Reports

The New York Times published an article yesterday about the use of electronic cigarettes being used in Italy as a means to help smokers quit. "The user 'vapes,' or puffs on the vapor to get a hit of the addictive nicotine (and the familiar sensation of bringing a cigarette to one's mouth) without the noxious substances found in cigarette smoke."

The last decade and more has been dedicated to bringing awareness of the harmful effects of cigarette and tobacco use by many organizations globally. The World Health Organization has made smoking one of their highest concerns and the plight to counsel those still smoking leave many in public health positions frustrated with their positions. No matter how frustrating many find their positions in the fight against tobacco, Italian researchers are finding great success in eliminating cigarettes from smokers with the aid of electronic cigarettes.

Riccardo Polosa lead a team of researchers at the University of Catania. They recruited 40 hard-core smokers Continue Reading

Chantix lawsuits are rising around the country due to heart attack and stroke!

Pfizer's Chantix has spent much time in the news and in court. The black-box warning advises,

The drug side effects state that all patients must be monitored for neuropsychiatric symptoms including changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, suicide ideations and behaviors, and attempts at suicide. Those behaviors occurred in people with and without psychiatric conditions.

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In August, a group of tobacco companies filed suit against the FDA stating that the graphic images released to the public as part of the 2009 Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act are against their constitutional rights. The 41-page complaint filed in Washington, D.C., federal district court states that the labels are an unprecedented attempt to force the industry to serve as a spokesperson for the FDA's plight to end tobacco use.

This is precisely the type of controlled speech the First Amendment prohibits. While the government may require plaintiffs to provide purely factual and uncontroversial Continue Reading

In Sri Lanka, National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) chief Prof Carlo Fonseka noted that, "Tobacco and alcohol products are the two worst killers accounting for a majority of premature deaths and ailments across the world. In addition, this causes many social and economic sequences that impinge negatively on social-life, well-being, and economic development."

During Mr. Foneska's speech, he stated that no television programs should show any scenes that involve tobacco or alcohol use. If there are any aforementioned scenes in the program, for a full twenty seconds preceding the program, a warning as issued by NATA should be aired. Continue Reading

Multiple newspapers around the country are reporting an increase in calls made to quit lines following the US Food and Drug Administrations release of new cigarette labels this week. The FDA estimates that over 200,000 people will quit smoking with the new packaging. What do you think?

The images displayed are gruesomely graphic. Each label displays the national quit-line number of 800-QUIT-NOW. The images themselves help drive home the warnings that have been ignored along the side of packaging for years, having a number on each one might be the incentive people need as opposed to the image itself. I’m not trying to downplay the images. They do drive the point home very well. But it is the same information that has been stated a thousand different ways, by millions of people and agencies. Continue Reading

Electronic cigarettes continue to push limits. Many places across the country are including e-cigs in with tobacco legislation. Smoking bans are not the only place legislature is being rewritten to limit their purchase, too. In Millwood, Spokane County, Clark County and Tacoma-Pierce County, Washington, legislation has passed banning the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors.

Nicotine is highly addictive. It is compared to heroine and cocaine. There is no reason that any child should be using a substance that will create a monster within that takes many attempts and even more years to subdue. Continue Reading

Independent studies concluded that the color of a cigarette package correlates with the smoker's view of health risks.

Reports filed in the AERS for Chantix were wrongly submitted. Once correct forms were submitted, suicide cases more than doubled.