Tag: Vaping

9/9/20--In 2020, 19.6% of high school students (3.02 million) and 4.7% of middle school students (550,000) reported current e-cigarette use. Among current e-cigarette users, 38.9% of high school students and 20.0% of middle school students reported using e-cigarettes on 20 or more of the past 30 days; 22.5% of high school users and 9.4% of middle school users reported daily use. Among all current e-cigarette users, 82.9% used flavored e-cigarettes, including 84.7% of high school users (2.53 million) and 73.9% of middle school users (400,000). Read

9/9/20--During September 2014–May 2020, e-cigarette sales increased by 122.2%. Sales of prefilled cartridges increased during September 2014–August 2019; since then, sales of disposable products have increased. Prefilled mint cartridge e-cigarette sales increased from September 2014 to August 2019, then decreased, as menthol sales increased during August 2019–May 2020. Read

9/10/20--Although significant progress has been made since the creation of the initiative – Protect Kids: Fight Flavored E-Cigarettes led by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, youth e-cigarette use remains at epidemic levels and bold action is needed at all levels of government to prohibit flavored e-cigarettes and stop tobacco companies from addicting a new generation of kids. Read

9/13/20--Many things remain uncertain as a new school year begins, but the proven, science-backed information on the risks of using e-cigarettes can protect the minds and lungs of youth from harm caused by e-cigarettes and nicotine, and keep them from starting to use these products in the first place. Read

9/13/20--The Centers for Disease Control presents quick facts on the risks of e-cigarettes for kids, teens, and young adults. Some of which include: The use of e-cigarettes is unsafe; most e-cigarettes contain nicotine; nicotine is highly addictive and can harm adolescent brain development, which continues into the early to mid-20s, and young people who use e-cigarettes may be more likely to smoke cigarettes in the future. Read

9/13/20--Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service, VADM Jerome Adams, is emphasizing the importance of protecting children from a lifetime of nicotine addiction and associated health risks by immediately addressing the epidemic of youth e-cigarette use. The recent surge in e-cigarette use among youth, which has been fueled by new types of e-cigarettes that have recently entered the market, is a cause for great concern. Read

9/12/20--Vaping increases the risk of developing breast cancer, a new study suggests. According to scientists from a group of American universities, including Yale, Johns Hopkins and Princeton, exposure to e-cigarette vapor creates a 'tumor-promoting environment' in the breast and elsewhere in the body. Read

9/14/20--According to this report, the rapidly increasing use of e-cigarettes is currently outpacing the accumulation of evidence regarding its harms versus its benefits. These may be largely generational: the harms of addicting an entirely new generation to nicotine versus the immediate and long-term morbidity and mortality benefits to an older generation who may already be suffering the consequences of its own addiction. The FDA has the herculean task of sorting this out while protecting everyone. Read

10/28/20--This study provides the first robust scientific evidence to raise awareness regarding the risks of vaping. Read

8/24/20--The California Assembly today delivered a resounding victory for kids and public health over the tobacco industry by voting, 58-1, to prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products, including flavored e-cigarettes, flavored cigars and menthol cigarettes. This bold action, in a state home to more than 10% of the U.S. population, cracks down on the products that have long been the tobacco industry’s most powerful weapons in targeting and hooking kids and the Black community. Read

8/20/20--Following the 2019 Monitoring the Future survey and the 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey, the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is the third national survey to show that youth e-cigarette use skyrocketed between 2017 and 2019. The YRBS found that 32.7% of high school students were current e-cigarette users in 2019, up from 13.2% in 2017. Read

8/19/20--As Puff Bar’s popularity has grown, so have many questions and concerns about the product and the company behind it. Puff Bar should never have been sold because it is illegal for any tobacco product that wasn’t on the market before August 2016 to begin sales. Still, Puff Bar appeared on the market in 2019 and raked in profits before the Food and Drug Administration took enforcement action. Read  

7/30/20--Juul Labs Inc submitted an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that would allow it to keep selling e-cigarettes, which face heightened scrutiny over a surge in teenage vaping. Once an application is submitted, companies can keep selling their products for a year from the date of deadline, without official approval, or until a negative action is taken by the FDA. Read

 

7/29/20--There can be serious consequences to vaping, so why do so many teens continue to do it? In this episode, Grace Wang and Mia Goldstein talk to teens about addiction. Read

8/6/20--A Fitchburg marijuana company, Revolutionary Clinics, will pay Massachusetts $120,000 to settle charges it sold vaporizers containing excessive levels of ethanol to six other dispensaries, which then sold dozens of the tainted devices to consumers. The Cannabis Control Commission voted unanimously to approve the fine and impose a four-month probation for the company over various violations related to the wholesale vape transactions, which occurred from December 2018 to early 2019. Read

8/6/20--In a new position paper, the European Association of Preventive Cardiology recommended that due to known CV harms from e-cigarettes, they should not be used for smoking cessation except as a last resort. Read

8/7/20--Consumers in Massachusetts may soon notice an unfamiliar warning sticker on their marijuana vapes: “This product was previously quarantined. Passed retesting for heavy metals and Vitamin E Acetate.” Actually, more than 619,000 vapes were sitting in vaults at cannabis facilities across the state since September, when Governor Charlie Baker temporarily banned the devices in an effort to combat an outbreak of vaping-related lung illnesses. Read

7/20/20--Studies have indicated that cartoons are an effective strategy in increasing product recognition and susceptibility to use e-cigarettes. Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration announced it is prioritizing enforcement against e-cigarette companies that use marketing likely to promote youth use. This study aimed to determine if companies were using cartoon-based strategies to market and promote e-cigarette–associated products in 2019 on Instagram. Read

7/13/20--Puff Bar, a California-based marketer of disposable e-cigarettes, announced the sales suspension Monday on its website. In a phone call with FairWarning, the company’s Chief Financial Officer Patrick Beltran confirmed that U.S. sales were being halted until further notice, but said that international sales would continue for the time being. Beltran would not give a reason for the move. Read

7/1/20--This guide supports health care providers, systems, and communities seeking to prevent vaping. It describes relevant research findings, examines emerging and best practices, identifies knowledge gaps and implementation challenges, and offers useful resources. Read

6/26/20--In April 2020, during the early COVID-19 pandemic, eight patients hospitalized with e-cigarette, or vaping, product use–associated lung injury (EVALI) were reported to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). According to the report, it is unclear whether EVALI cases have continued to occur and were underreported or missed or whether these cases might represent the background incidence of EVALI as previously identified by CDC review of syndromic data. Read

6/25/20--A coalition of health, youth, and community advocates united to protect kids from the dangers of tobacco use applauded passage by the California State Senate of SB 793, landmark legislation authored by State Senator Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) to end the sale of all candy-flavored tobacco products across the state, including the original candy flavor: sweet minty menthol cigarettes. Read

6/19/20--This is the first study to examine e-cigarette and cigarette prices on e-cigarette and cigarette behavior longitudinally among young people. Findings suggest the need for better measuring the costs associated with e-cigarette use among this population, as well as a careful assessment of price and tax policies that takes into account cross-product impact to sufficiently discourage e-cigarette and cigarette use among young people. Read

6/11/20--Since K.C. Crosthwaite took the helm of the e-cigarette maker nine months ago, Juul has halted most of its U.S. advertising, cut more than 1,500 jobs, stopped selling sweet and fruity flavors in the U.S. and put the brakes on its international expansion. And he doesn’t plan to get the startup back to growth any time soon. Read

6/3/20--According to a doctor and state Department of Health whistleblower, a lack of proper controls over Hawaii’s medical marijuana dispensaries is putting patients’ health in danger. Hawaii News New (HNN) investigation revealed many of the vaping cartridges being sold in Oahu’s dispensaries would be banned in other states for failing to meet safety standards. Read

6/5/20--Much more is unknown than known about e-cigarettes. However, despite all this uncertainty, some have rendered global and fairly Manichean pronouncements regarding the threats and benefits of e-cigarettes. According to an editorial published in JAMA Network, "we are largely ignorant not only about the effects of e-cigarettes, but also about the long-term consequences of such public pronouncements." Read

6/5/20--In this study, risk of cigarette smoking relapse among former cigarette smokers was higher among those who used electronic nicotine delivery systems or other tobacco products compared with those who did not. Furthermore, for clinicians treating former smokers who have successfully quit all nicotine products, the implications are that use of ENDS products should be discouraged, just as use of all other tobacco products is discouraged. Read

6/5/20--In this study, lower socioeconomic position was associated with higher rates of e-cigarette use among those who quit smoking after e-cigarettes became widely available, likely reflecting continued use of e-cigarettes as a long-term cessation aid among individuals with lower socioeconomic positions. Read

6/5/20--In this cohort study with 17, 929 participants, multivariable analyses of nationally representative, longitudinal survey data evaluated differences in smoking initiation and cessation subsequent to vaping uptake among those who used flavored vs unflavored e-cigarettes, separately by age group. Results indicate that adults who began vaping nontobacco-flavored e-cigarettes were more likely to quit smoking than those who vaped tobacco flavors. More research is needed to establish the relationship between e-cigarette flavors and smoking and to guide related policy. Read

6/1/20--In this systematic review, pod-based e-cigarettes enhanced the delivery of nicotine and had greater dependence potential. Youth and young adult use can be attributed to social acceptability, convenient product features, and aggressive social media marketing. Read

6/1/20--In this issue of JAMA Pediatrics, Lee and colleagues review the evidence on pod-based electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use among youth and young adults. Recent data reveal that this trend is driven largely by the increase in e-cigarette use, and today e-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among youth. These facts have led the US surgeon general to declare youth e-cigarette use to be an epidemic. Read

5/27/20--A study seeking to investigate the association between workplace exposures and health symptoms in an indoor Cannabis grow facility in Washington State shows a high prevalence of work-related allergic- and particularly respiratory symptoms in the employees of one indoor Cannabis grow facility in Washington State. However, due to the high incidence of recreational cannabis use among these workers, the relative influence of occupational versus recreational exposure to Cannabis dust on the respiratory health and sensitization status of these workers could not be resolved in this study. Read

5/12/20--Doctors at Orlando Health say in the past month they've treated four teenagers for severe respiratory illnesses that appeared to be the coronavirus but when the results came back negative, they realized it was from vaping. Read

4/28/20--In this issue of JAMA, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) presents updated recommendations on prevention and cessation of tobacco use among children and adolescents seen in primary care settings. The USPSTF recommends education and brief counseling with a clinician to prevent initiation of tobacco use. The USPSTF also concludes that evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of primary care–feasible interventions for the cessation of tobacco use among school-aged children and adolescents. Read

5/4/20--The prevalence of vaping increased between 2018 and 2019 within all 3 countries, but was substantially more prevalent in Canada and the US compared with England. Vaping was substantially higher among individuals who reported smoking than other respondents in all 3 countries, although increases between 2017 and 2019 were observed across all subgroups for most measures of vaping in the US and Canada including among those who reported never smoking. Read

5/4/20--The use of e-cigarettes among youths has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Juul is the most popular brand of e-cigarettes among youth, and it has been criticized for marketing that targets youths. Concerns of serious short-term and long-term health outcomes from e-cigarette use have led to actions from the US Food and Drug Administration, states, and municipalities to ban or restrict the sale of e-cigarettes. Read

4/23/20--In the current issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, an article by Werner and colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention examines the outbreak of EVALI (e-cigarette, or vaping, product use–associated lung injury) and takes a look backward at this outbreak to see what we have learned. Although the EVALI crisis may now have faded, millions of e-cigarette users still have virtually no protection against the potential harms from the thousands of largely unregulated e-cigarette devices and liquids on the market. Read

3/30/20--The e-cigarette giant Juul Labs counted on international expansion to offset losses in the U.S., but the regulatory response abroad has been even stricter. The company has been met with ferocious anti-vaping sentiment and a barrage of newly enacted e-cigarette restrictions, or outright bans, in country after country. As a result, its ambitious overseas plans have collapsed. Read

3/25/20-- Use of e-cigarettes has recently soared, particularly among young people. Federal and state governments have implemented numerous policies to combat the growth of vaping. According to an article by Jody L. Sindelar published in The New England Journal of Medicine, policies should protect young people without diminishing the ability of e-cigarettes to help adult smokers transition away from more harmful combustible cigarettes or to serve as a cessation aid for people attempting to quit smoking. Read

2/26/20--State health officials announced Wednesday that a fifth person has died from a vaping-related illness in Massachusetts. Officials did not say whether he purchased the product through a licensed dispensary or through the illicit market. The man is among 46 confirmed cases of vaping-related illness in Massachusetts. Read

2/12/20--In a survey study of 4183 respondents examining factors associated with use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), including JUUL, among high school students, inclusion of a JUUL use measure produced higher estimates of current use than assessing the use of e-cigarettes or JUUL alone, and 88.8% of youth reported using the JUUL brand. In addition, current use of other tobacco products, endorsing a tobacco brand on social media, having tobacco-branded merchandise, having close friends who used JUUL, and seeing JUUL used on school grounds were significantly associated with current and frequent e-cigarette use, inclusive of JUUL. Read

1/20/20--Philip Morris Chief Executive Officer Andre Calantzopoulos announced that the company is getting ready to launch a new vaping device, IQOS Mesh, early this year. Calantzopoulos states there “will be consolidation in the market for e-cigarettes” and Philip Morris wants to be on the forefront with its IQOS brand. Although Philip Morris’s merger talks with Altria failed last year amid mounting controversy over the health effects of Juul, it hasn’t given up on a potential reunion with sister company Altria Group Inc. at some point in the future. Read

1/1/19--The Food and Drug Administration plans to ban the sale of fruity flavors in cartridge-based e-cigarettes, but the restriction won’t apply to tank vaping systems commonly found at vape shops, according to people familiar with the matter. Read

12/20/19--The causative agents for the current national outbreak of electronic-cigarette, or vaping, product use–associated lung injury (EVALI) have not been established. Detection of toxicants in bronchoalveolar-lavage (BAL) fluid from patients with EVALI can provide direct information on exposure within the lung. Results from the performed study indicate that Vitamin E acetate was associated with EVALI in a convenience sample of 51 patients in 16 states across the United States. Read

1/1/20--NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Dr. Sharon Levy, a pediatrician and an adolescent addiction expert with Boston Children's Hospital, about the FDA's proposed ban on most flavored e-cigarette pods. Read

12/10/19--The Cannabis Control Commission and the Department of Public Health have agreed to share data with each other to investigate whether six probable cases of vaping-related lung illnesses are linked to state-licensed marijuana retailers, as health officials had suggested last week. Read

12/12/19--The Cannabis Control Commission has issued an amended quarantine order for vaporizer devices and products manufactured by Marijuana Establishments and Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers in Massachusetts. The order permits the sale of devices used to vaporize flower for adult and medical use of marijuana, devices designed to vaporize concentrate that do not contain usable marijuana, and regulated vaporizer products that are manufactured starting Thursday which pass screens for vitamin E acetate as well as other contaminants required under the Commission’s testing protocols. Read

12/5/19--Six Massachusetts patients with probable — but not confirmed — cases of vaping-related lung illnesses reported using regulated products from state-licensed marijuana companies, state health officials revealed Thursday night. The patients represent a small fraction of the 90 probable and confirmed cases of vaping-related lung illnesses flagged so far by the state Department of Public Health, but mark the first time state authorities have explicitly linked the lung illnesses to cannabis vapes purchased at legal stores and dispensaries. Read

12/6/19--State health officials conceded Friday night that six Massachusetts patients suffering from probable cases of vaping-related lung illnesses may have used illicit marijuana vapes in addition to legal ones, a surprising revision from the day before when officials suggested products sold at licensed cannabis retailers were to blame for the ailments. Read

11/5/19--Adolescent e-cigarette use has increased substantially since 2016.1 To counteract such trends, public health agencies are considering regulatory restrictions of e-cigarettes in flavors popular among youths.2,3 Whether certain flavors warrant inclusion or exemption from regulatory policies is unclear because recent estimates of the specific e-cigarette flavors adolescents use are lacking. Read

11/5/19--In a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2019 that included 19,018 participants to examine the estimated frequency of the current (past 30-day) use of e-cigarettes among US high school and middle school students in 2019, the findings indicate that the prevalence of self-reported current e-cigarette use was high among US high school and middle school students. Read

12/6/19--New evidence shows that legitimate THC vaping products are also making people sick, meaning that illegal, off-brand vapes aren't the only products to blame for the current outbreak of vaping-related illnesses. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health reports that at least six patients suspected of having the vaping lung illness purchased THC products at licensed marijuana dispensaries in that state. Read

11/17/19--In September, President Trump said he was moving to ban the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes as vaping among young people continued to rise. However, advisers say the president pulled back from proposed restrictions intended to curb teenage vaping after he was warned of the political fallout among voters. Read

11/5/19--Juul executives knew young people were flocking to its breakthrough e-cigarette shortly after it went on sale in 2015, a former manager tells Reuters. Its nicotine blend was so potent, engineers devised a kill switch to limit the dosage – but the idea was shelved. Following the product’s launch, it took nearly three years – and pressure from regulators and U.S. senators – before Juul in April 2018 announced what it called a “comprehensive strategy” of measures to curb youth sales. Read

11/14/19--After uncovering a key mechanism that could explain how e-cigarettes harm the lungs, brain, and cardiovascular system, a team of researchers now calls for much stricter regulation of these electronic devices. evidence has increasingly come to light that the liquid that goes into an e-cigarette and the materials of the devices themselves contain dangerous levels of toxic substances that can harm health. Read

11/8/19--By creating a new category of “thickening” vape cartridge additives, Honey Cut became a nationwide phenomenon. Its formula—and copycat products just like it—suddenly turned up last year in illicit THC vape cartridges nationwide. The company itself appeared to be a kind of corporate ghost ship. Its name was attached only to a website and a P.O. box. Nobody knew who founded Honey Cut, who ran it, or who profited from it... until now. Read

11/11/19--With support from the Center for Tobacco Products of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened an expert committee to conduct a critical, objective review of the scientific evidence about e-cigarettes and health. The resulting report, Public Health Consequences of E-Cigarettes, provides an overview of the evidence, recommends ways to improve the research, and highlights gaps that are priority focus areas for future work. Read

11/11/19--Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Monday that Juul Labs’ products should be removed from the market, citing two studies that showed the scope of teen use of its e-cigarettes and flavored pods. Gottlieb, who has criticized Juul in the past, said that Juul does seem to “have cleaned up what they’re doing” in terms of marketing to young people, “but it’s hard to unring that bell.” Read

11/5/19--In a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2019 that included 19 018 participants, the prevalence of self-reported current e-cigarette use was 27.5% among high school students and 10.5% among middle school students, with many current e-cigarette users reporting frequent use and most of the exclusive e-cigarette users reporting use of flavored e-cigarettes. Read