Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
China's Warning That Effectively Bans E-Cigarettes Could Come As Huge Blow To Industry Already Under Fire
The New York Times: China Effectively Bans Online Sales Of E-Cigarettes
China issued its starkest warning yet over electronic cigarettes, calling on the industry on Friday to stop selling and advertising the products online. Citing health concerns for minors, a Chinese regulator and the state tobacco monopoly jointly urged manufacturers and sellers to shut down websites related to the marketing and sale of e-cigarettes, in what could amount to an effective ban. (Chen and Stevenson, 11/1)
The Associated Press: San Francisco: Mayor Has Easy Reelection; Vaping On Ballot
After a bruising fight last year to become San Francisco's mayor, London Breed faces token opposition on Tuesday's ballot as she struggles to find solutions to the city's homelessness crisis, drug epidemic and a housing shortfall that have put the politically liberal city in the national spotlight. The former president of the Board of Supervisors and San Francisco native narrowly won a special June 2018 election to fill the seat left vacant by the sudden death of Mayor Ed Lee. (Har, 11/3)
Bloomberg: Vaping’s Role As Gateway To Teen Smoking Questioned In Study
Vaping might not be the gateway to teen smoking that many had feared, according to a study. Using e-cigarettes doesn’t raise the likelihood a teenager would smoke, according to a study by U.S. researchers. Smoking can be entirely attributable to other factors affecting adolescents’ inclination toward cigarettes, such as parental education, peer smoking, anxiety and other substance abuse. E-cigarette sales have been hit amid a regulatory crackdown in the U.S. amid concerns that producers like Juul Labs Inc. have been marketing to underage smokers. (Gretler, 11/4)
Kaiser Health News: Cigarettes Vs. Vaping: That’s The ‘Wrong Comparison,’ Says Inhalation Researcher
Ilona Jaspers initially approached the outbreak of vaping-related illnesses with a clinical curiosity. As an inhalation toxicologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Jaspers has for nearly 20 years studied the health effects of many substances that can be inhaled. Seven of those years involved researching e-cigarettes. She had been following cases of patients with symptoms similar to those seen in the outbreak through academic articles since 2016. (Heredia Rodriguez, 11/4)
Politico Pro: POLITICO-Harvard Poll: Despite Vaping Crisis, Americans View E-Cigarettes As Far More Dangerous Than Marijuana
Americans now think marijuana is much less harmful than alcohol, tobacco or e-cigarettes, according to new polling results from POLITICO and Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health released Monday. Just 1 in 5 Americans believe marijuana is very harmful to people who use it. Twice as many said the same about alcohol, 52 percent characterized e-cigarettes as very harmful and 80 percent said tobacco cigarettes are very harmful. (Fertig, 11/4)
State House News Service: Memo Challenges DPH Authority In Vape Sales Ban Case
The group representing medical marijuana patients who intervened in the challenge to Gov. Charlie Baker's temporary vape sales ban filed a memo Thursday arguing that the Cannabis Control Commission, not the Department of Public Health, is the only state agency that can regulate marijuana products. The group's premise is that the 2017 law that created the CCC "transferred authority to regulate all legal marijuana" from DPH to the CCC and that the Legislature was clear in its law that the CCC was to be the lead regulatory body. (Young, 11/1)
