UC San Diego health experts weigh in on the impact of flavored tobacco products, the populations most vulnerable to them, and the recent efforts to ban their sale in San Diego and beyond
On Monday, April 25, 2022, San Diego City Council voted to ban flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. Californians will vote on a possible statewide ban this November.
More than 30 million people in the United States currently smoke cigarettes, and approximately 1,600 youth try their first cigarette each day. An additional 12 million adults in the United States use e-cigarettes, with the highest rates of use among those age 18 to 24.
Tobacco use is an area of active research at UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science. Faculty investigate population patterns of tobacco use behavior, interventions to help tobacco users quit, and analysis of tobacco control policies.
John P. Pierce, PhD, Distinguished Professor at Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science and UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center studies current U.S. tobacco control laws. His work has been fundamental to understanding the harms of marketing on youth and communities of color, and is used in developing public policies.
Researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine study the effects of tobacco use on biology and health. A recent study found that chronic use of flavored e-cigarettes led to inflammatory changes in the brain, heart, lungs and colon. Health risks also depended on which e-cigarette flavor was used. For example, the hearts of mice that inhaled mint e-cigarette aerosols were much more sensitive to the effects of bacterial pneumonia compared to those that inhaled mango aerosols.
“This shows us that the flavor chemicals themselves are also causing pathological changes,” said Laura Crotty Alexander, MD, associate professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine and section chief of Pulmonary Critical Care at Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System. “If someone who frequently uses menthol-flavored JUUL e-cigarettes was infected with COVID-19, it’s possible their body would respond differently to the infection.”
The following UC San Diego Health Sciences experts are available to answer questions:
- John P. Pierce, PhD, Distinguished Professor at Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science and UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center.
- Laura Crotty Alexander, MD, associate professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine and section chief of Pulmonary Critical Care at Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System
Topics of Discussion:
- What are the health risks associated with tobacco and e-cigarette products?
- What are the risks associated with tobacco product flavorings?
- What populations are most vulnerable to flavored tobacco products and their marketing campaigns?
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