TCORS: Center for the Assessment of Tobacco Regulations (CAsToR)

News

CAsToR’s PI Rafael Meza comments on FDA’s approval of menthol-flavored e-cigarettes on JAMA Medical News and Perspectives
Rafael Meza, PhD
Rafael Meza, PhD
TAGS: #MentholBan
POSTED: Mon Aug 12, 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
Read the full story at JAMA Medical News and Perspective
Oral nicotine pouches deliver lower levels of toxic substances than smoking – but that doesn’t mean they’re safe
Nargiz Travis, MScPH and Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, PhD
Nargiz Travis, MScPH and Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, PhD
POSTED: Mon Jun 17, 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.
Read the full story at The Conversation
CAsToR e-Announcements (June 2024)
TAGS: #Newsletter
POSTED: Fri Jun 07, 2024
A bi-monthly e-newsletter of CAsToR highlights, events and more. Headlines: CAsToR Webinar with Ben Apelberg and Mitch Zeller: A Conversation about the Use of Computational Models in Tobacco Regulation; CAsToR PI Rafael Meza was the keynote speaker at the E-cigarette Summit in DC  
Read the CAsToR e-Announcements (June 2024)
In the news: “A Quarter of Smokers Quit Under Menthol Bans, Study Finds” in the New York Times, with comments from CAsToR Principal Investigator David Levy, PhD
David Levy, PhD
David Levy, PhD
TAGS: #MentholBan
POSTED: Mon Feb 26, 2024
In a study in 2021 that used a model to assess the effects of a menthol ban, David Levy, a Georgetown University oncology professor, found that it could lead to an overall reduction in smoking of about 15 percent. By 2060, the study projected, as many as 11 million years of life could be gained rather than lost to smoking-related deaths.
“These effects are delayed,” Dr. Levy said, “but nevertheless important.”
 
Read the full story at NYTimes.com
In the news: “A quarter of smokers quit within a year or two of menthol bans” on CNN, with comments from CAsToR Principal Investigator Rafael Meza, PhD
Rafael Meza, PhD
Rafael Meza, PhD
TAGS: #MentholBan
POSTED: Wed Feb 21, 2024
“It adds to the already very compelling evidence that banning menthol would result in fewer people smoking cigarettes and provide higher public health benefits, especially for populations that have pretty high rates of use, particularly Black Americans. There’s just more and more evidence every day that it would be a good idea to do a ban.” — Rafael Meza, PhD
 
Read the full story at CNN.com
CAsToR e-Announcements (February 2024)
TAGS: #Newsletter
POSTED: Mon Feb 12, 2024
A bi-monthly e-newsletter of CAsToR highlights, events and more. Headlines: CAsToR Junior Investigator Sarah Skolnick, MPH discusses computational modeling; Dual and poly tobacco use publication and modeling tool released  
Read the CAsToR e-Announcements (February 2024)
CAsToR e-Announcements (December 2023)
TAGS: #Newsletter
POSTED: Fri Dec 08, 2023
A bi-monthly e-newsletter of CAsToR highlights, events and more. Headlines: CAsToR funded for five more years; CAsToR is pleased to announce the launch of a Massive Open Online Course, “Tobacco & Nicotine: Public Health, Science, Policy and Law”  
Read the CAsToR e-Announcements (December 2023)
In the news: “Most Americans Are Quitting Smoking—Except For Those Over 65” in Time Magazine, with comments from CAsToR Principal Investigator Rafael Meza, PhD
Rafael Meza, PhD
Rafael Meza, PhD
TAGS: #MentholBan
POSTED: Thu Dec 07, 2023
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.
 
Read the full story at Time.com
University of Michigan-led Tobacco Regulations Center Receives $20 Million for Tobacco Use Research
A closeup image of a person holding a cigarette up to their mouth with a lit lighter.
POSTED: Wed Nov 01, 2023
“We are thrilled to continue CAsToR’s work assessing the impact of tobacco use and regulations, as well as continuing our efforts to train a new generation of tobacco regulatory scientists and modelers. To date, our center has made important contributions to the development of US tobacco regulations—such as the forthcoming cigarette menthol ban—and we look forward to continuing our work to further reduce tobacco-related morbidity and mortality.”
Read the full story at Michigan Public Health News Center