January 31, 2019 — A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine is stirring up a complex mixture of feelings with some objective data about vaping. The study shows that e-cigarettes are 83 percent more effective than nicotine replacement products for helping people quit smoking. In the U.K., the reaction is positive. In the U.S., the reaction is […]
January 19, 2017 — Perhaps you’ve noticed that public trust has evaporated this year. Recently, Edelman reported that trust in government, business, nonprofits, and the media dropped across the board and around the world in 2016. In nearly two decades of tracking public trust, Edelman has never before seen such a broad and dramatic drop. A vigorous discussion about the […]
April 20, 2015 — Does harm reduction cause a short circuit in the American psyche? Over time, many examples have brought this phenomenon into the spotlight. The latest example in the headlines is news about adolescent use of conventional cigarettes and electronic cigarettes. A new study from CDC shows a large reduction in the use of conventional burning cigarettes […]
March 21, 2015 — Denial, doubt, and prevailing bias create a confusing stew of conflict in nutrition, obesity, tobacco, and environmental policy. The new documentary Merchants of Doubt gives that stew a good stir. The director of Food, Inc has woven together a compelling story about the business of sowing doubt in the service of corporations threatened by the intersection […]
October 26, 2014 — It looks like Joe Camel might have to give up smoking on the job. RJ Reynolds (RJR), the makers of Camel cigarettes, has announced a no smoking policy for its worksites. People who want a smoke will have to go to a designated indoor smoking area. They can also switch to electronic cigarettes, which is […]
August 31, 2014 — In a week of much news about e-cigarettes, the American Heart Association (AHA) has carefully conceded that e-cigarettes might have a role as a last option for quitting smoking. Specifically, the AHA statement says: If a patient has failed initial treatment, has been intolerant of or refuses to use conventional smoking cessation medication, and wishes […]
August 10, 2014 — Who needs facts when you know it’s wrong? Though e-cigarettes and low-calorie sweeteners are very different, the angst that they both cause for some health advocates is very similar. Both of them are objectively less harmful than alternatives that might be considered a vice. And both of them are routinely criticized as harmful, despite a […]
July 27, 2014 — Pragmatic revolutionaries are needed to solve two of the most vexing problems in public health: tobacco dependence and obesity. David Sweanor is making this case in tobacco policy and Hank Cardello is making the parallel case in food policy. So what do pragmatic revolutionaries look like in action? The textbook case would be the AIDS […]
July 11, 2014 — Regulating two of our vices — nicotine and junk food — winds up being a series of experiments on public health. Some of those experiments are more successful than others, and we seldom know their effects until after the fact — if ever. Right now, we’re in the midst of two of these experiments. E-Cigarettes. Sales of […]
June 20, 2014 — Marketing practices for tobacco, food, and increasingly e-cigarettes can serve to make many people mad. We witnessed first hand this week a prime example in a Senate Commerce Committee hearing about e-cigarette marketing practices. Senator Jay Rockefeller opened up the hearing, saying “I’m feeling on edge about this.” It went downhill from there. Ordinarily Rockefeller is known […]
