Evidence that ecigs are a gateway to smoking and promote relapse in former smokers keeps piling up Jagdish Kaur from WHO and several colleagues from India's new paper "E-cigarette use and subsequent tobacco smoking initiation: an umbrella review with Bayesian model meta-analysis" provides the most comprehensive summary of evidence that e-cigarettes promote cigarette smoking in nonsmokers available to date. They also show that e-cigarette use in former smokers promotes relapse to smoking. Kaur and colleagues searched the literature for earlier reviews and meta-analyses of the association between e-cigarette use and subsequent smoking.

Evidence that ecigs are a gateway to smoking and promote relapse in former smokers keeps piling up

Jagdish Kaur from WHO and several colleagues from India's new paper "E-cigarette use and subsequent tobacco smoking initiation: an umbrella review with Bayesian model meta-analysis" provides the most…

Nicotine pouches maintain the nicotine market for tobacco companies Nicotine pouches (like ZYN and on!) are being touted by some advocates as a "harm reduction" alternative to smoking cigarettes. Kelvin Choi and colleagues examined whether this happens in real life in their new paper "Patterns of tobacco product use among US adults who use nicotine pouches and the association between nicotine pouch use and tobacco product use cessation…

Nicotine pouches maintain the nicotine market for tobacco companies

Nicotine pouches (like ZYN and on!) are being touted by some advocates as a "harm reduction" alternative to smoking cigarettes. Kelvin Choi and colleagues examined whether this happens in real life in their new paper "Patterns of…

Please send more details. You can email me if that is easier: stanton.glantz@sonic.net

Can everyone just say loudly and often that President Trump has achieved the most amazing victories in the history of the world, giving him the justification to bring US forces home. Of course, we can tell him the truth later.

Latest News: ENDS use is significantly associated with increased risk of tobacco smoking initiation among non-smokers, particularly adolescents, supporting the gateway hypothesis. https://bit.ly/4rXIn3X

Science Media Center, the group you quoted.

Few of the SMC “experts” work in cancer and none of the ones who do do the kind of mechanistic research the paper is about.

OK

I link to the SMC criticisms (from ecig advocates in England) in my post and note that most are generic with no specific engagement with the specifics of the cancer paper. Few of the "experts" are cancer researchers and none do the kind of mechanistic studies the paper bases its conclusions on.

The cigarette smoking rate among U.S. adults fell to a historic low of 9.9% in 2024, down sharply from a high of 42.4% in 1965. Vox calls it “the most successful health campaign in modern history.” But this battle is far from over.

Broad evidence implicates e-cigarettes as a cause of cancer Bernard Stewart and colleagues from Australia just published "The carcinogenicity of e-cigarettes: a qualitative risk assessment" in Carcinogenesis. This review (summary) of the literature cites 116 papers, 15 of which were published in 2025. The fact that so many of the citations are recent is important because the evidence on the health risks of e-cigarettes is rapidly accumulating.

Broad evidence implicates e-cigarettes as a cause of cancer

Bernard Stewart and colleagues from Australia just published "The carcinogenicity of e-cigarettes: a qualitative risk assessment" in Carcinogenesis. This review (summary) of the literature cites 116 papers, 15 of which were published in…

FDA releases 2025 NYTS data without any analysis; Altria and Rutgers (separately) provide summary results In April 2025, the Trump Administration shuttered the CDC Office on Smoking and Health and stopped collecting data for the 2025 National Youth Tobacco Survey. Later, the Administration announced it was restoring the NYTS and transferring is administration to the FDA Center For Tobacco Products, which had been partnering with CDC since 2021. On March 4, 2026, FDA quietly released…

FDA releases 2025 NYTS data without any analysis; Altria and Rutgers (separately) provide summary results

In April 2025, the Trump Administration shuttered the CDC Office on Smoking and Health and stopped collecting data for the 2025 National Youth Tobacco Survey. Later, the Administration…

California’s “Unflavored Tobacco List” will improve compliance with and enforcement of flavored tobacco ban Last year California passed AB 3218 to tighten up and simplify compliance with and enforcement of California's ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products. Part of this was to have the Attorney General establish and maintain an Unflavored Tobacco List (UTL) that included those tobacco products that could be sold legally in California. to protect the public health by removing flavored tobacco products from the market.

California’s “Unflavored Tobacco List” will improve compliance with and enforcement of flavored tobacco ban

Last year California passed AB 3218 to tighten up and simplify compliance with and enforcement of California's ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products. Part of this was to have the…

What the data actually shows is that, accounting for dual use, e-cigs are about as dangerous or more dangerous than cigarettes. See profglantz.com/2026/02/18/e...

She works for Pinney Associates who works for Juul.

I did read it. That’s how I knew she didn’t address the fact that e-cigarettes are associated with increased risks in never smokers. (All these critics make essentially the same arguments, all of which are anticipated and addressed in the papers. They ignore that, too.)

His critique, like all the others, ignores the fact that there are associations between ecig use and disease in NEVER smokers.

Role of trade associations in managing conflict between US cigarette and smokeless tobacco industries Objective The merging of US smokeless tobacco (SLT) and cigarette industries in the early 2000s was highly predictable based on cigarette manufacturers’ long-standing interest in developing SLT produc...

Paper Alert! Using the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents, authors investigate the role of trade associations in managing conflict between the US cigarette and smokeless tobacco industries. #TobaccoControl #PublicHealth #archives
tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/earl...

1/New study in #JAMAHealthForum, led by Kaiser Permanente & co-authored by researchers at @publichealthinst.bsky.social, UCSF, & USC finds past-year #cannabis use during adolescence is associated with a significantly higher risk of incident psychotic, bipolar, depressive & anxiety disorders.

These statements are outdated. Both are based on biomarkers not direct measures of disease outcomes. As we note in our new paper, most of the disease data are relatively new. It is important to base decisions on all currently available evidence.

E-cigarettes are nearly as risky as cigarettes; dual use is worse: The evidence continues to pile up Using e-cigarettes (vaping) has been promoted as a much safer alternative to smoking cigarettes. However, a new head-to-head comparison of actual disease in e-cigarette users compared to cigarette smokers published in Public Health Reports shows that this assertion is wrong.  This new analysis of 124 studies on the association of e-cigarette use with disease outcomes in the general population demonstrates that for some diseases there is no detectable difference in the odds of disease for current e-cigarette users compared to cigarette smokers.

E-cigarettes are nearly as risky as cigarettes; dual use is worse: The evidence continues to pile up

Using e-cigarettes (vaping) has been promoted as a much safer alternative to smoking cigarettes. However, a new head-to-head comparison of actual disease in e-cigarette users compared to cigarette…

What the BAT chief scientist had to say about causality half a century ago E-cigarette advocates, global warming deniers and social media companies continue to sidestep the implications of research showing dangers of their products by, among other things, retreating behind the high walls of claims that the evidence is not "causal." To put these claims in context, it is worth re-reading the last couple paragraphs from our book The Cigarette Papers (University of California Press, 1996, pages 441-442) on the original set of Brown and Williamson documents that were sent to me from "Mr.

What the BAT chief scientist had to say about causality half a century ago

E-cigarette advocates, global warming deniers and social media companies continue to sidestep the implications of research showing dangers of their products by, among other things, retreating behind the high walls of claims…

DOJ spying on Congress’ viewing of Epstein files echos tobacco company spying on researchers On February 9, 2026, as required by Epstein Files Transparency Act, the Department of Justice gave members of Congress access to the unredacted Epstein files, but just made four computer terminals at available. This reminded me of a similar situation back in 1999, when the British American Tobacco (BAT) company opened its Guildford Depository to make the documents it produced in the Minnesota lawsuit against BAT and other tobacco companies public while allowing only one organization (up to just 6 people) allowed to search the documents at a time.

DOJ spying on Congress’ viewing of Epstein files echos tobacco company spying on researchers

On February 9, 2026, as required by Epstein Files Transparency Act, the Department of Justice gave members of Congress access to the unredacted Epstein files, but just made four computer terminals at…

Spinola et al support Brazil’s e-cigarette ban while defending implementation criticism Shortly before the 11th WHO Framework Convention On Tobacco Control Conference of the Parties in November 2025, Vitoria Borges Spinola, Lucas Porto Santos, Hamilton Roschel, Bruno Gualano, and Megan E. Roberts published "Weak enforcement of Brazil's E-cigarette ban and the expansion of a dangerous illicit market" in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas arguing that Brazil's ban on importation and sale of e-cigarettes has been a failure based on their estimated 600% increase in adult e-cigarette use between 2018 and 2023.

Spinola et al support Brazil’s e-cigarette ban while defending implementation criticism

Shortly before the 11th WHO Framework Convention On Tobacco Control Conference of the Parties in November 2025, Vitoria Borges Spinola, Lucas Porto Santos, Hamilton Roschel, Bruno Gualano, and Megan E. Roberts…

Based on our experience managing the UCSF Industry Documents Library, DOJ should have been able to easily release properly redacted Epstein files by December 19, 2025 The issue of redactions – both redacting names of victims and not redacting participants in Jeffery Epstein’s “social circle” --  documents has been in the news.  There have also been questions about why it took so long for DOJ to release around 3.5 million pages of documents, plus about 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. Working with the UCSF Library, I created the first collection of previously secret tobacco industry documents in 1995, which consisted of a few thousand pages of internal…

Based on our experience managing the UCSF Industry Documents Library, DOJ should have been able to easily release properly redacted Epstein files by December 19, 2025

The issue of redactions – both redacting names of victims and not redacting participants in Jeffery Epstein’s “social circle” --…

Protect $40 million in street safety capital funding As the SFMTA works to fill a budget gap for its operating costs in FY26/27, a dangerous option is being considered: diverting $40 million in capital funding designated for street safety projects. ...

I just wrote a @theactionnetwork.bsky.social letter: Protect $40 million in street safety capital funding. Write one here: actionnetwork.org/letters/prot...

Congress revives CDC Office on Smoking and Health Last year the Trump Administration eliminated the CDC Office on Smoking and Health and fired the FDA Center for Tobacco Products leadership, paving the way for FDA to even more closely embrace the tobacco industry’s “harm reduction” marketing messages. OSH ran the effective “Tips from Former Smokers” advertising campaign, supports state health department tobacco control efforts, runs a media resource center to help states share anti-tobacco advertisements, prepares Surgeon General Reports, runs important surveys including the National Youth Tobacco Survey, and more.

Congress revives CDC Office on Smoking and Health

Last year the Trump Administration eliminated the CDC Office on Smoking and Health and fired the FDA Center for Tobacco Products leadership, paving the way for FDA to even more closely embrace the tobacco industry’s “harm reduction” marketing…

1/@publichealthinst.bsky.social's @getitrightonmj.bsky.social's 2025 CA #CannabisPolicyScorecards are out! Local policies innovate yet underutilized amid rising #PublicHealth concerns. Report provides roadmap forward for cities/counties to better protect health, advance equity.

Read: bit.ly/3NSzMkG

UCSF makes 60,000 more Juul documents public, bringing total to 4.9 million documents so far The UCSF Industry Documents Library added close to 60,000 Juul Labs documents produced by the Settling States in the multistate litigation against Juul Labs. Files include memos, emails, flavor focus group reports, prospective investor reports, support tickets and more. This brings the total number of Juul Labs files to 4.9 million documents and growing! Check them out here.

UCSF makes 60,000 more Juul documents public, bringing total to 4.9 million documents so far

The UCSF Industry Documents Library added close to 60,000 Juul Labs documents produced by the Settling States in the multistate litigation against Juul Labs. Files include memos, emails, flavor focus group…

FDA broke the law when it did not allow TPSAC to vote on whether to allow PMI to make modified risk claims for ZYN The FDA held a meeting of its Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) on January 22, 2026 to discuss Swedish Match's application to make the modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) claim for its ZYN flavored nicotine pouches “Using ZYN instead of cigarettes puts you at a lower risk of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.” (Swedish Match is now owned by Philip Morris International .)

FDA broke the law when it did not allow TPSAC to vote on whether to allow PMI to make modified risk claims for ZYN

The FDA held a meeting of its Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) on January 22, 2026 to discuss Swedish Match's application to make the modified risk tobacco…