Local sales restrictions significantly reduce the availability of menthol tobacco: Findings from four MN Cities

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Vaping Teens Experience 5x worse symptoms of COVID-19

Vaping is linked to a substantially increased risk of COVID-19 among teenagers and young adults, according to a new study led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine The study, which was published online Aug. 11 in the Journal of Adolescent Health, is the first to examine connections between youth vaping and COVID-19 using U.S. population-based data collected during the pandemic.

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The Truth Initiative: Racial Justice

It’s no accident that nearly 9 in 10 Black smokers use menthol cigarettes, which are easier to smoke and harder to quit. The tobacco industry strategically and aggressively targeted the community with menthol cigarettes for decades, including placing more advertising in predominantly black neighborhoods and in publications that are popular with black audiences, as well as appropriating culture in marketing, including sponsoring events such as jazz and hip-hop festivals.

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msu: 100% Smokefree campus

Minnesota State University’s strengthened tobacco-free policy takes effect Aug. 1, just in time for when more students and faculty will be returning to campus amid a pandemic.The policy championed by the Mavericks for Clean Air Task Force expands on a 2012 ban on campus tobacco usage. After updating the policy to also prohibit e-cigarettes in 2017, the latest change includes stronger compliance rules, clearer definitions for tobacco products and makes more cessation programming available.Read more

FDA & Puff Bars

U.S. health officials are cracking down on a brand of fruity disposable e-cigarettes that is popular with teenagers, saying the company never received permission to sell them in the U.S.
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JUUL lawsuit

E-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc bought online advertisements on teen-focused websites for Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Seventeen magazine after it launched its product in 2015, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday by the Massachusetts attorney general’s office.The allegations in the lawsuit, stemming from a more than year-long investigation, contradict repeated claims by Juul executives that the company never intentionally targeted teenagers, even as its products became enormously popular among high-school and middle-school students in recent years.

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COVID-19 and e-cig users

Interview: American lung association senior director

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is saying smokers diagnosed with the coronavirus could expect a more severe infection. The American Lung Association agrees and elaborated on what you might need to know here.
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St Louis Park to ban sale of vaping products

First community in MN to ban all e-cig products

Starting in February, vaping products and e-cigarettes will no longer be sold at stores in St. Louis Park. The City Council voted 6-1 on Monday to prohibit the sale of vaping products, the first community in Minnesota to do so. Last year St. Louis Park banned the sale of flavored tobacco, and in 2017 the city raised the legal age to buy tobacco and tobacco products to 21.

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U.S. HOUSE APPROVES BILL BANNING FLAVORED TOBACCO PRODUCTS

“Protecting american lungs and

Reversing the Youth Epidemic act of 2020″ (H.R. 2339)

Tobacco companies have targeted African Americans for years in their predatory marketing of menthol products, putting them at risk for smoking-related disease and death. Smoking cigarettes, especially menthol flavored cigarettes, has resulted in approximately 45,000 African American deaths each and every year. This bill would not only ban flavored tobacco products that have been known to spark a youth vaping epidemic and target minority populations but would also ban online sales of e-cigarettes while restricting advertising and marketing of those products.

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