Bridgeport, CT flavor ban update. Public health policy done right. Anti-vaping witch hunt. Exposing public health bias. CASAA in Action. New vaping research and more!
Scroll to the bottom of this post for a link to the audio/video versions of this post!
CALL TO ACTION UPDATE // Bridgeport, Connecticut
City Council decides it’s probably not a good idea to be a flavorless island surrounded by a sea of municipalities still selling flavored tobacco and nicotine products after a push for a statewide flavor ban fails.
Logic prevails:
Bridgeport CT has decided decided not to pursue a flavor ban. We do not want to be the first city to enact such rules. They (smokers) could go to Stratford, Trumbull, Fairfield, they could go anywhere in the state and purchase these items.”https://t.co/6qaYRuPJXv— Freedom of Choice (@LanceChurchill) June 24, 2021
READ MORE: Bridgeport gives up on local flavored tobacco ban
DO MORE: If you live in Connecticut, join the CASAA Connecticut Facebook Group
PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY // Anti-Vaping Witch Hunt
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi and other zealously anti-vaping politicians continue their unscientific, moral crusade against tobacco harm reduction products with a hearing entitled “An Epidemic Continues: Youth Vaping in America.”
PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY // Policy Done Right
In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis has refused to be taken in by the moral panic over nicotine vaping that has infected too many lawmakers in the US. Public health and the state’s small businesses are both better off for it.
While originally conceived as a bill to raise the legal age to buy tobacco to 21 (which is superfluous given this is already mandated by federal law), SB 810 effectively bans tobacco-free vaping flavors used by hundreds of thousands of Floridians as a reduced-risk alternative to cigarettes, which are more dangerous.”
~Governor DeSantis
READ MORE: Florida Protected Public Health by Rejecting Vaping Ban
CASAA IN ACTION // Global Forum On Nicotine
Check out Julie Woessner, former president and a current director of CASAA speaking on the Consumer Voice Panel at the recent Global Forum on Nicotine!
PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY // Exposing Research Bias
An obesity researcher tells a story of tactics being used against her that will be all too familiar to Tobacco Harm Reduction advocates:
“Some criticisms employed a rhetorical approach known as “paltering,” defined as the active use of truthful statements with the intent to deceive.”
A fascinating and depressing account of the attacks on research showing the non-link between overweight and mortality. This paragraph has lots of parallels to other contexts and shows how easy it is for a few bad actors to prevent consensus from forming. https://t.co/kXEG235rqy pic.twitter.com/LqGz76XQX6
— Dan Hirschman (@asociologist) June 20, 2021
READ MORE: The obesity wars and the education of a researcher: A personal account
RESEARCH // Vaping Flavors
A new study compares the brain’s reaction to flavored vs unflavored e-liquid and finds that flavors may “dampen the reward experience” of nicotine receptors, however, didn’t test unpleasant vs. pleasant flavors or how the so-called “dampening effect” may actually assist people who smoke transition away from cigarette flavors.
We are always excited to see the progress of our Bridges to Translation Pilot Grant awardees! Dr. Andrea Hobkirk recently published about her work around how the brain reacts to flavors vs. unflavored e-cigarettes. Check it out: https://t.co/rRPIEqA6NF #CTSAProgram @ncats_nih_gov pic.twitter.com/Ao4dKu6tdG
— Clinical & Translational Science Institute (@PennStateCTSI) June 23, 2021
READ MORE: Flavored e-cigarettes may affect the brain differently than non-flavored
RESEARCH: Nicotine & Accidental Quitting
A study by Dr. Jonathan Foulds finds that people who have little or no intent to quit smoking (ie. potential “accidental quitters”) have higher abstinence rates using vapor products with nicotine delivery closer to what’s found in cigarettes.
This randomized trial found that #Ecigs with nicotine delivery approaching that of a cigarette are more effective in helping ambivalent smokers to quit cigarette smoking. pic.twitter.com/dSrLWRElW0
— Jonathan Foulds PhD (@JonathanFoulds) June 24, 2021
RESEARCH: Exposing Anti-vaping Bias
Jacob Grier discusses vaping reporting and government policy, specifically the double standard of widespread reporting and emphasis on preliminary research with negative outcomes while mostly ignoring conflicting research with positive outcomes.
I'm back at @Slate today with a piece on scary stories about vaping and COVID and the research that does and doesn't get reported. https://t.co/D9UDpy4Gf8
— Jacob Grier (@jacobgrier) June 25, 2021
READ MORE: The Vaping Study You Haven’t Heard Of
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 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.