I wrote a book dispelling health myths called HYPE: A Doctor's Guide to Medical Myths, Exaggerated Claims and Bad Advice-- How to Tell What's Real and What's Not, to stop our heads from spinning from overwhelming rapid-fire health information.I'm the Director of Pediatric Otolaryngology and Professor of Head and Neck Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. September 17, 2019. It also does not apply to Internet sales of flavored products. From today, menthol cigarettes are banned from being sold in Ireland. Updated Feb 28, 2020; Posted Feb 28, 2020. Praying COVID-19 patient, 82, is bludgeoned to death at Lancaster hospital. The companies also filed a federal lawsuit against the state, seeking an injunction to block the new law, arguing it is “an overbroad reaction to legitimate public-health concerns about youth use of tobacco products.”. The ban will cover menthol cigarettes, rolling tobacco and 'skinny' cigarettes and will be put in place in May this year. Why is that metric important? accused signature gatherers of misleading voters, Gov. (Photo Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images), EY & Citi On The Importance Of Resilience And Innovation, Impact 50: Investors Seeking Profit — And Pushing For Change, Michigan Economic Development Corporation With Forbes Insights. Supermarkets in L.A. County see unprecedented coronavirus infection rates. A COVID-19 patient beat a fellow patient to death using an oxygen tank last week at a Lancaster hospital, authorities said. Extend Brexit Transition, Hospital Bosses Beg Boris Johnson As Covid-19 Cases Mount In The U.K. Will Pregnant And Breastfeeding People Receive The Coronavirus Vaccine? Patrick McGreevy is a reporter covering California state government and politics in the Sacramento Bureau. As reported by Dr. Bruce Y. Lee for Forbes, New York’s governor described flavored e-cigarette sales to teens as “a public health crisis.”. SACRAMENTO — California's ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products is set to go in effect on Jan. 1, but one group is fighting to bring the issue to the voters. Black lawmakers called the ads offensive and argued that the tobacco industry has targeted Black and Latino residents with marketing of flavored tobacco products, causing disproportionate harm to their health. The U.S. FDA is Sued For Failing to Ban Menthol Cigarettes. Why this one isn’t working as well. Trump’s repeatedly discredited attempt to overturn the November results has been given continued sustenance by the Fox News star. The poor condition of the Caltrans-owned homes is no deterrent to families pummeled by the pandemic and affordability crisis. In 2009, the federal Tobacco Control Act was passed to ban all flavored cigarettes except for menthol, leaving a substantial array of “menthol flavored” products available for sale. Some would-be holiday travelers aren’t happy about it. Despite Brexit, this ban also applies to the UK and includes capsule, click on, click & roll, crushball or dual menthol cigarettes, and excludes vaping and heated tobacco products. Charlie Baker signed the bill in November. The U.S.Food and Drug Administration is proposing a ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes and ... [+] flavored cigars. USA TODAY. “In the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, raging wildfires, heatwaves and power outages across the state, more than one million Californians signed petitions for the right to have their voice heard on an unfair law that benefits the wealthy and special interests while costing jobs and cutting funding for education and healthcare,” the statement said. The Trump election fraud story has the TV news biz asking. A coalition representing the tobacco industry said Tuesday it has turned in more than 1 million signatures as it seeks to qualify a referendum for the November 2022 ballot aimed at overturning a law banning the retail sale of flavored tobacco products in California. As someone who's had their feet firmly planted in both clinical and academic work, I help patients and families make decisions every day about their health. While vaping and flavored tobacco in ENDS has targeted the teen population with child-friendly flavors during this past decade, the menthol cigarette market has been around for close to 100 years. In pursuing the referendum, the coalition said it agrees “that youth should never have access to any tobacco products, but this can be achieved without imposing a total prohibition on products that millions of adults choose to use.”, The referendum is one of two prongs of the tobacco industry’s attack on the new law. “California will continue to fight back and protect children from Big Tobacco.”, The law Newsom signed would ban the retail sale of flavored tobacco products including menthol and fruit flavors, as well as those used in electronic cigarettes. SB 793 prohibits store sales of flavored e-cigarettes and other e- devices, menthol cigarettes, non-premium flavored cigars and cigarillos, and … But the delay will be costly and deadly.”. Supporters of the flavored tobacco sales ban accused signature gatherers of misleading voters by telling them the petitions were for a measure to ban sales of flavored tobacco products to minors, a charge the coalition denied. How long can it last? The campaign over the referendum is likely to generate heated debate, following vitriol between the two sides leading up to the Legislature’s approval of the law. And in February 2020, when a ... Action Network and other Black groups that have accepted donations or contributions from R.J. Reynolds and argue that a menthol ban ... and menthol cigarettes … The referendum was criticized Tuesday by Lindsey Freitas, advocacy director for Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a leading supporter of the new law. As of February 2020, ENDS have been implicated in over 2,800 cases of e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) and 68 deaths nationally. Living in times filled with suspicion, I find myself dispelling a lot of myths in response to swarms of information triggering fear or unnecessarily pushing us to change our habits overnight. Southern California home prices and sales have risen rapidly in recent months, raising questions if the torrid pace can continue in 2021. New Jersey approved a ban … With close to 500,000 tobacco-related deaths annually in the United States alone, Governor Cuomo’s calling this a “public health crisis” is not far off. The menthol cigarette industry has had several demographic target populations, including e-cigarette-smoking 12-17-year-olds as well as Black smokers. The FDA has ordered e-cigarette ... [+] product makers to devise a plan to keep devices away from minors, declaring use by teens has reached an "epidemic proportion". The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that it will ban fruit- and mint-flavored products used in e-cigarettes and vaping … You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. The regulation to ban menthol cigarettes is part of the EU Tobacco Directive, which was adopted in 2014 after laborious negotiations and came into force in 2016. The tobacco industry ran television ads before the Legislature’s vote that alleged by exempting hookah, expensive cigars and flavored pipe tobacco from the ban, legislators gave “special treatment to the rich, and [singled] out communities of color” by banning menthol cigarettes. Set to take effect in January 2021, the ban would prohibit the sale of … The rise in popularity of electronic or e-cigarettes and vaping devices, collectively referred to as electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), especially in minors, has come with concerns over the links to further tobacco or substance use, as well as serious life-threatening side effects. Here’s what Airbnb is doing to discourage large gatherings over the holidays. While many observers see this as a big step in the right direction, others are increasingly concerned about the potential risks involved and how smokers could be adversely affected. “We know Big Tobacco has hidden behind smoke and lies for years to hook generations of young people on deadly tobacco products, and this referendum is just one more tactic to continue the status quo,” Freitas said. Polls commissioned by the vaping industry have shown an outright ban would be unpopular in key states for the 2020 election. Dispelling health myths, fads, exaggerations and misconceptions. The new law restricts retail sale of flavored tobacco products of any kind, including ENDS and cigarettes, but excluded restriction of flavored premium cigars and hookah tobacco. BOSTON (AP) — A statewide ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, is set to take effect on Monday. Here are safety tips for getting your holiday shopping done at malls and shopping centers amid the COVID-19 surge. New Coronavirus Strain: Will Vaccines Still Work On Variant Found In The U.K.. Why a negative COVID test doesn’t ‘clear’ you for holiday gatherings. Gov. While there remain countless means to purchase flavored tobacco products, primarily online, the added retail restrictions in the nation’s most populous state will hopefully reduce new use and later addiction to tobacco products. To … E-Liquids, which are used for vaping in electronic cigarettes. While … Menthol cigarettes make up 35 percent of U.S. cigarette sales. The law Newsom signed would ban the retail sale of flavored tobacco products including menthol and fruit flavors, as well as those used in electronic cigarettes. To win legislative approval, the bill exempted hookah, expensive cigars and flavored pipe tobacco. Likewise, menthol sales in New Hampshire soared by 91 percent and Rhode Island’s rose 40 percent. The coalition has received more than $21 million so far, largely from companies including Philip Morris USA and its affiliated U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co., as well as R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Those opposing the ban have stated that it unfairly restricts sales of these products by and for people of color, and is favoring those who buy premium, pricey flavored cigars, costing $12 or more per unit. The new law will make the sale of electronic (”e”)-cigarette cartridges and flavored cigarettes subject to a $250 fine to the retailer. A popular alternative to conventional tobacco, menthol cigarettes are set to be banned outright throughout the UK & EU from 20th May 2020. The American Medical Association joins other entities in suing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for failing to regulate and ban menthol cigarettes, which are the tobacco product preferred by approximately 86% of African American smokers. - New York became the second US state to ban flavored e-cigarettes. Nicotine, the addictive component in vaping products and cigarettes can be equal to or up to twenty times higher in vaping products than that of traditional tobacco cigarettes. Gavin Newsom, who signed the new law in August, denounced the referendum effort when it launched. Initially marketed as a safer alternative to traditional cigarette smoking and a tool for smoking cessation, ENDS have seen the additional complications of injury and deaths to its users. While the largest seller of vaping products, Juul, has restricted even online sales to those over age 21 years, children have become one of the largest markets for flavored tobacco products. As this somehow seems healthier than non-menthol cigarettes, these products boomed in popularity throughout the mid- and late-twentieth century. Flavored vaping products containing nicotine are seen in a store in Los Angeles, California, ... [+] September 17, 2019. 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