Daily Archives: November 4, 2009

Portland will soon have two medical-marijuana smoking lounges

As of next week, Oregon’s medical-marijuana patients will have two smoke-easies in Portland in which to medicate and socialize, the first such places in the country to open since the federal government indicated that it will no longer arrest or prosecute patients and suppliers.

The business of electronic cigarettes

Informa’s Regulatory Affairs Journal (RAJ) has published a feature on the regulatory conundrum surrounding electronic cigarettes.

Tobacco curing concerns mount

With harvest nearing completion, high humidity levels caused by an exceptionally moist year could potentially cause curing problems for growers of burley and dark tobacco, said specialists with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture.

Big tobacco targets youth with new products

The big tobacco companies are introducing new products to entice young people to begin using tobacco. Andrea Deming is a Phoenix Alliance coordinator and she came to Emery County to speak to the Governing Youth Council group comprised of students from Emery High, San Rafael Junior High and Canyon View Junior High. The students gave up a Saturday morning to become acquainted with the new tobacco products and to make a plan to halt their use among the teens in Emery County.

Under-18s smoking ban tightened

Scottish government ministers have agreed to toughen up proposed laws on tobacco sales to make it illegal for under-18s to buy cigarettes.tobacco

Entering a New Era in Tobacco Control Research

With the enactment of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act on June 22, the United States entered a new era in tobacco control and prevention. The act, which gives the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products, means that the tobacco industry will no longer have free reign to market tobacco products to youth, promote so-called “light” cigarettes as less harmful than others, keep scientists and the public in the dark about ingredients and design features of cigarettes, and make unproven health claims for modified tobacco products. Already, the FDA has shown that it intends to act aggressively to implement the new law; on September 22, the agency announced a ban on fruit- and candy-flavored cigarettes.
Dr. Cathy Backinger

Quitting Smoking is Good but Switching to Low-risk Nicotine Products is Usually Better

Ferndale, WA - Switching to low-risk nicotine products, like smokeless tobacco, electronic cigarettes, and pharmaceutical nicotine, offers smokers a chance to almost completely eliminate their health risks. While these alternative products still pose some very small health risk, a new study at the University of Alberta School of Public Health in Canada shows that in most cases switching is better for reducing lifetime risk than trying to quit. The study by Prof. Carl V. Phillips, just published in Harm Reduction Journal, shows that for most smokers, immediately switching to a low-risk alternative will lower their risk of dying from their habit more than quitting eventually, even if they use the smoke-free product for the rest of their lives.