Thinking 'bout THR Newsletter

May 15 - 17, 2024

Consumers often comment they aren’t heard and aren’t given a seat at the table. The people who, or might someday, use nicotine should be the 1st ones to have a seat at the table. People of all ages, those who don’t want to start - those who want to quit - and those who want the least harmful way of using it.

I’m in the United States. CASAA (Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association) has given adult consumers a voice, here and abroad, for many years. They represent us, track legislation, make it easy for us to communicate with lawmakers, and educate us. Like many things in life, it is expensive to do what they do. The fees for the software CASAA uses for tracking and communication are very costly, and the funds are drying up faster than they are coming in.

Please join them on June 15th for a special livestream fundraiser to help them continue to be a voice for thousands of consumers like me. I will be one of their guests. Further details will be coming soon!

If you don’t want to wait to help out…

I pledge to match $ for $, the first $500 that is donated to CASAA!

• BR-UK: Open science and the importance of pre-registration. Sharon Cox, Marcus Munafo, Harry Tattan-Birch

• Across the Pond: Episode 16: Nancy Loucas.

• The Newsmakers: Is vaping safer than smoking? Guests - Sheila Duffy, Stanton Glantz, and Yael Ossowski

• TMA 2024: Can We Talk? Establishing the Framework for Real-World THR Dialogue. Joe Gitchell, Katherine Foley, Gene Ransom, Brad Rodu

• Event Replay: Accelerating Action to End Smoking. Cliff Douglas, Dr. Leighton Ku, Dr. Anthony Salandy and Kenneth Moton

• UNSTOPPABLE | Worldwide Vaping Growth Continues. Guest: Barnaby Page, editorial director at Tamarind Intelligence

• Startling power of tobacco harm reduction as cigarette sales halved in Japan - new GSTHR Briefing Paper. “The speed and scale of the change in Japan shows just how quickly things can improve when those people already consuming nicotine are given access to a safer alternative. This is not the result of a specific government policy or initiative, yet the benefits to individuals and society are significant.”

• Guest Editorial: Are Headlines, Crises, and the Innocence of Youth Distracting Us from the Realities of Addiction Later in Life? “Certainly, there is a way to continue our focus on protecting young people from substance use while also accepting that many people will and do use addictive substances later in life. And they deserve our attention in addiction research, policy, and treatment.”

• Global Action to End Smoking: the US nonprofit organization new commitment to support smoking cessation. “CoEHAR has enthusiastically embraced the new vision of the Global Action to END Smoking, guided by a common mission to combat and eradicate smoking worldwide by supporting public policies based on scientific evidence.”

• No Smoke, Less Harm: A Path to Saving Lives. “Smokefree Sweden’s new report, No Smoke, Less Harm, illustrates that rather than demonising nicotine, the focus should shift towards reducing the harm associated with its consumption.”

• FDA Needs to Reboot Rules for Less Harmful Tobacco Alternatives After Biden’s Delay of the Menthol Ban. “With the menthol cigarette ban uncertain, the path for low-risk tobacco product authorization needs to be reimagined to nationally increase MRTP availability, access, and appeal among people who use menthol cigarettes.”

• What did we learn from the E-Cig Summit in Washington, D.C.? “Robin Mermelstein, director of the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois, opened the meeting by noting that diverse perspectives are needed for innovations required to end combustible use.”

• New figures show youth vaping has plateaued while adult vaping is at an all-time high. “However, getting adults to quit smoking is important for children’s health too. The evidence has grown that vaping is less harmful than smoking, but public understanding has gone in the other direction.”

• Next EU Parliament should listen to consumers on novel tobacco products. “Consumers’ voices need to be taken into account and the public consultation’s results should not just be the outcome of a mere bureaucratic process,” Fiocchi added.

• Recent Reports Reflect How the FDA Props Up the Cigarette Trade. “It’s time to embrace a smarter approach, one that harnesses nicotine consumers’ choices—which involves simply telling them the truth about relative risks—in order to hasten a smoke-free future. Instead of swimming against the current, the FDA must adapt its regulatory systems to propel us towards a healthier society.”

• Guest Post: Mark Oates – We Must Stand Against Dangerous Vape Tax! “And today I call on the millions of vapers victimised for using a tool that has saved them from the horrors of smoking to stand together against the latest government broadside.”

• Ireland raises smoking age limit to 21 - but holds vaping at 18. “Ireland aims to become the first country in the European Union to ban smoking among under-21s. The proposed new legislation will not apply to alternative nicotine products such as vapes because of “insufficient evidence” that they pose a health risk to adults. “

• New Study Highlights Impact of Nicotine Pouches and E-Cigarettes on Smokers. “This trial underscores the importance of considering socioeconomic factors in smoking harm reduction efforts.”

• For global coverage of calls to action, please click here: Advocating For Tobacco Harm Reduction.

Call for Papers

• Tobacco Online Policy Seminar (TOPS) Is Calling for Papers and Presenters. The submission deadline is May 28, 2024. NOTE: Certain individuals are not allowed to reply—see guidelines.

• A 10-year Update on Nicotine and Tobacco Research Related to Sex/Gender. The submission deadline is July 31, 2024.

Service Opportunities…

• Nomination Call for New SRNT-E Board Members (President-Elect and Secretary. Nominations are due by June 15, 2024.

Wanted: Conference Submissions…

• Sep 16-17, 2024 - 7th Summit on Tobacco Harm Reduction by SCOHRE. Call for abstracts for short oral or poster presentations. The submission deadline for abstracts is July 12, 2024.

• Oct 24-25, Washington DC? US - Tobacco and Nicotine Products Regulation and Policy Conference. The deadline for the call for proposals is May 24, 2024.

• Call for speakers. The Society for the Study of Addiction is now accepting applications for speakers at the PhD Symposium. Application deadline is July 3, 2024

• Nov 14-15, 2024, UK - SSA Annual Conference. Submissions for posters and oral presentations are due by July 3, 2024

Petitions…

• Some are listed on this Safer Nicotine Wiki advocacy page.

Tobacco harm reduction means different things to different people. Some may wish to achieve a nicotine-free society. Others may wish to squash the tobacco industry. Some prefer that people who choose to use nicotine use it in a form that has less risk than smoking tobacco. What we all have in common is a desire to reduce/eliminate smoking-related diseases and premature deaths. The events listed below focus on nicotine. Some events may not be supportive of reduced-risk products. Some have covered nicotine in the past but may not cover that topic every year.

• May 20-22, 2024 - (Virtual) - ToPCon - Commercial Tobacco Prevention Conference 

• May 22, 2024 (Virtual) 8:00 AM - 12:45 PM - GTNF InFocus 2024 Nicotine

• *NEW* May 24, 2024, 08:30 AM EST (Virtual) - The Integral Role of Economic Research on the ENDS Landscape.

• May 24, 2024 (Virtual) - BR- UK: Using behavioural theory to inform quantitative models for policy decision making- With speakers Professor Jamie Brown, Professor Robin Purshouse, Dr Hazel Squires, Professor Robert West

• *NEW* May 25, 2024, (Virtual) 12:00 PM GMT (Virtual) - Global Youth Voices' Virtual Summit.

• May 30, 2024 - (Virtual) 3:00-4:00 PM - CAsToR A Conversation about the Use of Computational Models in Tobacco Regulation.

• May 30-31, 2024 - Brisbane, AU - 2024 SRNT-Oceania Chapter Conference (30th) and Tobacco Endgame Centre of Research Excellence Annual Symposium (31st) Online Registration Link (for both) 

• Jun 4-5, 2024, Portland, ME, US - Tobacco Treatment and Prevention Conference 

• Jun 13-15, 2024, Warsaw, Poland - GFN - Global Forum on Nicotine - Registration open! (Pre-Conference activities Jun 12)

• *NEW* Jun 15, 2024, CASAA fundraiser - details coming soon!

• Jun 16-19, 2024, San Diego, CA, US - 2024 ASHEcon Conference (Health Economists).

• Jun 19-20, 2024, Miami, FL, US - Next Generation Nicotine Delivery USA 

• Jun 26, 2024, Silver Spring, MD, US (Virtual and In-person) 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM EST - The Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee meeting (TPSAC). Topic MRTP

• Jun 27-28, 2024, Minneapolis, MN, US - National Tribal Tobacco Conference 

• Jul 4-5, 2024, Opatija, Croatia - 13th Workshop on the Economics of Risky Behavior. Program here.

• Jul 21-23, 2024, San Marcos, TX, US - Texas Tobacco-Free Conference 

• Aug 18-21, 2024, Mobile, AL, US - Federation of Tax Administrators - 2024 Tobacco Annual Meeting 

• Sep 7-10, 2024, San Diego, CA, US (In-person & Virtual) World Conference on Lung Cancer. Early Bird registration ends June 7, 2024

• 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 23, 2024, NYC, NY, US - New Approaches Conference 

• Sep 24-25, 2024, Athens, Greece - GTNF (Event link not yet available)

• Oct 13-17, 2024, Edinburgh, Scotland - CORESTA Congress 2024

• 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. Early bird registration ends June 30, 2024. Note: not THR-friendly. See list of Conflict of Interest Principles

• Oct 24-25, Washington DC? US (In-person and Virtual) - FDLI Tobacco and Nicotine Products Regulation and Policy Conference. (Registration opening soon)

• Oct 27-30, 2024, Minneapolis, MN, US - 2024 APHA Annual Meeting and Expo (Public Health). Registration opens in June.

• 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—Registration opens in June. 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

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.

• Jan 15-19, 2025 Seattle, WA, US - Society for Social Work and Research.

• 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

• Mar 4-6, 2026 Baltimore, MD, US - SRNT 32nd Annual Meeting

Notes:

• Deadlines are in bold type. Additions to the seeking participants and events sections since the last edition will be denoted by "*NEW*"

• 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