Wood County Prevention Coalition
Uniting For A Drug-Free Community Since 2004
FDA signals crackdown on flavored cigars to reduce youth tobacco use
November 13 at 3:17 PM The Washington Post
Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, signaled Tuesday that the agency plans action against flavored cigars — products that are especially popular among African American teens — as part of an aggressive effort to reduce underage vaping and smoking expected to be announced this week.
His comments came on the same day that Juul Labs announced it would stop selling most of its flavored e-cigarette pods — specifically, mango, fruit, creme and cucumber — in 90,000 retail outlets, including convenience stores and vape shops. The company also said it would halt its social media promotions of the products.
The announcement by Juul, which is hugely popular among young people and controls more than 70 percent of the e-cigarette market, occurred as the FDA prepared a major anti-tobacco initiative involving flavored e-cigarettes, traditional menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.
The FDA plan is expected to make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for most flavored, cartridge-based e-cigarettes to be sold at convenience stores and gas stations. Such products could still be sold at adult-only tobacco and vape shops. Mint and menthol flavors of e-cigarettes would not be affected by the new limits. The plan won’t affect what are known as open-tank systems that use e-liquids and are primarily sold in vape and tobacco shops.
Juul said that the only flavors that it would sell in retail outlets are tobacco, mint and menthol flavors, mirroring the coming FDA restrictions. The other flavors will be sold only on the company’s website for now, according to a blog post by Kevin Burns, Juul’s chief executive officer.
Burns said the site has third-party, age-verification features to prevent sales to anyone younger than 21 and will have added security measures in the near future.
The FDA’s Gottlieb made his comments during an appearance at a Washington Post Live event called “Chasing Cancer." Asked whether his anti-tobacco plan would include flavored cigars, he said, "I think you can expect us to look at pursuing action on that.” The FDA could propose banning most flavored cigars, a longtime goal of tobacco-control advocates.
His remarks indicated that the agency is taking a more expansive approachthan many initially thought in trying to reduce tobacco use among minors. He also detailed why the agency will propose a ban on menthol in regular cigarettes — something that the agency has long discussed but never done. Menthol, he said, is a “significant problem” that makes it easier for young people to start smoking and harder to stop. He said that just over half of teenagers use menthol cigarettes when they start smoking but that the proportion is greater than 70 percent for young African Americans.
Task Force: Screen Adults for Booze Use
By Alexa Lardieri, Staff Writer Nov. 13, 2018, at 3:13 p.m.
US News and World Report
ADULTS 18 AND OLDER should be screened for unhealthy alcohol use during visits to their primary care doctor, a new task force report recommends.
Guidelines published Tuesday in JAMA by the United States Preventive Services Task Force, state that adults, including pregnant women, should be screened and evaluated for harmful alcohol use. The guidelines also state that physicians should provide people who engage in risky alcohol consumption with "brief behavioral counseling interventions to reduce unhealthy alcohol use."
The agency found "adequate evidence that numerous brief screening instruments can detect unhealthy alcohol use with acceptable sensitivity and specificity in primary care settings" for adults. However, the USPSTF did not find there were benefits to screen and counsel adolescents.
"The net benefit of screening and brief behavioral counseling interventions for unhealthy alcohol use in adults, including pregnant women, is moderate," the guidelines state. "The evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening and brief behavioral counseling interventions for unhealthy alcohol use in adolescents."
According to the task force, excessive alcohol consumption is one of the most common causes of premature mortality in the country. Between 2006 and 2010, approximately 88,000 people died from alcohol-related conditions, including chronic diseases like liver disease, and more acute conditions, such as injuries from car accidents.
The agency defines unhealthy alcohol consumption to include alcohol abuse or dependence and risky drinking behavior. This risky behavior means drinking more than daily, weekly or per-occasion recommended amounts.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, safe guidelines for drinking alcohol are one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men. A drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 8 ounces of malt liquor, 5 ounces of wine and 1.5 ounces of spirits or liquor.
According to the guidelines, the task force found "adequate evidence" that behavioral counseling in adults who have been determined to have unhealthy alcohol consumption behavior is associated with a decrease in unhealthy behavior. The chances of a person drinking more than the recommended amounts decreased, as did binge drinking, at six- to 12-month follow-up appointments.
Additionally, brief counseling of pregnant women led to an increased likelihood they would abstain from alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
HHS recommended that the DEA make kratom a Schedule I drug, like LSD or heroin
NOVEMBER 9, 2018
WASHINGTON — The Department of Health and Human Services has recommended a ban on the chemicals in kratom that would make the popular herbal supplement as illegal as heroin or LSD, according to documents obtained by STAT.
HHS asserted in a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration that two chemicals in kratom should be classified as Schedule I substances, meaning that the chemicals have “a high potential for abuse” and that there is “no currently accepted medical use” for them. The letter was accompanied by a supporting analysis.
Should the DEA make such a ruling, anyone who buys, sells, or uses the substances might face steep punishments, like prison sentences, and anyone who wants to do research with the chemicals would need to obtain special permission from the the DEA. Specific penalties would depend on state and federal laws that are often related to the DEA’s scheduling decisions — so possession of kratom might be treated differently than LSD, for example.
In interviews with STAT, several scientists expressed concerns that such a ban would stifle research on chemicals that could be developed into alternatives to the addictive prescription opioids that kill tens of thousands of Americans each year. They said banning kratom would harm people who are currently using the substance.
People have been using kratom, a plant from Southeast Asia, to treat pain and other conditions, and to wean off opioids. It is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and that agency has led an aggressive crackdown on the plant, halting some imports and reprimanding companies for claiming that the substance has medical benefits.
The recommendation in the documents is in keeping with past public statements from leading federal officials, including FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, but it is the first indication of the agency’s position on scheduling the chemicals in kratom. Gottlieb has said that kratom is “an opioid” and has been “associated” with dozens of deaths.
“Kratom should not be used to treat medical conditions, nor should it be used as an alternative to prescription opioids,” Gottlieb said in a statement in February. He added, “There is no evidence to indicate that kratom is safe or effective for any medical use.”
Now, it’s up to the DEA to decide whether or not the chemicals should be placed on Schedule 1. DEA spokesperson Katherine Pfaff declined to say when this might happen, and said the process can take “months to years.” Members of the public would have some time to appeal the decision, or make comments, before the decision is finalized.
“The medical and scientific evaluation that HHS provides to DEA is a crucial document in the process,” Pfaff said.
Wood County Prevention Coalition Community Meeting
Friday, Mar 22, 2019, 08:30 AM
Wood County Educational Services, Research Drive, Bowling Green, OH, USA
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
About Us
Our Vision: Helping youth be drug-free, productive and responsible citizens.
Our Mission: We are a coalition of compassionate community members working together to coordinate high quality programs for the prevention of youth substance abuse in Wood County.
Email: mkarna@wcesc.org
Website: wcprevention.org
Location: 1867 Research Drive, Bowling Green, OH, United States
Phone: (419)-354-9010
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WCPCoalition
Twitter: @woodpccoalition