Medscape on Tobacco Harm Reduction: Part 1 – Nicotine
Tobacco Truth
by Brad Rodu
1w ago
  Most health professionals are familiar with Medscape, a free resource that describes itself as “the leading online global destination for physicians and healthcare professionals worldwide, offering the latest medical news and expert perspectives; essential point-of-care drug and disease information; and relevant professional education and [continuing medical education, CME].” Recently, Medscape invited me to assist in developing a series of short CME programs on tobacco harm reduction, which evolved into an examination of nicotine and the differential risks of combusted versus smoke-fr ..read more
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The Japanese Tobacco Miracle the World is Overlooking
Tobacco Truth
by Brad Rodu
1w ago
Smokers in Japan consumed 92.4 billion cigarettes in 2023 -- less than half as many as they did in 2014.  Since vapor products are illegal there, the impressive decline is likely due to the introduction of heat-not-burn tobacco products, which didn’t exist in 2014, but accounted for 38% of the Japanese tobacco market in 2023.  Notably, this progress occurred in an overall declining tobacco market.  UK tobacco harm reduction advocate Clive Bates previously opined: “The only mystery is why the skies over Tokyo are not dark with chartered planes bringing officials from WHO, FDA ..read more
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Exposing Defective Research, But Denied Credit: Case 3
Tobacco Truth
by Brad Rodu
3w ago
  Over the years, I have documented cases in which my colleague and I exposed fatal errors in published articles about smoke-free products, but neither authors nor editors acknowledged our efforts. The first case involved researchers at the National Cancer Institute and the University of Minnesota, whose Journal of the National Cancer Institute Cancer Spectrum article (here) reported on overall and cause-specific mortality among users of various tobacco products. The second instance involved an article about e-cigarettes and respiratory diseases in which the authors, including a former m ..read more
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Further Evidence That CDC’s National Youth Tobacco Survey Exaggerates Teen Vaping Rates
Tobacco Truth
by Brad Rodu
1M ago
  The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is a valuable federal resource for population-level research on tobacco and other substance use.  Analyzing its data, I have published research on how many Americans smoke (here, here, here and here), the illegitimacy of the gateway claim (here), and the role of smoking and smokeless tobacco (ST) use in past-year psychiatric disorders (here).  I have shared in this blog other important NSDUH insights into how many Americans use ST (here), who smokes menthols (here and here), and teen smoking declines before and during the e-c ..read more
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Scaremongering’s Forever Effects
Tobacco Truth
by Brad Rodu
1M ago
  With the emergence of nicotine pouches, claims from the 1980s about the health risks of smokeless tobacco (ST) use have reappeared. Nicotine pouches are an important addition to smokers’ options for reducing harm, but it is inappropriate to devalue them by overstating the risks of ST use, such as opining that it causes leukoplakia and periodontal disease.  This is not the case, and I wish to set the record straight. Leukoplakia In 1995, my research group published an article, “Tobacco Use and Cancer,” that discussed leukoplakia: “Oral leukoplakia was originally defined in 1978 by ..read more
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Where are the Crusades to Ban Alcohol, Marijuana & Caffeine – For the Children?
Tobacco Truth
by Brad Rodu
1M ago
  The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) just introduced a program to discourage underage drinking, aimed specifically at middle schoolers (here). It’s called “Too Soon = Too Dangerous.”  The chart at left, based on data from the government’s Monitoring the Future Survey (MTFS), shows that attention to early substance abuse is timely. There’s long been a broad crusade to prohibit all tobacco and nicotine products. Local and state governments are banning vaping and e-cigarette flavors (examples here, here and here), and the FDA has rejected thousands of flavo ..read more
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2023 High School Seniors Preferred Alcohol and Marijuana, But Almost Abandoned Cigarettes
Tobacco Truth
by Brad Rodu
2M ago
  My readers know that I have followed the results of the annual Monitoring the Future Survey (MTF) for many years, focusing on alcohol, marijuana and tobacco use among high school seniors.  The 2023 MTF results, released in December (here), indicate that past 30-day (i.e., current) use of all products declined from the previous year (as seen in chart at left).     Despite its illegality, drinking alcohol retained its decades-long top-substance status among seniors at 23%, down significantly from 28% in 2022.  Marijuana was second at 18%, one point higher than th ..read more
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FDA Creates, Decries Illegal E-Cigarette Tsunami
Tobacco Truth
by Brad Rodu
2M ago
  An article in the LA Times January 2nd bemoaned the “thousands of new flavored products…pouring into the country from China.”  It claimed, “Nearly all the new products are disposable e-cigarettes, according to sales data gathered from gas stations, convenience stores and other shops. The products generated $3.2 billion in the first 11 months of this [sic] year.” The response from Brian King, director of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products, was naïve: “Those committing illegal acts don’t advertise their crimes, and those trying to import illegal tobacco products into the United Sta ..read more
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Current Tobacco Prohibition in U.S. Prisons Would Violate the Geneva Convention, As It Treats Incarcerated Americans Worse than Wartime POWs
Tobacco Truth
by Brad Rodu
3M ago
  The U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons in 2015 finalized a rule prohibiting inmate “possession of smoking apparatus and tobacco in any form.”  Nine years earlier, the Bureau had discontinued tobacco sales at prison commissaries.   Announcing the final rule, Bureau officials discounted the issue of black market activity, saying that the agency’s staff was already trained to intercept contraband, so the addition of tobacco involved zero “additional burden.” They promised to increase searches of Bureau employees to assure that they don’t become contraband sources, and to impose “mor ..read more
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Menthol Cigarettes & Race – FDA Fudges the Facts
Tobacco Truth
by Brad Rodu
3M ago
  After announcing its intention to ban menthol cigarettes two years ago, the FDA has finally submitted its final rule to the Office of Management and Budget for Executive review.  Meanwhile, the Washington Post is reporting that the ban will be delayed until sometime in 2024 due to “political concerns” around Black smokers’ preference for and access to this flavor.  In 2018, I answered the question, “Who smokes menthol cigarettes?”, using the 2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).  Although federal officials claim that menthol cigarettes pose an existential threat ..read more
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