The future of tobacco control is up for grabs. Nowhere was this more apparent than at this year’s US E-Cigarette Summit. Held virtually on May 24-25, the conference featured a wide range of speakers—doctors, tobacco control experts, notable employees of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), drug reform advocates and industry alike—from across the globe.
The theme of the two-day publicly broadcast event was “discussing the role that e-cigarettes and alternative nicotine products could play in ending or extending the smoking epidemic.” But a second, simpler one quickly emerged: regaining trust.
Some countries like the United Kingdom and New Zealand have embraced e-cigarettes as safer alternatives to combustible cigarettes, but many others have yet to admit their potential. Alarmed by the once climbing—and now apparently declining—rates of teenage e-cigarette use, states, cities and smaller jurisdictions throughout the US have issued flavor bans.
Alex Norcia – Filter – 2021-05-27.