Regulator Watch

Eradicate nicotine? "Hell no" says tobacco control veteran Cliff Douglas, "why would one want to do that?" Nicotine should be front and center in the strategy to end smoking. @cdoug @ChaunceyGardner @alli_vapes @VaporTechAssoc @INNCOorg @GFNicotine @GrimmGreen @LegionVaping

Public perception of vaping in the US has flipped since 2018. Many now believe nicotine vapes are as harmful as smoking, fueled by a constant barrage of flawed studies reported routinely by the press. #Vaping #HarmReduction

Nicotine's harms isn't scientifically backed. While addictive, nicotine itself shows little evidence of being harmful. Doctors wrongly believe it causes cancer. #NicotineFacts #TobaccoControl

There's a significant battle within tobacco control in the US regarding vaping. One side advocates for tobacco harm reduction, The other, prohibition. Uniting around harm reduction could save even more lives. #Vaping #HarmReduction

Millions are switching to safer alternatives like vapes, yet the FDA isn't authorizing enough products to meet demand. #FDA #Vaping

Focus on the smoker with empathy and understanding to create better solutions. Over 60% of the US vaping market is unauthorized. Authorizing flavors for legal companies is the most effective way to combat illegal vapes. #HarmReduction #Vaping

Do flavored nicotine vapes benefit public health? Absolutely. Flavors are what people like most, especially smokers seeking satisfaction. We need to focus on smokers and what truly satisfies them, not just intellectual appeal. #HarmReduction #Vaping

Policymakers must recognize the lives saved by e-cigarettes. Trying to reverse this progress means people return to deadly combustibles, causing enormous loss. Encouraging innovation offers enormous gains in saving lives. #PublicHealth #HarmReduction

In 2024, 28.8 million US adults are using non-combustible nicotine products, surpassing smokers. This shift signifies a major step towards tobacco harm reduction and saving lives. It's a tipping point towards a healthier future. #HarmReduction #PublicHealth #Nicotine

In 2024, the US hit historic lows in adult smoking (75-yr low), youth smoking (50-yr low), and youth vaping (10-yr low). Despite a rise in e-cigarette use, the overall decline in tobacco products is significant progress. #PublicHealth #SmokingCessation

Menthol and flavored combustible tobacco policies are a more effective public health strategy than banning e-cigarette flavors. Focusing on combustible products yields greater public health gains. #PublicHealth #TobaccoPolicy

Tobacco policies may inadvertently fuel regulation-induced crime. It is a simple market response. #TobaccoPolicy #Crime #VapeMarket

U.S. Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) has posted the following (see below): "Big tobacco donated big bucks to Trump’s political operation & dined at his golf club. Days later, FDA permits addictive & harmful vapes to be sold without scientific review, contrary to the law.  I’m leading Senate Dems to demand answers on Big Tobacco’s scheme to hook children on this poison." The statement is consistent with the approach he has taken for a long time in this arena. Senator Durbin and I worked together decades ago on the campaign to make commercial airline flights smoke-free, as well as on other tobacco control policy matters, and I have long respected his devotion to reducing the toll of smoking-related disease. That is precisely why I find his framing here so troubling, as it reflects a perspective that is difficult to reconcile with the scientific evidence and the public health challenge before us. FDA's scientific staff are not promoting smoking or disregarding youth concerns. They have taken an exceptionally cautious approach in evaluating noncombustible nicotine products, with the goal of accelerating the end of the smoking epidemic while maintaining strong protections against youth use. Contrary to Senator Durbin's assertion, FDA's recent authorizations were the product of lengthy and meticulous scientific review, not its absence. The key fact that continues to get lost in these debates is that cigarettes are uniquely lethal because they burn tobacco and produce smoke. Noncombustible products do not. There is now broad scientific consensus that properly regulated noncombustible nicotine products—including vaping products, nicotine pouches, heated tobacco products, and other new alternatives—are far less hazardous than cigarettes. The difference is so substantial that calling it a "continuum of risk" may actually understate the point. It is closer to a risk cliff, with combustible cigarettes standing alone at the top and noncombustible products far nearer the bottom. Conflating all tobacco and nicotine products as though they pose comparable risks is not protecting public health. It obscures critical distinctions that millions of adults who smoke deserve to understand. Nearly 30 million Americans still smoke. They deserve accurate information. Public health is not served when products with profoundly different risk profiles are presented as though they are essentially the same. We can simultaneously support rigorous regulation, aggressive enforcement against illicit products, and strong measures to prevent youth use while also acknowledging that adults who switch from cigarettes to noncombustible alternatives dramatically reduce their health risks. The longer policymakers and public health leaders ignore or minimize that reality, the longer smoking-related disease and death will persist.

Marina Murphy from @HayppGroup presents data on what UK participants did after the ban on disposable e-cigarettes. 8% stopped vaping, but 41% of those 8% went back to smoking. Remember that only a small increase in smoking can undermine any health gains. #GFN26

Flavor restrictions on vaping products led to a 30% drop in e-cigarette use but a 10% rise in cigarette sales. This trade-off is concerning, as vaping is considered less harmful than traditional cigarettes. #Vaping #PublicHealth

Eradicate nicotine? "Hell no" says tobacco control veteran Cliff Douglas, "why would one want to do that?" Nicotine should be front and center in the strategy to end smoking. @cdoug @ChaunceyGardner @alli_vapes @VaporTechAssoc @INNCOorg @GFNicotine @GrimmGreen @LegionVaping regwat.ch/VTgVq1

Taxing e-cigarettes to the point of profitability for organized crime fuels illicit activity. Higher taxes incentivize criminal involvement. Interventions aimed at preventing youth use may also negatively impact adult well-being. #Vaping #PublicHealth

FDA Commissioner calls youth vaping an epidemic. The data shows a collapse. Cliff Douglas asks: where’s the celebration? @DrMakaryFDA @FDATobacco @CDCgov @VaporTechAssoc @NannyFreeState @INNCOorg @GFNicotine @GrimmGreen

Flavor restrictions in Canadian provinces led to a 30% drop in e-cigarette use, but a 10% surge in cigarette sales. This highlights a complex shift in consumer habits. #Vaping #PublicHealth

Policies like flavor bans and taxes on e-cigarettes may inadvertently lead to teens smoking more traditional cigarettes. Evidence suggests these policies could lead to substitution, impacting both adults and teens. #PublicHealth #HarmReduction

Eradicate nicotine? "Hell no" says tobacco control veteran Cliff Douglas, "why would one want to do that?" Nicotine should be front and center in the strategy to end smoking. @cdoug @ChaunceyGardner @alli_vapes @VaporTechAssoc @INNCOorg @GFNicotine @GrimmGreen @LegionVaping regwat.ch/VTgVq1