In the US, the dominant health message on e-cigs is that vaping is dangerous and could be the first step to developing an addiction to smoking, especially for young people. Amid slumping sales of e-cigs, however, some public health officials are expressing concerns that…
October 18, 2016
The most strategic policies to reduce adolescent smoking and secondhand smoke exposure in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) may not be those targeting adolescents.
September 29, 2016
Smokers with mental illness consume 40% of all cigarettes and smoke at rates 2-to-3 times the US average, despite being just 20% of the population. Myths abound about mental illness and smoking: that it alleviates psychiatric symptoms or that the mentally ill can’t quit…
September 15, 2016
E-cigarettes have divided the academic community, which has failed to find consensus on their safety and risks. A research review published earlier this week by global nonprofit Cochrane asserts that according to the best current evidence, e-cigarettes can help a person…
July 22, 2016
With e-cigarettes surging in popularity, unknowns about their health risks abound—making restrictions, particularly efforts to keep kids from getting hooked, worth considering. Although it is too soon to fully understand the risks associated with vaping, especially the use…
July 11, 2016
Uruguay won a major lawsuit against tobacco giant Philip Morris International (PMI) last Friday. PMI sued the country over anti-tobacco laws, including the mandate that graphic warnings cover 80% of cigarette packaging.
July 6, 2016
A media campaign to quit smoking, as well as pressure from wives, daughters, mothers and girlfriends appears to be paying off in North Korea, where an estimated 54 percent of adult males smoke. The ratio of male smokers in 2013 was down 8 percent when compared with 2009…
June 29, 2016
Recent UK studies show that the burden of lung disease—which kills more than 115,000 annually in the country—has not dropped in the past decade. The problem can be chalked up to lung disease’s image problem, tied to the stigma attached to smokers and a lack of awareness…
June 3, 2016
Lobbyists for China’s state-owned tobacco monopoly succeeded in weakening the latest draft of the national anti-smoking law, dashing the hopes of public health advocates in the country. Gone are draft provisions that banned smoking in workplaces and on public transit, and…