CAsToR, in collaboration with the UM Center for Academic Innovation, has produced a Massive Open Online Course,“Tobacco & Nicotine: Public Health, Science, Policy, and Law” now available on Coursera and Michigan Online. The course features 18 noted tobacco control experts, including Mike Cummings, Cliff Douglas, Howard Koh, Ken Warner and Mitch Zeller, and tells the story of smoking and tobacco & nicotine product use in the U.S.
Check out the course trailer to learn more.
Flavored E-Cigarette Sales Restrictions and Young Adult Tobacco Use
Among young adults in the US, use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) rose from 5.4% in 2014 to 13.6% in 2022, while combustible cigarette use fell from 17.9% to 6.5% over that same period. The mean (median) expert believes that vaping’s effect on quality-adjusted life expectancy is 37% (25%) that of smoking. Assuming that either estimate reflects true risks, then regulating ENDS to reduce vaping without increasing smoking presents a key goal for public health policy. However, a corresponding regulatory mechanism—that is, a policy that reduces ENDS use without reducing smoking cessation or increasing smoking initiation or relapse—remains unknown.
AUTHORS: Abigail S. Friedman, PhD; Michael F. Pesko, PhD; Travis R. Whitacre, PhD JOURNAL: JAMA Health Forum.
POSTED: Jan 03, 2025
US Tobacco 21 Policies and Potential Mortality Reductions by State
Tobacco 21 laws in the US will prevent 526K premature deaths, resulting in 13.3 million life-years gains, but with large variations in impact across US States. Great work by CAsToR investigators Jamie Tam, PhD, MPH, Abigail Friedman, PhD, Rafael Meza, PhD, Jihyoun Jeon, PhD, MS and the CISNET Lung Team.
POSTED: Dec 20, 2024
Improvements in cancer prevention and screening have averted more deaths from five cancer types combined over the past 45 years than treatment advances, according to a modeling study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the CISNET consortium, including CAsToR members Meza, Jeon and Holford.
POSTED: Dec 9, 2024
“Seniors, You're Never Too Old to Quit Smoking, Study Finds“ in U.S. News
“We have seen a remarkable decline in young adult smoking over the past decade. However, rates among older adults who smoke have remained stagnant,” said Thuy Le, assistant research scientist of health management and policy, who along with David Mendez, professor of health management and policy, and Ken Warner, professor emeritus, of health management and policy, found that quitting smoking after age 65 will add at least eight years of life for nearly 10% of people.
POSTED: Oct 22, 2024
The persistence of ENDS use among adults remained high in 2019-2021, but a larger fraction of dual users transitioned to ENDS-only use compared with 2017-2019. Because the fraction of cigarette-only users switching to dual use remained low, especially among older adults, the public health implications of this change are minimal.
AUTHORS: Andrew F Brouwer, Jihyoun Jeon, Evelyn Jimenez-Mendoza, Stephanie R Land, Theodore R Holford, Abigail S Friedman, Jamie Tam, Ritesh Mistry, David T Levy, Rafael Meza JOURNAL: Tobacco Control.
POSTED: Mon August 26, 2024
At one time, the FDA’s thinking about menthol e-cigarettes seemed to be “if they’re going to ban menthol in cigarettes, it might be reasonable to have an alternative for those who want to quit smoking.” — CAsToR Principal Investigator Rafael Meza, PhD
TAGS: #MentholBan
POSTED: Aug 13, 2024
Oral nicotine pouches - like Zyn and Velo in the U.S. - appear to be less toxic than cigarettes and deliver comparable levels of nicotine. This makes them an alternative for people who smoke. However, people who’ve never smoked are using them, too, and youth are open to trying them. These are key findings of our recent systematic review, published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.
POSTED: Mon Jun 17, 2024
“The Potential Impact of Oral Nicotine Pouches on Public Health: A Scoping Review”
ONPs appear to be less toxic than cigarettes and deliver comparable nicotine, presenting an alternative for combustible product users, although key data are mainly available from industry-funded studies. Data from independent research is critically needed. Industry marketing of ONPs may encourage initiation in youth and situational and dual use in adults.
AUTHORS: Nargiz Travis, MScPH, Kenneth E Warner, PhD, Maciej L Goniewicz, PhD, Hayoung Oh, MPH, Radhika Ranganathan, MScPH, Rafael Meza, PhD, Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, PhD, David T Levy, PhD JOURNAL: Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
POSTED: Mon Jun 17, 2024
“Most Americans Are Quitting Smoking—Except For Those Over 65” in Time magazine
Public health campaigns and programs outlining the dangers of smoking aren’t really aimed at older adults, says Rafael Meza, an integrative oncologist at the BC Cancer Research Institute in Vancouver and the lead author of a new study on adult smoking. “In the U.S., smoking really has a generational pattern,” he says. Meza’s new analysis, published Dec. 1 in JAMA Health Forum, shows that while people ages 40 through 64 smoke the most, Americans 65 and above are picking up the habit in a way nobody else is. While the prevalence of regular smokers dropped to 15.2% down from 21.2% in a little over a decade for that middle-aged group, older adults saw an increase from 8.7% to 9.4% in the same time frame.
POSTED: Dec 7, 2023
CAsToR Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Travis Whitacre, PhD
CAsToR Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Travis Whitacre, PhD, describes his research on the cross-section of adolescent mental health and smoking behavior. He uses applied econometric and quasi-experimental analysis using large administrative survey datasets to help inform how access to mental healthcare might affect adolescents’ tobacco product use behavior.
POSTED: Mon Aug 19, 2024
