Thinking 'bout THR News & Views
November 26 - December 2, 2024
It’s SCOTUS Day!
This is a reminder that you can listen to the SCOTUS oral arguments—FDA vs. Wages and White Lion—today at about 10:00 AM ET. If you can't listen, you can watch for updates from these folks on X (Twitter): Lindsey Stroud, AVM, and Jeff Stier (possibly others, but these are the ones I know of).
Moving on to today’s thoughts, some readers requested an update on a story I told last month about the woman who dared me to write an op-ed, saying that if I did, she’d try to stop smoking.
She bought a vape the day the op-ed was published and went her first three days without a cigarette. She was so excited and proud!
On her fourth day, after taking two hours to fall asleep, she didn’t sleep long before waking up from a nightmare and couldn’t go back to sleep. Without thinking about it, she got up and chain-smoked a few cigarettes.
She’s a person who struggles to fall asleep, get enough sleep, and sometimes has nightmares. It's a scenario I’m all too familiar with.
This is important for anyone who wants to help people stop smoking. It is not only about nicotine dependence. We need to look at the whole person, not just the smoking part of them. She is AuDHD (autistic with ADHD) like I am.
Being autistic can be exhausting. Trying to function in a world not built for us takes a lot of mental and physical energy. ADHD makes it hard for some of us to turn off our brains and to sleep. Being fatigued makes it hard to deal with stress. When we feel stressed, it makes it harder not to smoke.
Being AuDHD can lead to a build-up of undealt with trauma, contributing to mental health issues like depression and anxiety. Here we go full circle - people with mental health issues smoke more than those without and can have a more challenging time to quit smoking.
People with ADHD may find nicotine helps them focus and slow down their brains. They also tend to smoke more than the general population and have a more difficult time quitting.
Quitting smoking is a roller coaster ride for many of us. Too often, we fall off the roller coaster and don’t make it to the end of the ride, where we’ve successfully stopped smoking. While some will proclaim that it can take at least 30 times to quit smoking, I find myself wanting to ask some of you, how many times are you willing to fail at something before you convince yourself you’re a “loser” and stop trying?
The woman I am helping feels like she has once again “failed” because she’s smoking and vaping. My reaction was, “Oh, hell no, you didn’t fail!” I explained to her that we are still in the exploring stage, where we’re on a treasure hunt to find the combination of things that will work for her. As a team, we will think of things to try until we figure out what works for her.
For the past few days, she has vaped all day. It is the hardest for her not to smoke when she is exhausted, more so in the late evening. In the evening or when she wakes up from awful dreams, a cigarette is her comfort, a behavior she has used for years to calm down and relax.
I found it interesting that she feels resistance to ideas to help her not smoke when we refer to certain things as “triggers.” I firmly believe in meeting people where they are, so we’re not using that word. We talk about when she feels she needs (wants) a cigarette.
For a bit, we won’t focus much on her dual use. She is only smoking occasionally. We’re going to focus on helping her get more sleep. We will explore ways to calm her brain so she sleeps more soundly and longer. We will also work on tools to help her calm down when she wakes in a panic from a nightmare.
While I have no formal sleep training, I have 60+ years of experience not sleeping well. A few years ago, someone took the time to help me learn about sleep hygiene, grounding, and mindfulness. I get more than 1-2 hours of sleep a night like I used to. I’m averaging 5-6 hours of sleep and hope to hit 7-8 as time passes. Now, I rarely have nightmares, and when I do, I almost always recover quickly from them and go back to sleep.
For me, it seems like many roads lead back to nicotine. While exploring ways to help me sleep, we discovered that when I’m really amped up and can’t sleep, nicotine helps me. It is not about withdrawals, as some people may think. It is about living with ADHD and stimulants, like nicotine, having an opposite effect on people with ADHD than it has on those who don’t.
She says she can’t sleep because she can’t stop thinking. That makes sense to me. I can’t sleep if my brain screams a thousand thoughts at me. Quieting my brain and keeping it calm led to more and better sleep. I discovered that wearing a nicotine patch and the sound of rain helps me sleep.
Now, it’s my turn to pay forward the kindness shown to me and try to help someone find what may help them sleep. This will help them feel less exhausted, which will hopefully help them feel less anxious and help them with emotional regulation, which may help them not feel the need to smoke.
I love connecting the dots!
Until next time…
PS: Some consumers (myself included) would gladly volunteer to provide input to researchers, authors, and event organizers. We could help with terminology, how to use products to get accurate results, and inclusivity. Many of us would do the Yippy Skippy Happy Dance for the opportunity. Feel free to ask. Make us dance. The world needs more dancing!
Louise Ross has stepped down as Chair of the New Nicotine Alliance for health reasons. I know all of us hope they aren’t too serious. We are grateful to Louise for all she’s done for people who smoke.
The November Profile in Courage from TPA goes to Dr. Colin Mendelsohn. “...from the media to academics to policymakers, these tobacco harm reduction advocates are subjected to brutal attacks. For some odd reason, those who have dedicated their time to helping adults transition to less harmful alternatives to cigarettes are unworthy of praise that those who promote other live-saving technologies receive…” Our hearts are filled with gratitude for all Colin has done, and we wish him well in his retirement.
Speaking of needing more involvement of people who use nicotine:
Most of us know Vaping ≠ Smoking. Sadly, many people don’t know this and see them and those doing them as the same. Check out this poll on X.
After reading “A Practical Guide to Smoking Cessation,” I’d like to correct some terminology and ask questions. “Tobacco e-cigarettes” do not exist. There’s no tobacco in them. It is not possible to “smoke e-cigarettes.” They are vaped. I’m curious why a commentary about “smoking cessation” dedicates so much space to talking about vaping and covering vaping cessation. I’d like to know the source for the statement, “E-cigarette use by tobacco-naive adolescents in the United States increases by 5-fold their initiation of cigarette smoking.”
Todd Wages - “Imagine being a small business and waking up realizing on Monday you will be at SCOTUS defending the entire e-cig industry against FDA pulling a surprise switcheroo. Surreal moment.”
Marewa Glover - “A principle of #harmreduction is respect and centering the person. It's one of the features I look at when assessing the suitability of papers for the scientific journal Harm Reduction Journal. I'm looking at a submission and Word's Copilot keeps offering to help. Okay, Copilot, "are there any instances of language use that would not be considered person-centered?"… [I found it interesting what Copilot said! ~ Skip]
Edward Anselm - “The latest Surgeon Generals’ Report on Eliminating Tobacco Related Disease and Death omits discussion of a major demographic group-SENIORS! …”
The Studies Show - Episode 57: Collider bias. Does smoking prevent COVID? Is being obese actually healthy? Or is something funny going on?
Behavioural Research UK: Public engagement in research and policy.
GFN Insights #1 | SCOTTISH PRISON SHIFT TOWARDS SAFER PRODUCTS | Featuring Governor Michael Stoney.
Nicotine pouches regulation: Questions, uncertainties and ways to maximize public health benefit.
Michael F. Pesko - Interested in e-cig tax research? We just published the 2nd edition of standardized e-cig taxes in the USA, now through 2023. Best of luck with your research! Free to access link: here. Data Repository: here.
Do you use social media as an educational tool? If so, you might find this guide helpful: A Guide to Basic Accessibility on Social Media—Easy, Actionable Ways to Make Your Content More Inclusive.
Despite Everything, More People Than Ever Choose Safer Nicotine Options. “People talk about a war on smoking, a war on nicotine or a war on vapes,” Harry Shapiro told Filter. “But you don’t conduct a war against inanimate objects. This is a war against people.”
Yorkshire charity urges MPs to protect appeal of vaping for people who smoke. “Yorkshire Cancer Research is urging MPs to protect the appeal of vaping as a tool to quit smoking ahead of Tuesday’s second reading of the government’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill in the House of Commons.”
Vapes Preventing Relapse. “However, it is a concern to see an increase in vaping among people who had previously abstained from nicotine for many years. If people in this group might otherwise have relapsed to smoking, vaping is the much less harmful option, but if relapse would not have occurred, they are exposing themselves to more risk than not smoking or vaping.”
From federal public service to one of Canada’s leading tobacco companies. "The ability to be more directly involved in helping people is what spurred me to make this career leap,” says Michel, who spent 24 years at the Public Health Agency of Canada, helping establish this important institution. In 2015, he took on the role of Chief Science Officer of the Public Health Agency of Canada.”
Tobacco harm reduction strategy ‘will save 416,000 Nigerian lives’ “The report calls on Nigerian policymakers to take bold steps in reducing tobacco-related harm by considering the introduction of safer nicotine products into the national health strategy. By offering smokers alternatives that are far less harmful than combustible cigarettes, Nigeria could make significant progress toward its public health goals.”
Lessons from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control for the WHO Pandemic Treaty. “The FCTC’s primary aim was to lower the burden of disease from smoking, the largest preventable cause of death worldwide. But a combination of ideological opposition to tobacco consumption in any form and pressure from vested interests has led the FCTC to oppose technologies used by tens of millions of smokers to help them quit, such as snus and e-cigarettes, even though these technologies are far less harmful than smoking. By spreading misinformation and promoting prohibition and excessive regulation of harm-reducing technologies, the FCTC is now likely having the opposite effect to its stated intention of reducing smoking.”
Smoking ban resolution strongly rejected by EU Parliament. “A resolution on smoking bans, initially backed by a majority of MEPs, was widely rejected after attempts by right-wing groups to exclude novel tobacco products from the text.”
National Assembly unanimously bans e-cigarettes, starting in 2025. [Vietnam] “Lan cited the results of numerous scientific studies confirming that e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products affect the heart, liver, lungs, and can even cause psychotic disorders. With approximately 40,000 people per year already suffering health impacts from conventional tobacco, the addition of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products poses a significant new threat, especially to young people.”
December: Month - Universal Human Rights Month, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) Awareness Month. Week - December 1-7: Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Week (Nicotine connection here), Dec 2-8: (US, UK, & ?) National Grief Awareness Week 2024. Day - Dec 2 - (US, CA, &?) Women's Brain Health Day, Dec 3 - International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Dec 5 - International Volunteer Day (#IVD2024 I’m sending appreciation to all the volunteer advocates!), Dec 7 - National Cotton Candy Day. “Kid-friendly flavors” - The rest of the story! Did you know a dentist invented Cotton Candy? Does this have anything to do with quitting smoking? Of course, it does! Too Much Fluff Over Flavors. But wait! There’s more! The Road to Quitting Smoking Is Paved With Candy. Dec 10 - Human Rights Day and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Dec 12 - International Universal Health Coverage Day, Dec 17 - (CA) Anti-Bullying Day (a reminder that being an advocate ≠being a bully), Dec 20 - International Human Solidarity Day. “International Human Solidarity Day is an annual observance that emphasizes the importance of unity, cooperation, and shared responsibility in addressing global challenges. It serves as a reminder that by working together in solidarity, we can create a better world for all and achieve common goals, including peace, social justice, and sustainable development.”
Notes:
I create these newsletters as a personal project. They are not affiliated with any current or past employers or groups I do volunteer work with. I receive no financial compensation for my efforts to create these newsletters.
My blog, Skip's Corner, has an X/Twitter account. My personal accounts are at BSKY, LinkedIn, and X (Twitter).