Thinking 'bout THR Newsletter
August 9-13, 2024
In loving memory of Bob and my Mom…
Today would have been my Mom’s 85th birthday. She smoked for many years and died from the trifecta of smoking - cancer, heart disease, and COPD. She courageously battled mental health issues for many years. Mom was naturally curious and never stopped learning new things. She was gifted in so many ways. When she was a little girl, flour came in fabric sacks. That was a time in history when nothing was wasted. She used that fabric to make clothes and taught herself how to upholster furniture with flour sack fabric. Years later, as a single mom, she converted our living room into an upholstery shop so she could support us kids while being a stay-at-home mom. She was one of the strongest, bravest, and most creative people I’ve ever known! Mom 1939-2012
Bob was a character! He was abrasive on the outside and a marshmallow on the inside. He was fiercely loyal to and protective of anyone he cared about. He had a wild sense of humor and took immense joy in dad jokes and playing pranks on people. He faced many challenges in life and met each one with bravery, zest, and a commitment to seeing another day. I am grateful that Will Godfrey and Filter have given me the opportunity to share a chapter of Bob’s story. In My Vape Shop, I Learned How the VA Lets Veterans Down
"New invited commentary in Addiction..." - Arielle Selya
"Word of the day is ‘Podsnappian’..." - Susie Dent
"Nearly 3 million people in Britain have quit smoking with a vape in the last 5 years..." - ASH UK
Cigarette Smoking Rate in U.S. Ties 80-Year Low. (Note: It is impossible to “smoke” an e-cig. So much work to do…) “While young adults are now the age group least likely to smoke cigarettes, they are the group most likely to smoke e-cigarettes, according to combined 2022-2024 data. Eighteen percent of adults aged 18 to 29 vape, with the percentage declining among older age groups, down to 1% of those 65 and older.”
Nurse hails hospital quit scheme after vape switch. “Paul Brittain, 53, a senior research nurse at York Hospital, said he had noticed health improvements by taking part in a hospital project called Swap and Stop for two years.”
Dr. Carl Fagerstrom writes: “No smoking… less harmful” “The popular belief that nicotine is a major cause of cancer has been scientifically proven wrong, and everyone knows that nicotine gum and patches do not cause cancer. Why should tobacco-free nicotine pouches or chewing tobacco be any different? But if we fail to differentiate between the products and provide accurate information, we risk the lives of those who need help dealing with the dangers of traditional cigarettes.”
Vaping among adults at highest level in eight years. “Hazel Cheeseman, deputy chief executive of Ash, said: “Smoking is still the country’s biggest preventable killer and vaping is one of many tools needed to help smokers quit if we are to create a smokefree country for current as well as future generations.”
A media-generated moral panic drives the vape debate. “They presented vaping as an exaggerated threat to society, creating social anxiety and public concern, leading to a moral panic.”
Scouse Free Vapes Increased. “Such has been the success of the 'Swap to Stop' scheme in helping adults move away from tobacco use, the project is being expanded to help even more Scouse smokers switch…”
New Zealand About To Be “Smoke Free” – But Will New Laws Stop Progress? “Also the government launched a “Vaping to quit smoking” campaign in 2020 which also encouraged people to switch to less harmful alternatives to combusted tobacco.”
How bureaucracy stalls the battle against smoking. “The FDA’s regulatory processes for introducing safer alternatives to cigarettes are overly cumbersome, repetitive, and inadequate for the growing number of adults using e-cigarettes.”
DUET study seeks to answer questions about dual use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes. “When someone uses both e-cigarettes and combustible cigarettes, it’s called “dual use.” And those interested in public health and tobacco policy disagree on whether dual use is harmful, potentially beneficial or neutral – because there isn’t much research on what dual use actually means in day-to-day life.”
Shipping E-Cigarettes Into Illinois Now Banned: Loughran Cappel. “After hearing from local elected officials who were seeing an uptick in the usage of vapes in schools, it was clear we had to put guardrails in place to protect kids from the dangers of smoking.” (emphasis added)
Congress Should Press for FDA Reform to Crack Down on Illegal E-Cigarettes. “However, there’s no excuse for approving fewer than 50 out of more than 26 million PMTAs that have been submitted since 2009, especially when the CTP’s staff has more than doubled in recent years – growing from 426 employees in 2013 to more than 1,100 today.Between a staff that size and the hundreds of millions of dollars the FDA collects in user fees from tobacco manufacturers and importers annually, there should be plenty of resources for the FDA and CTP to expedite the approval of smoke-free alternatives. Unfortunately, the broken, unclear PMTA process and a general lack of transparency at the CTP is preventing that from happening, which has undermined public health and led to the rise of the illegal e-cigarette market.”
The events listed below focus on nicotine. Some may not support reduced-risk products. Some have covered nicotine in the past but may not cover that topic every year.
Aug 18-21, 2024, Mobile, AL, US - Federation of Tax Administrators - 2024 Tobacco Annual Meeting
Aug 23, 2024, (Virtual) 2:00-3:00 PM ET - TOPS Tobacco Online Policy Seminars.
Aug 23, 2024 (Virtual) 10am - 11am EST - Exploring the Intended and Unintended Consequences of ENDS Policies: Licensure Laws, Flavor Bans, and Taxation
Sep 4, 2024, (Virtual) 2:00-3:00 PM ET - New Approaches to Tobacco Smoking Cessation Among People Who Use Drugs
Sep 6, 2024, (Virtual) 2:00-3:00 PM ET - TOPS Tobacco Online Policy Seminars.
Sep 7-10, 2024, San Diego, CA, US (In-person & Virtual) World Conference on Lung Cancer.
Sep 8-11, 2024, Atlanta, GA, US - 77TH TOBACCO SCIENCE RESEARCH CONFERENCE
Sep 16-17, 2024 (Virtual) - 7th Summit on Tobacco Harm Reduction by SCOHRE
Sep 20, 2024, (Virtual) 2:00-3:00 PM ET - TOPS Tobacco Online Policy Seminars.
Sep 23, 2024, NYC, NY, US - New Approaches Conference
Sep 24-26, 2024, Athens, Greece - GTNF
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.
Oct 13-17, 2024, Edinburgh, Scotland - CORESTA Congress 2024
Oct 15, 2024, US (Virtual) - FDLI Introduction to Tobacco Law and Regulation
Oct 23-25, 2024, Lisbon, Portugal - LISBON ADDICTIONS European Conference on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies.
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
Oct 24-25,2024, Washington DC, US (In-person and Virtual) - FDLI Tobacco and Nicotine Products Regulation and Policy Conference.
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
Nov 14-15, 2024, UK - SSA Annual Conference. Early bird discounts until September 9, 2024
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.
December 5, 2024, UK (Virtual and In-person), E-Cigarette Summit UK
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.
Wanted: Conference/Seminar Submissions…
Call for abstracts for SRNT 2025 (←link to info). Submissions may be for symposia, individual paper presentations, and posters describing cutting-edge research in nicotine and tobacco. Notes: There is a new submission portal, and applicants need to create a new account and familiarize themselves with the system. There are restrictions on who is eligible to participate. The submission deadline is August 23, 2024.
Poster abstract submissions for the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health 12th Annual Conference. 2024 Theme: "Tobacco Use: Intersections with Other Addictions, Chronic Disease, and Health Disparities." Please send details (including title, authors, affiliations, and 250-word abstract) to Eric Thrailkill, PhD by September 1, 2024. Abstracts will be evaluated on the basis of scientific merit. They will be reviewed on rolling basis and decisions will be communicated within 14 days of submission.
TOPS Tobacco Online Policy Seminar call for papers/nominations. The submission deadline is October 7, 2024.
Call for Papers
Substance Use, Stigma and Social Harm. A special issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2024.
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.
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
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
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
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.
Until next time,
Skip “#BeKind” Murray