Picture of lung cancer surgery scar as warning on packs in France in 2018 and a picture used in 1994 in an advocacy campaign

Above is one of the pictorial warnings now posted on cigarette packs. I discovered this one on a pack that had been left on the pavement. It immediately brought me back 24 years, in 1994: look below at the picture of the surgery scar of a lung cancer patient I used while leading the French National Committee for Tobacco Control in April 1994 in a campaign to defend the Loi Evin, the 1991 Tobacco Control Act that was then under attack. I also posted the text that was a the back of this card (all in French of course). The scars are not on the same side of the back and the 1994 one is more personal showing the face of the patient (who had agreed for us to use it). Haunting. I spoke with a few smokers. They know of all the pictorial warnings and they avoid some they find especially disturbing (about mouth cancer, about an amputated leg) but often they hide them under a cover. When I bought the pack, the tobacconist offered to sell me one.

Women in France during the mois sans tabac: trying in higher number to quit

It's in French. This video posted on Facebook by Je ne fume plus and Addictaide, with as guest the professor Albert Hirsch. Don't click on the arrow on the image below. Use the link above in red. The problem is the official site Tabac Info Service does not even mention vaping!! What gives?

Project unthinkable, a book by Derek Yach is now available

Derek Yach is the guy who made a deal with the devil (aka Philip Morris International): they would fund his Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, $80 million per year for 12 years, to promote safer nicotine delivery products than the traditional combustible cigarettes. Of course, any type of deal involving Philip Morris is unthinkable and unacceptable for the people and main organizations devoted to tobacco control. Read the book for details. Never mind that millions of ex-smokers say they have been able to quit thanks to e-cigarettes. They are only "anecdotal evidence", no proof at all there is anything interesting for public health in vaping. Better demonize those nicotine addicts and eventually prohibit everything e-cig but for the good old cigarettes. Derek admits he did not show much empathy for smokers in the first phase of his career as a tobacco control advocate: neither did I. But at the time there was very little available to help smokers to quit and we did demonize nicotine. The nicotine patches, gums, sprays did not help much while e-cigs (and snus) have convinced many, I have not yet figured why there is so much resistance and anger from people who should rejoice that smokers switch to a less dangerous habit. They immediately decided to ostracize the new Foundation instead of joining its board and being able that way to check what is done and influence how the millions PMI made from the smokers are used to help smokers quit. Is there a chance they'll have a change of heart before hell freezes? Meanwhile, I am definitely on the side of the ex-smokers who vape.

Kids read propaganda against flavors in vaping products

It is in Marin county (California) as recorded and posted on twitter by Stefan Didak. The kids belong to the group Children for change. From the speech:
"Vaping can lead to other drugs or alcohol addictions such as cigarette smoking, heroine and more. Vaping can lead to poor decisions such as going homeless, dropping out of school, child abuse, going broke, and more."
What is the adequate response?

A TC podcast with Stanford's Robert Jackler about/against Juul and a pro-nicotine video

A TC podcast from BMJ Talk medicine
In this 15 minute podcast Becky Freeman, new media editor for Tobacco Control journal, talks to Robert K. Jackler, MD, from Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising at Stanford University. They discuss his recently published paper "JUUL and Other Stealth Vaporizers: Hiding the Habit from Parents and Teachers".

Read the full article on the Tobacco Control website:
tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early…l-2018-054455

See the pro-nicotine video by Brent Stafford of RegulatorWatch and Helen Redmond 

Cancer warning on every cigarette? Canada is considering it.

Click here for details.

Should Juul comment when contacted by a Bloomberg's journalist?

In this article published by Boomberg on November 1, the journalist reports that Juul's founders 'declined to comment". Is this the right strategy? Someone thought it could be they want to keep a low profile while the FDA investigation is underway. But they did take part not long ago in a TV segment aired October 3 on NBC News. True on October 29, the editorial board of Bloomberg published an opinion titled The FDA wakes up to the danger of e-cigarettes that was extremely negative, very much in tune with Mike Bloomberg's personal position. What about the adults who sue Juul products? Shouldn't they have a say? I don't recall that they were asked for comments.