tobacco

#This article is reprinted with permission of the author and the Cato Institute. The original blog post can be found here. 

Using nicotine habitually is a bad idea. It is worse when delivered by combustion, with fewer health consequences when vaporized. We have always said that vaping nicotine is a gateway or path to smoking cessation.

Last week, I spoke at the 9th European Beer and Health Summit in Brussels,* an academic conference that discusses the latest research into the effects of moderate alcohol consumption on health.

It’s tax-day today. It is also the forever day for tobacco companies when their settlement requires a payment of $9 billion to the states for the cost of tobacco-related illnesses, cardiovascular disease, lung disease, and cancers.

The CDC is one of the finest public health institutions on the planet. Because they fearlessly march into "hot zones" to battle deadly infectious diseases, we microbiologists think of the good folks at the CDC as real-life superheroes.

There is a stunning lack of practicality in modern-day America.

Advertising cigarettes and other tobacco products on TV and radio hasn’t been allowed since 1971.

The latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) from the CDC describes how working adults (over the age of 18) are using tobacco products.

During the 1990s and 2000s, opponents of the legalization of marijuana (be it recreational or medical) argued that it served as a "gateway" to harder drugs.

Once again, the echo chamber nature of press releases serves to promote misleading science and health clickbait.  This time it is with headlines like “Tobacco, but not pot, boosts early stroke risk.”