National Working Group for ACTTION

Feb 23, 2010
Letter from Diane Canova

Dear Partners:

This month I would like to invite your participation in the discussion over the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes).  E-cigarettes are battery powered cigarette-shaped tubes that heat liquid nicotine into an inhalable vapor, advertised variously as devices to use where smoking is not permitted or alternatives to cigarettes. They are supposed to satisfy cravings for cigarettes without the harms of cigarettes.  Is this too good to be true?

Feb 23, 2010
E-Cigarettes Burning Controversy

A federal appeals court will decide whether the Food and Drug Administration has the authority to regulate electronic cigarettes, known as e-cigarettes, as drug-delivery devices or should treat them as tobacco products, which have different regulatory standards.

Feb 23, 2010
Interview with Lois Keithly, Director, Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program

On November 19, 2009, ACTTION presented a webinar on The Impact of Massachusetts MassHealth (Medicaid) Benefit on Smoking Prevalence and Health Outcomes.  This month ACTTION spoke with Lois Keithly, Director of the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program, to follow up on the webinar and discuss next steps both for Massachusetts and others who might want to duplicate the Massachusetts cessation benefit.

Feb 23, 2010
Cessation Notes from the States

Public advertising and promotional campaigns can help create the environment that encourages smokers to decide to make the effort to quit and supports them in their quitting efforts.  Recent news report provided examples of state and local government cessation campaigns.

Feb 23, 2010
Brief Research Notes

Cigarettes that are almost nicotine free may be a tobacco product that can facilitate cessation; however, future research is clearly needed to support these preliminary findings.  Compared to low nicotine yield cigarettes, the nearly free cigarettes were not associated with compensatory smoking behaviors.  Compensatory behavior is the effort by smokers to try to counteract nicotine reductions by smoking more or smoking harder.  This would undercut the benefits of nicotine reduction, and increase exposure to toxic substances.  The findings in this study are encouraging but larger studies are needed before this type of product can be recommended for cessation.

Feb 23, 2010
Spotlight on EX

Have you seen the television ad showing a woman in an office mixing a fancy cocktail, ignoring her work, and walking outside to stand next to a dumpster to drink her cocktail and smoke a cigarette?  The ad is for the EX campaign.

Feb 23, 2010
Petition Asks FDA to Make NRT Easier to Use and Obtain

In an effort to increase the number of smokers who successfully quit, the Association for the Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence (ATTUD) and the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) have joined in submitting a “citizens’ petition” to the Food and Drug Administration. The petition aims to reduce barriers to the use of nicotine replacement therapy and generally make cessation more “user-friendly.” The premise of the petition is that “Tight constraints imposed by the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) on manufacturers of NRT interfere with full and effective use of NRT by individuals and across the population.” The petition asks the FDA for a “more flexible evidence-based regulatory approach to the treatment of tobacco dependence and that Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) labeling indications and instructions be modified to be consistent with current science.”

Mar 24, 2010
Kick Butts Day

http://www.kickbuttsday.org/

Apr 05, 2010
National Public Health Week

A Healthier America: One Community at a Time
www.nphw.org

Apr 27, 2010
Promising Practices: Achieving Health and Social Equity in Tobacco Control

Health Education Council's Break Free Alliance and the National African American Tobacco Education Network presents:
Promising Practices: Achieving Health and Social Equity in Tobacco Control.
http://healthedcouncil.org/promisingpractices_2010.html