Thinking 'bout THR Newsletter
September 11-16, 2024
Share your story…
And then ask to hear one!
Over the last several years, there has been a movement to gather the stories of those who smoked or loved someone who did.
Those stories echo the frustration of failing to quit, the health challenges some have faced, and the heartbreak of losing someone too soon.
There is also a jubilant sharing of how good it feels to finally quit smoking, a victory that took a long time to achieve. There’s the relief of achieving improved health, setting a good example for the young people in a family, and finding a more active lifestyle and financially secure future.
The stories are not shared enough or always heard by those who should listen to them. While some people don’t know our stories are out here, others have never thought to ask about them, and some don’t want to hear them.
There are people in the nicotine space who aren’t end users (consumers) or who occupy “dual-spaces.” because they use nicotine and have a job tied to nicotine. Some don’t use nicotine but have a job or volunteer work tied to nicotine. Those stories are told/heard even less than the stories of people who use nicotine.
How many of you know why someone works in tobacco control or public health? What inspired someone to become involved with an NGO? Why did someone decide to research smoking, vaping, or anything related to tobacco or nicotine? Why work in R&D, manufacturing, distribution, or retail? What motivated someone to participate in policy, regulation, consulting, litigation, or education?
Why don’t we know these stories? Is it because we failed to ask? Did people assume no one wanted to hear their story or thought it wouldn’t matter?
Some people claim that anyone who supports tobacco harm reduction is an industry shill and that their only reason for supporting such a thing is financial gain. The claims will continue with the accusation that the only way to achieve that gain is by willfully addicting children to nicotine.
It doesn’t seem to cross any minds that people involved with the nicotine debate might have a reason outside of cold, hard cash to do what they do.
None of us has been free of these accusations. Academics, politicians, end users, regulators, writers, and people who work in the industry (both small and large companies) have all been slapped with this accusation. They are pushed off and accused of conflicts of interest, bias, and untruthful behavior.
This is unfair and untrue. Yet, it is hard to step outside our tribes, do the right thing, and stand up for each other. Why? Because we don’t know each other’s stories. And there is the fear of standing up and worsening our individual circumstances.
I want to extend a friendly challenge to all of you. Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue music from Mission Impossible), has three steps.
Tell your story to someone who hasn’t heard it.
Ask to hear the story of someone you agree with but who is a different kind of stakeholder than you. (No consumer-to-consumer or academic-to-academic, for example.)
Finally, ask to hear the story of someone you disagree with.
Speak from your heart. Listen with curiosity and empathy. Look for common ground. Your mission will be a success if you and the person you’re talking to/listening to have an “I Never Thought of It That Way” moment.
I’ll kick off the challenge. Peter Beckett from Clearing the Air asked to hear my story. You can find it here: Voices of Harm Reduction Pt 1: Skip Murray. He and I have occupied various spaces over the years, so we have some mutual and individual “tribes” we’ve been members of.
It was an interesting, fun, and respectful conversation. We learned things about each other we didn’t know. We found out we have a lot in common, and we saw that it’s okay not to agree on everything.
We each gave the other an “I never thought of it that way” moment. SUCCESS!
To anyone reading this newsletter, if you have an interest in nicotine, are concerned about nicotine, use the products, work in this space, or have any other kind of tie and would like to share your story, I’d be happy to print it here in the newsletter. That invitation is open to all—those I agree with and those I don’t.
I sincerely want to know what brought you to where you are and led you to do what you do. I look forward to hearing your stories.
Until next time….
PS: This edition contains updates to the events and participants wanted sections.
What do activists want, and why is it never enough? “So the first step for policymakers is to stop believing whatever they say. Activists worked hard to destroy trust in industry, but that does not mean they should not themselves be fact-checked.”
Across the pond Episode 25: Peter Beckett. (Thank you for your nice words, Peter! ~Skip)
Kenya's Proposed Tobacco Control Amendment Bill - AHRA Coffee Chat with Joseph Magero.
Can Social Workers Be Supported to Spread Tobacco Harm Reduction? “But back when he was unhoused, he said, smoking cessation was never part of the discussion with his social worker, although he would have welcomed it. “ (Filter)
Vape experimentation could be vital to help people quit smoking. “Satisfaction with vaping was important for success with quitting smoking, but personal motivation and being in a supportive environment were also significant factors.” (Dental Nursing)
New regulations cause nicotine pouch shortage across Canada. “On August 28, the federal government stopped the sale of nicotine pouches in convenience stores and banned flavours. They can only be sold behind the counter in pharmacies…In Calgary, smokers who use the pouches to quit are having trouble finding them…In Brockville, Ontario, the local Shoppers Drug Mart and Rexall stores do not plan to stock the pouches.” (Western Standard)
The Evolution and Challenges of the Nicotine Pouch Market: From Niche Product to Mainstream Controversy. “The politicisation of nicotine pouches risks overshadowing the public health discussion.” (Daily Pouch)
Vaping Needs To Be Boring. “How can vaping be made “boring again” when it was never boring. Those long in the tooth ex-smokers will remember the early days of Planet of the Vapes: it was a hotbed of ideas, experimentation and product development – we [consumers] were the industry, we were the vanguard. Quitting smoking worked precisely because it was exciting.” (Planet of the Vapes)
Why Tobacco Harm Reduction? A First Question of Many. “The common rhetoric is that switching from cigarettes to vapes is the same thing as switching from brand name A to brand name B. These are fundamentally different things and have completely different levels of risk. But everyone keeps parroting the false information that has been provided. They’re denied lifesaving knowledge.” (Filter)
Youth Traditional Tobacco Product Use At Historic Lows in Maine, Vapor Use Significantly Down. “There’s good news for policymakers concerned about tobacco and vapor product use: The use of traditional tobacco products has reached an all-time low in 2023, and vapor product use has significantly declined in recent years.” (IWF)
Exclusive: EU wants to ban smoking and vaping in outdoor areas, leaked draft says. “The latest version of the draft – seen by Euronews and still subject to change – seeks to clear public spaces of all aerosols, not just cigarette smoke, reflecting growing concerns over the health risks posed by new tobacco products such as vapes.” (Euronews)
When Pride Hinders Public Health. “Because my commitment is to public health, I assumed that any new product from tobacco companies had the potential to be just as harmful as cigarettes. But as I engaged with emerging data, I saw that my biases were misleading me.” (Health Affairs - paid content)
America’s Big Question: Can E-Cigarettes Really Help You Quit Smoking? “A study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health sheds light on the stark differences between the harmful toxicants found in cigarette smoke and what’s in e-cigarette vapor. This information is essential for people in the U.S. trying to make better choices for their health.” (PAHRA)
FDA Proposes Submission Tracking Number Requirement for ENDS Imports. “The comment period is open through October 15, 2024.” (Tobacco Law Blog)
Are Kids Still Vaping? “The vaping rate among middle and high school students is at its lowest level in a decade, according to new data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey.” (Education Week)
*NEW* Call for submissions: NZ Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill (No 2).
The events listed below focus on nicotine. Some do not support reduced-risk products. Some have covered nicotine in the past but may not cover that topic every year.
Sep 16-17, 2024 (Virtual) - 7th Summit on Tobacco Harm Reduction by SCOHRE. You can follow them on X (Twitter) and Facebook.
*NEW* Sep 17, 2024, (Virtual) 9-10 AM (timezone?) - CHEAR Seminar - Quasi-experimental Analytic Methods for Health Services Research.
Sep 17-19, 2024, Geneva, Switzerland - World Cancer Congress (Includes sessions about tobacco.)
Sep 20, 2024, (Virtual) 2:00-3:00 PM ET - TOPS Tobacco Online Policy Seminars. You can follow them on X (Twitter).
Sep 20, 2024 (Virtual) - Conversations on Cancer: National Hispanic Family Cancer Awareness Week.
Sep 23, 2024, NYC, NY, US (In-person & Virtual) - New Approaches Conference. You can follow them on LinkedIn and X (Twitter).
Sep 24-26, 2024, Athens, Greece (In-person & Virtual) - GTNF. You can follow them on LinkedIn and X (Twitter).
Sep 25, 2024 - World Lung Day
*NEW* Sep 27, 2024, 10 - 11 AM ET(NY), (Virtual) - Navigating Tobacco Harm Reduction: Insights from Consumer Behavior and Policy in Nepal.
Sep 27-Oct 1, 2024, Orlando, FL, US - American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition. Monday, Sept. 30: “What’s All the Buzz? New and Emerging Nicotine Products Addicting Youth,” Brian King, Ph.D., M.P.H
Sep 29, 2024 - World Heart Day
Sep 30, 2024, 11 AM BST (Virtual) - Behavioural Research UK: Causality, evidence and policy in behavioural research. You can follow them on X (Twitter).
Sep 30, 2024, 8 AM - 6 PM (In-person) London - Nicotine addiction 2024: Action on smoking.
October - Stoptober
October - Healthy Lung Month
October - Health Literacy Month
Oct 3-4, 2024, Burlington, VT, US (In-person & Virtual) - Vermont Center on Behavior and Health 12th Annual Conference. 2024 Theme: "Tobacco Use: Intersections with Other Addictions, Chronic Disease, and Health Disparities."
Oct 4, 2024, (Virtual) 2:00-3:00 PM ET - TOPS Tobacco Online Policy Seminars. You can follow them on X (Twitter).
*NEW* Oct 4, 2024, (Virtual) 1:00 PM AEST - Tobacco Endgame CRE Series: Responses to health warning labels on cigarette packages between 2002 and 2022: Findings from the International Tobacco Control Four Country Survey. You can follow them on X (Twitter).
Oct 7, 2024 (Virtual) 12:00 PM (UK) - Stoptober 2024: Busting Vape Myths: A Closer Look at the Evidence.
Oct 7, 2024, (Virtual) 2-4:30PM CEST - SRNT-E Non-combustible nicotine – beyond electronic cigarettes.
*NEW* Oct 8, 2024, 9 AM - 12:15 PM PT (Virtual) - the UCSF Annual Tobacco and Other Industry Documents Workshop. More info here.
Note: To register for the UCSF event you must swear you are not currently and have never worked for a tobacco company. You will not serve as an expert witness, consultant, or in any capacity for a tobacco company. You will not disclose workshop learnings or share materials with anyone tied to the tobacco industry.
Oct 13-17, 2024, Edinburgh, Scotland - CORESTA Congress 2024
Oct 14-17, 2024 (In-person) PA, US - Clearing the Air® Institute. American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation
Oct 15, 2024, (Virtual) 12-1 PM EST - Addressing the Harmful Effects of Tobacco Related Stigma.
Oct 15, 2024, US (Virtual) - FDLI Introduction to Tobacco Law and Regulation. You can follow them on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Facebook.
Oct 19, 2024, (In-person & Virtual) Malaysia, - Harm Reduction Conference 2024.
Oct 23-25, 2024, Lisbon, Portugal - LISBON ADDICTIONS European Conference on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies. (Some of the sessions are about tobacco/nicotine.)
Oct 23-25, 2024, Broadbeach, Australia - Oceania Tobacco Control Conference 2024. See list of Conflict of Interest Principles.
Oct 23, 2024, Washington DC, US (In-person and Virtual) - FDLI Tobacco and Nicotine Products Regulatory Science Symposium. You can follow them on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Facebook.
Oct 24-25,2024, Washington DC, US (In-person and Virtual) - FDLI Tobacco and Nicotine Products Regulation and Policy Conference. You can follow them on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Facebook.
Oct 27-30, 2024, Minneapolis, MN, US - 2024 APHA Annual Meeting and Expo (Public Health). Register here.
Oct 28, 2024, Charleston, SC, US (In-Person & Virtual) 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM ET - Susan Rosenblatt lecture: Brian King
Oct 28-29, 2024, Charleston, SC, US (Virtual and In-Person) 2024 NICOTINE AND TOBACCO SCIENCE CONFERENCE
November - COPD Awareness Month
November - Lung Cancer Awareness Month
Nov 6-8, 2024, Harrisburg, PA, 2024 James E. Anderson Pennsylvania Conference on Juvenile Justice. One of the workshops, Restorative Solutions: Rethinking Youth Tobacco, Nicotine, and Vaping Dependency
*NEW* Nov 12, 2024, San Francisco, CA, US (In-person) 9 AM - 5 PM PT Free - Introduction to Causal Research Methods. Note: Registration Deadline September 25, 2024.
*NEW* Nov 12, 2024, San Francisco, CA, US (In-person) 9 AM - 5 PM PT Free - Introduction to Difference-in-Differences. Note: Registration Deadline September 25, 2024.
Nov 13-14, 2024, Accra, Ghana - Africa Conference on Tobacco Control.
Nov 14-15, 2024, UK - SSA Annual Conference. Early bird discounts until September 9, 2024. Professor Ann McNeill will give the Society Lecture at the SSA’s Annual Conference. The title of the talk is, ‘Tobacco harm reduction – controversies and potential resolutions’.
Nov 14-16, 2024, Chicago, IL, US—AMERSA Conference—Note: We won't know until the agenda is announced if nicotine will be part of this year's conference.
Nov 14-16, 2024, Ontario, Canada - CSAM-SMCA 2024 Scientific Conference.
Nov 18-20, 2024, Olomouc, Czech Republic, (In-person) - Czech Annual Cancer Research Meeting. Note: Keynote talks: Prof. David Khayat on Cancer Risk Factors: The Role of Tobacco Harm Reduction.
*NEW* Nov 20, 2024, National Harbor, MD, US 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM ET (In-Person) FREE - Introduction to Causal Research Methods. Note: Registration Deadline September 25, 2024.
*NEW* Nov 21-23, 2024, National Harbor, MD, US Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management - Fall Research Conference. (APPAM)
Nov 21, 2024, Great American Smokeout
December 5, 2024, UK (Virtual and In-person), E-Cigarette Summit UK
Dec 30, 2024, World Safer Nicotine Day #WSND #WSND24
Scroll Down for 2025 and 2026 Events
Check out the public Google calendar of THR-related events created and maintained by Clive Bates. Also, check out the event calendar from Ecig Intelligence. Their listings include consumer/trade shows and expos that I don't include in this newsletter. This is a good resource for information on conferences about addiction/behavior.
Committee Openings
FDLI - Applications for 2025 Committee Service are Now Open. Application Deadline is September 20, 2024.
Research Participants Wanted
*NEW* UCL seeks people who vape to participate in a 30-minute lab-based study.
Positions Available
*NEW* Rutgers: Data Analyst.
Wanted: Conference/Seminar Submissions…
TOPS Tobacco Online Policy Seminar call for papers/nominations. The submission deadline is October 7, 2024.
Call for Papers
Themed issue/section on Non-Medicinal Oral Nicotine Products. Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024
Tobacco Use in Adolescents and Youth. A special issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024
Tobacco Use, Vaping, Heating, Nicotine Dependence, Smoking Cessation, and Public Health. A special issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024
Cancer prevention. Submission Deadline: 11 October 2024
Mental Health, Stigma and Addictive Behaviors. A special issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 November 2024
Empirical modeling. Submission deadline: 28 November 2024
Generating stronger evidence to inform policy and practice: natural experiments on built environments, health behaviours and chronic diseases. Submission deadline: November 30, 2024
A Means to an ENDS: The Uncertainty of ENDS Use and Cardiovascular Disease From Human Research to Basic Science Mechanisms. Submission deadline: 31 December 2024
Cancer Causes and Control. A special issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024
Factors Associated with Successful Smoking Cessation. A special issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024
Scroll down for 2025 opportunities
Call for Papers
E-cigarettes and Vaping Products: Health Effects and Toxicological Impacts. A special issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Deadline for manuscript submissions: 21 January 2025
Thinking Outside the Box to Reduce Health Inequities in Perinatal Tobacco and Nicotine Exposure: A Nicotine & Tobacco Research Themed Issue Nicotine & Tobacco Research intends to publish a themed issue on Prenatal Tobacco and Nicotine Exposure. The guest editors for this issue will be Dr. Natacha De Genna, Dr. Laura Stroud, and Prof. Yael Bar-Zeev. Submission deadline: February 1, 2025.
LGBTQ+ Health. Submission deadline: 04 March 2025
Consumer behaviour. Submission deadline: 25 March 2025
Wearable devices. Submission deadline: 27 March 2025
The Tobacco Endgame in Low- And Middle-Income Countries and Indigenous Communities: Evidence Syntheses and Systematic Reviews. Submission deadline: 25 May 2025
STRONGER Scholars: A Research Education Program to Reduce Tobacco-Related Cancer Disparities and Improve Health Equity. A special issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025
Jan 15-19, 2025 Seattle, WA, US - Society for Social Work and Research.
Feb 13-15, 2025, Boston, MA, US - 2025 AAAS ANNUAL MEETING. AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE
Mar 5, 2025 York, UK (In-person & Virtual SCAH - Smoking Cessation and Health Conference.
Mar 12-15, 2025 New Orleans, LA, US - SRNT 31st Annual Meeting
Mar 27-29, 2025 - Phoenix, AZ, US - 31st Nicotine Dependence Center Conference 2025: The Evolving Tobacco Landscape and Implications for Policy and Practice.
April 15-17, 2025, Arlington, VA, US - American Tobacco & Nicotine Forum (ATNF), formerly the TMA Annual Meeting & Conference (I’m not aware of a link available to the event yet)
Apr 27-30, 2025 - Bogotá, Colombia - 28th edition of the Harm Reduction Conference (HR25)
June 2025, Bangor, Maine, US - 2025 Tobacco Treatment and Prevention Conference.
Aug 26-28, 2025 Chicago, IL, US - The National Conference on Tobacco or Health (NCTOH) (Link is to the announcement, not event info)
Sep 10-12, 2025 Romania - SRNT-E Conference.
*NEW* Nov 13-15,2025 Hyatt Seattle, WA, US - Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management - Fall Research Conference. (APPAM)
Nov 17, 2025 (all week) Geneva - FCTC COP11
Nov 24, 2025 (all week) Geneva - FCTC MOP4
Mar 4-6, 2026 Baltimore, MD, US - SRNT 32nd Annual Meeting.
Sep 6-9 2026, Cape Town, South Africa - 18th World Conference on Public Health.
*NEW* Nov 5-7, 2026, Boston, MA, US - Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management - Fall Research Conference. (APPAM)
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 believe that everyone deserves a seat at the table. If you’re interested in nicotine with a focus on THR, this newsletter is for you.