The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

In Response to Two Deaths Due to Marijuana Vaping, Oregon Health Department Recommends Ban on Nicotine-Containing Electronic Cigarettes
In response to two deaths that it says were attributable to vaping cannabis purchased from legal state dispensaries and three additional cases that were linked to cannabis products purchased from state dispensaries, the Oregon Health Authority is recommending that allnicotine-containing (non-cannabis) electronic cigarettes should be banned for six months.According to anarticle byOregon Public Broadcasting: " Officials with the Oregon Health Authority recommended Gov. Kate Brown ban vaping products in the state for six months, following a second vaping-related death Thursday. " This recommendation is for a ban onall va...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 30, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

CDC Finally Admits that Black Market THC Vape Carts are a Major Culprit in Respiratory Disease Outbreak
The CDC has finally admitted that black market THC vape carts are a major culprit in the respiratory disease outbreak that has affected 805 people and resulted in 13 deaths. Instead of continuing to emphasize that " no single product " is linked to all the cases, the CDC clearlystated yesterday that " THC is the most prominent link across patients " and the agencychanged its warning to specifically mention THC: " While this investigation is ongoing, CDC recommends that persons consider refraining from using e-cigarette, or vaping, products, particularly those containing THC. "Because of the CDC ' s long overdue acknowledgm...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 29, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

CDC's Failure to Demand Urine THC Testing of All Outbreak Patients is Inexcusable and is Putting the Entire Nation at Risk
The CDC has irresponsibly botched its entire investigation of vaping-associated respiratory illness (VARI) by failing to recommend or demand that clinicians perform a urine THC drug test on every case patient, and this is putting the entire nation at risk while leading to terrible public policies that are causing immediate harm to thousands of people.The CDC continues to insist that we have no idea what is causing this " mystery illness " and that " no single product " has been identified that explains all of the cases. This statement, which violates basic principles of epidemiological outbreak investigations, is the singl...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 27, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Using Its Emergency Powers, Rest of the Story Issues Four-Month Temporary Ban on Further E-Cigarette Bans
Today, I am bypassing the usual rulemaking process and using my emergency powers to declare a public health emergency and accordingly, I am issuing a four-month, temporary ban on politicians enacting further electronic cigarette bans.The purpose of this public health emergency is to temporarily pause all knee-jerk reaction e-cigarette bans so that we can work with our vaping and cannabis market experts to identify what is actually making people sick and how to better regulate these products to protect the health of our residents without putting thousands of small business owners out of work, forcing thousands of ex-smokers...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 27, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Politicians Continue to Destroy Hundreds of Small Businesses as More Drug Busts Reveal Thousands More Illicit THC Vape Carts
Yesterday, the governor of yet another state - Rhode Island - announced that he would be directing the Department of Health toban the sale of all flavored e-liquids. This now makes four states which either have banned or will imminently ban the sale of either all nicotine-containing e-cigarettes or all flavored, nicotine-containing e-cigarettes. This, along with theresignation of the CEO of JUUL, gained widespread media attention yesterday, dominated on the air waves only by a presidential impeachment inquiry.What flew off the radar screen and is being completely ignored by those very same politicians who are banning nicot...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 26, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Massachusetts Governor's Emergency Order Protects Drug Dealers at the Expense of Hundreds of Life-Saving Small Businesses
In a move that is a huge victory for the state ' s drug dealers, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has instituted a4-month ban on the sale of all vaping products in the state, including both nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes sold at retail stores and vape shops and cannabis vaping products sold at legal cannabis dispensaries. The ban, which was approved by the state Public Health Council on Tuesday, goes into effect immediately and was motivated by the recent emergence of an outbreak of vaping-associated respiratory illness (VARI) that has affected more than530 people across the United States and has resulted in...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 25, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Arizona Detectives Bust Illegal THC Vape Cart Operation and Butane Hash Oil Lab; CDC Continues to Go After Legal Manufacturers and Downplay the Role of these Black Market Marijuana Products
Two weeks ago, detectives with the Maricopa County Drug Suppression Task Force busted anillegal THC vape cart operation in Phoenix. They found more than 1,000 THC vape carts worth an estimated $55,000 along with a butane hash oil manufacturing lab and 300 pounds of mid-grade marijuana used to manufacture butane hash oil. The vape carts they found were packaged as the " Dank " brand, which has been associated with some of the recent vaping illnesses and deaths.This is at least the second bust of an illegal THC vape cart manufacturing facility in as many weeks, as Wisconsin drug enforcement officials raided asimilar operatio...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 24, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

CDC Investigation into Respiratory Disease Outbreak Has Contributed Absolutely Nothing to the Public's Knowledge So Far
Before the CDC initiated its investigation of vaping-associated respiratory illness (VARI) on August 1, here is what we knew about the outbreak:This outbreak is associated with vaping. If you want to avoid getting sick, you should avoid vaping.After nearly eight weeks of CDC investigation, here is what the CDC ' s current conclusion is about the outbreak:This outbreak is associated with vaping. If you want to avoid getting sick, you should avoid vaping.In other words, the investigation has added nothing in terms of public knowledge. Most importantly, it has added nothing in terms of specific steps that the public can take ...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 23, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Results from National Survey Show that CDC's Communication about Respiratory Disease Outbreak Has Been a Public Health Disaster
A newly released, national public opinionsurvey conducted byMorning Consult reveals that twice as many U.S. adults believe that JUULs, as opposed to marijuana vape carts, are associated with the outbreak of deaths from respiratory disease. The survey also reveals that U.S. adults are no more likely to believe that marijuana vape carts are associated with the deaths as to think that marijuana vape carts arenot associated with the deaths.Specifically, 58% of the adults surveyed attribute the outbreak deaths to the use of " e-cigarettes such as JUUL, " while only 34% attribute these deaths to " marijuana or THC " vaping. And ...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 22, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

As Another Person Dies from Using Illicit THC Vape Carts, Health Authorities Still Insist that We Have No Idea What is Causing the Problem
Yesterday we learned thata seventh person has died from the growing epidemic of " vaping-associated respiratory illness " that is sweeping the country. In the six previous deaths, authorities released information about the products used in three of them, each of which involved vaping marijuana, not electronic cigarettes.Although authorities did not release information about what caused this seventh death, family members apparently attribute it to the use of anillicit THC vape cart. It ' s not clear, however, whether the brand used - a Lucky Charms CUREpen - was real or whether it was a counterfeit product that was packaged...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 18, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Despite Increasing Clarity in Role of Illicit THC Vape Carts in Lung Injury Outbreak, CDC Violating Its Own Principles to Blame E-Cigarettes
The role of illicit THC vape carts in the lung injury outbreak --which has now caused 7 deaths--continues to become clear. Yesterday, Dallas County reported14 new cases ranging in age from 16 to 44 with a median age of 19, all of whom were hospitalized with severe respiratory distress. Although the news headline mentions only that these cases were associated with " vaping, " if you read down to the 11th paragraph, you find out that" Ninety percent of the Dallas County cases reported vaping THC products. "The CDC has continually downplayed the role of THC vape carts in the outbreak and even today, continues to blame it on e...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 17, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Under Michigan's New E-Cigarette Flavor Ban, a Youth Caught With a Juul Four-Pack Could Be Put in Prison for Six Months
Michigan ' s governor is prepared to issue anemergency executive order that would ban the sale of flavored electronic cigarettes effective immediately (once the order is filed). I have already explained why this law will be a public health disaster. It will have three major deleterious health effects:1. It will cause many ex-smokers to return to smoking as their vaping products are taken off the market.2. It will create a new black market for flavored e-liquids that does not exist today. As we are finding out, black market products can be extremely dangerous.3. It will cause many youths who are currently vaping e-liquids t...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 16, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

E-Cigarettes are a Gateway to Smoking, so as Teen Vaping Dramatically Increased from 21% to 28%, Smoking Plummeted to Lowest Historical Level
Countering the claims of anti-nicotine groups that electronic cigarettes are a gateway to smoking,data released yesterday from the National Youth Tobacco Survey indicate that while the rates of teen vaping continued to increase dramatically (from 21% in 2018 to 28% in 2019 and from 12% to 28% from 2017-2019), the rate of decline in youth smoking accelerated in 2019, dropping to its lowest level in recorded history.If vaping was a gateway to smoking among youth, one would expect to see some sort of positive correlation between youth vaping rates and youth smoking rates. And in fact, there is aHUGE correlation between the ra...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 12, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Tobacco Financial Analysts: Flavored E-Cigarette Ban Will Substantially Boost Cigarette Sales
Due primarily to the CDC ' s hiding the fact that the overwhelming majority, if not all of the cases of " vaping-associated pulmonary illness (VAPI) " are most likely caused by vaping marijuana, not e-cigarettes, the Trump Administration and the FDA are poised to ban all flavored e-cigarettes.This obviously makes no sense at all.The logic is basically:Product X is causing a severe disease outbreak. Product Y is not. So we are going to immediately ban Product Y.The CDC has taken it a step further. They are essentially warning the public not to use " products, " rather than telling them not use Product X.I have argued that a...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 12, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

In Completely Irresponsible and Negligent Message, American Lung Association Warns against E-Cigarette Use, but Not against Vaping THC
In response to the alarming outbreak of severe, acute respiratory disease that has now affected more than 450 people in 33 states and has killed six people, the American Lung Association issued astatement yesterday stating that no one should continue using electronic cigarettes, which it says can cause " irreversible lung damage. " According to the statement: " E-cigarettes are not safe and can cause irreversible lung damage and lung disease. No one should use e-cigarettes or any other tobacco product. This message is even more urgent today following the increasing reports of vaping-related illnesses and deaths nationwide....
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 11, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs