News & Updates

On December 6, a federal judge in Washington ordered the major U.S. tobacco companies to post signs next year at nearly 200,000 retail outlets that sell cigarettes, warning potential buyers of the health risks. The order will fully implement the “corrective statements” the tobacco companies were first ordered to make in 2006, when U.S. District [...]

ChangeLab Solutions and the CDC have partnered to help tobacco prevention staff and partners frame their communications on tobacco-related health disparities in ways that minimize racial biases and foster support for effective policy solutions. Messaging that focuses on disparities can reinforce biases about the communities that are most harmed by commercial tobacco, leading policymakers to [...]

The Los Angeles Times recently published a revealing story about how the tobacco industry has used the deaths of George Floyd and Eric Garner at the hands of police to alarm Black smokers about proposals to prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes. Paid lobbyists for Big Tobacco have suggested to legislators that banning menthol would [...]

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously June 1 to ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products except flavored shisha tobacco, allowing it to be sold in some hookah lounges. The law does not ban the possession or use of flavored tobacco, only its sale. The ban is scheduled to go into effect January [...]

TIME Magazine recently published a story about the tobacco industry’s funding of controversial tobacco-prevention programs in schools, which public health experts say don’t work and promote the idea that tobacco giants really care about kids. In January, Malcolm Ahlo, our ASPiRE CAB member in Las Vegas, was offered the chance to apply for a grant [...]

Tobacco companies handsomely incentivize retailers around the world to follow harsh requirements related to selling and marketing tobacco products through contracts that fly under the radar of both consumers and policymakers. These agreements allow tobacco manufacturers to give their products primary placement in stores, discount their pricing and target specific demographics. Such rigorous control undermines [...]

On Sept. 9, the Food and Drug Administration postponed a decision on whether many tobacco products that entered the market since 2007, including flavored e-cigarettes, can be sold. In a statement, the FDA said it has denied marketing applications for nearly 1 million flavored e-cigarettes because companies did not provide enough evidence that any potential [...]

As tobacco control programs are asked to do more with fewer resources, partnerships have become more important. The CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health has published a new Best Practices User Guide: Partnerships in Tobacco Control. Written in partnership with members of the ASPiRE team from WashU’s Center for Public Health Systems Science, the guide [...]

Last month, Juul Labs agreed to pay North Carolina $40 million to settle the first of many lawsuits brought by states claiming the e-cigarette company’s marketing contributed to widespread nicotine addiction among youths. The settlement was announced as the Food and Drug Administration is deciding whether its vaping products can stay on the market. Read [...]

According to ASPiRE’s Todd Combs, a ban on menthol cigarettes and all flavored cigars, now proposed by the FDA, aimed at reducing tobacco-related disease and death, could have a particularly beneficial impact on Black and younger Americans. Combs said that about 80% of Black smokers and about half of all young and LGBTQ+ smokers use [...]