s NOT mentioned on this CDC page about Health Equity/Disparities.
READ MORE: Why ending menthol cigarette sales would benefit disproportionally affected groups
TOBACCO CONTROL // If Their Lips Are Moving About Vaping
“When asked why they use tobacco, young people consistently say it is because they like the flavors.”
LIE
“If you ask a teacher at a local middle or high school, they will tell you that e-cigarette use has led to disruptive behavior in their classrooms and an increase in mental health issues for their students.”
LIE
“The escalating use of electronic smoking devices, commonly known as ‘vapes,’ has led to a significant rise in youth nicotine addiction.”
LIE
“These devices have been linked to severe lung disease, potential harm to brain development and acute nicotine poisoning.”
LIE
READ MORE: Council floats ‘trigger ban’ on flavored tobacco
TOBACCO CONTROL // Deceiving the Public
Senator Blumenthal has either been misinformed or he is willfully deceiving the public.
According to CDC statistics, not only has the number of teens vaping DECLINED dramatically in the past few years, so has teen smoking and overall teen tobacco use. There is no “vaping & nicotine epidemic.”
We are fighting a vaping & nicotine epidemic. There has been a 47% increase in the number of teens using vaping products over the past 2 years. I’ll be re-introducing the PROTECT Act to equip the CDC with tools to protect young people from the vaping & tobacco industry. pic.twitter.com/JqHxnXshgn
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) August 15, 2023
FDA // Cigars For The Win
“In a stinging rebuke to the FDA, a federal judge ruled that the agency cannot regulate premium cigars under the plan laid out in its 2016 Deeming Rule. Judge Amit Mehta said the agency ignored scientific evidence when it created the rule.”
CASAA director Jim McDonald reporting for Vaping360.
New at @reason: A federal judge has struck down the FDA's regulation of premium cigars. I say, "Good!"https://t.co/6r1rcvTJtp
— Jacob Grier (@jacobgrier) August 11, 2023
READ MORE: Federal Judge Hammers FDA in Premium Cigar Decision
FDA // He Still Doesn’t Get It
FDA’s Center of Tobacco Products Director Brian King showing he still has no clue about what motivates adult consumers of low risk nicotine products.👇
“Because no tobacco product is safe, the eventual goal should be quitting all tobacco product use, including e-cigarettes.”
What FDA wants is to find a clever way to communicate the truth to adults without teens learning the truth.
Dr. Brian King has admitted this publicly. Heard it with my own ears.
Apparently, teens can't handle the truth. Also… no one at the FDA understands healthcare ethics. pic.twitter.com/jX1QCYustt
— Charles A. Gardner, PhD (@ChaunceyGardner) August 16, 2023
TESTIMONIALS // Real people. Real Stories.
“Anecdote” #13,525:
Successfully switched to vaping, DB can now look forward to the day his young son graduates from college. Kids need their parents and vaping is helping millions of them to live longer.
Share YOUR story: CASAA Testimonial Project
CASAA MEDIA // Spotify
CASAA’s podcast is on Spotify! Please give us a follow here:
CASAA IN ACTION // Twitter Spaces
The week we recap the Reagan-Udall sessions with Amanda Wheeler, Tim Andrews and CASAA CEO Alex Clark, who all presented to the panel about FDA’s issues regulating reduced-harm products. What grade would you give FDA? Also available on CASAA’s Spotify channel (above.)
— CASAA (@CASAAmedia) October 26, 2022
CASAA IN ACTION // CASAA Live
On this episode of CASAA Live, join CASAA CEO Alex Clark and CASAA Member Coordinator Kristin Noll-Marsh as they reveal why they started vaping and discuss the importance of consumer testimonials!
If you missed the last CASAA Live episode you can catch up NOW before the show comes back in September after the summer hiatus!
TAKE ACTION // CASAA State Facebook Groups
Have you joined your CASAA State Facebook group yet? Check it out now! Click the link below, click on your state on the map, then click the “Join Now” button to go to your state’s group page. It’s as easy as that to stay updated on local happenings, meet local advocates and never miss a Call to Action in your state!
Don’t forget to also follow our official Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CASAAmedia
FIND YOUR GROUP: CASAA State Locator
CASAA STORE // Apparel and More
Show your support by shopping our store! Our president (and brilliant website/swag designer) Danielle has added some awesome new designs to CASAA’s apparel shop!
VISIT: CASAA Apparel and Swag Store
CASAA MEDIA // Podcast
Catch up on past tobacco harm reduction news with Alex and Logan on the CASAA podcasts on SoundCloud every Monday and now live on YouTube and Facebook every Saturday at 3:30 PM.
SoundCloud: