News & Updates

At its annual meeting on June 5, the U.S. Conference of Mayors approved a resolution supporting the prohibition on sales of all flavored tobacco products, including flavored e-cigarettes, menthol cigarettes, flavored smokeless tobacco, and flavored cigars. In a previous newsletter, we shared videos of some supportive mayors, and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has shared [...]

The CDC recently shared new online menthol fact sheets for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data presented include the number of adults who use menthol cigarettes, the number of adults that are considering quitting, the economic cost to the state of smoking, and the estimated number of people who would quit if [...]

A report from Truth Initiative says that sales restrictions on all flavored tobacco products, including all types of menthol products, are gaining momentum at the local and state levels. As of June 30 (2023), 395 jurisdictions and 3 Native American tribes have placed some type of restriction on the sale of flavored tobacco products, and [...]

Sales of nicotine lozenges, pucks, and pouches more than doubled in two years, according to a new report from the Federal Trade Commission, while the number of cigarettes sold by the largest companies decreased. The numbers from 2022 also show that menthol cigarettes were 36 percent of total cigarette sales. Of the $8.01 billion spent [...]

Tobacconomics released a report assessing the effect of policies that restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products in retail businesses using data from tobacco stores, convenience stores, and gas station/convenience stores in the U.S. “Despite concerns that such policies harm tobacco retailers, the findings suggest that these restrictions have no negative effect on retail businesses,” [...]

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and its partners have released an updated version of their “Deadly Alliance” report about retail marketing and industry opposition to tobacco control. Tobacco companies now spend more than $8 billion a year to saturate convenience stores, gas stations and other retail outlets with ads and incentives to buy. The update [...]

The Rutgers Center for Excellence in Rapid Surveillance of Tobacco is asking employees of middle schools and high schools to upload photos of tobacco/nicotine products confiscated from students. Funded by NIH and FDA, the center seeks to better understand emerging use of these products by teens. See a flyer about the project. [...]

As of July 1, U.S. tobacco companies Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds were required to begin posting signs at about 220,000 US retail stores that sell cigarettes. The signs will be installed near cigarette displays in these stores between July 1 and September 30 and must be displayed until June 30, 2025. The signs [...]

At its annual meeting on June 5, the U.S. Conference of Mayors approved a resolution supporting the prohibition of all flavored tobacco products, including flavored e-cigarettes, menthol cigarettes, flavored smokeless tobacco, and flavored cigars. Tobacco control advocates hope the resolution will prompt more states and localities to address the sale of flavored tobacco products, and [...]

The Public Health Law Center has released the results of its survey of current state statutes in the 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and five U.S. territories as of June 15, 2023. The data covers the definition of “tobacco product,” taxation, product packaging, youth access/other retail restrictions, licensure, and smokefree air legislation. (Cities, counties and [...]