Announcing a New Lecture Series on Tobacco Harm Reduction

 

I am pleased to announce a new lecture series on the medical and scientific evidence for tobacco harm reduction.

This week, I am publishing “Nicotine, Correcting Misperceptions.”  The lecture is divided into an introduction and six easily digestible segments; run time and links are below. 

Nicotine, Correcting Misperceptions

Introduction     2:45  (link here)         

Comparing nicotine with caffeine, and contrasting positive and negative effects of nicotine on the brain, in the context of addiction     3:43  (link here)

Comparing nicotine delivery among combustible, smoke-free oral and aerosol tobacco and medicinal nicotine products         14:35  (link here)

Distinguishing the health effects of nicotine from those of combustible and smoke-free tobacco     14:35  (link here)

Weighing the evidence of nicotine use during pregnancy     4:00  (link here)

Investigating how the medical facts about nicotine have been exaggerated and distorted     5:00  (link here)

Valuing long-term nicotine maintenance and tobacco harm reduction     4:46  (link here)

 

You might think that you already know everything about nicotine.  So go ahead…TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF NICOTINE by taking a short quiz!

You’ll get immediate feedback on your score, and the answers might prompt you to watch some of the segments.  Enjoy!

Note: While I originally created these lectures as a continuing medical education (CME) course (more information here), they do not presently convey CME credit, but are available to all who are interested in safer tobacco products for themselves, their families and friends.

I will publish the remaining topics soon.

Commissioner Makary on High Schoolers Vaping: Half or Half a Percent?

 

In his Congressional testimony on May 22, FDA Commissioner Dr. Martin Makary said, “There are high schools in America now where kids are saying half of the kids are addicted to these vaping products.”

During the 2024 campaign, President Trump promised to save vaping.  Now that job falls to Dr. Makary, whose agency “oversees the safety of more than $3.9 trillion worth of food, tobacco, and medical products produced in the U.S. and abroad.”  With so much on his plate, he can be forgiven for not having all the facts yet on youth vaping.

Last December, I took a deep dive into vaping among American high schoolers, using the CDC’s 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey (here), the latest available dataset.

My analysis demonstrated that some 73,092 of the nation’s 15.8 million high schoolers vaped frequently enough (20-30 days in past month) to be at risk for being addicted.  That represents only 0.5%, not 50%.

No one is comfortable with youth vaping, but Dr. Makary and his team should understand that vaping has contributed to the disappearance of smoking among American high schoolers, and the rate among young adults is similarly minimal.  This means that in 25 to 30 years, smoking-related diseases will nearly disappear, too.  It’s time for the FDA to focus on adult smokers over age 40, whose risk grows with each cigarette.  Going smoke-free will give them the chance for longer and healthier lives.