Global Action Community Newsletter
Welcome to our Community Newsletter. We’re glad you’re here.
A large part of our work at Global Action to End Smoking is supporting life-saving research that raises awareness and explores real-world solutions to the smoking epidemic. But as we are marching forward in pursuit of improving public health, we see a need for something else: listening—really listening—to the lived experience of people who smoke, those who have quit, and those who are in all stages of their quitting journeys.
It’s with that introduction that I welcome you to our community newsletter, which is dedicated to those most important to our work: you.
I am passionate about our mission to end the harm caused by combustible tobacco smoking. In my nearly four decades working as a public health advocate fighting tobacco, I’ve noticed that some well-meaning experts in the field approach smoking cessation with top-down mandates that fail to address all the real-world obstacles to quitting. These efforts have left out roughly 1 billion people who continue to smoke worldwide.
We believe there are more options, and the most recent scientific data backs us up. We support you trying existing smoking cessation tools you’ve likely heard about—nicotine patches, gum, or lozenges to name a few. We also embrace additional forms of reduced-risk nicotine products scientifically proven to be safer than combustible cigarettes. These products, such as e-cigarettes or nicotine pouches, have not yet approved as official smoking cessation tools, but may still help you quit and significantly reduce your health risks.
In other words, we are supportive of you finding the best way to quit smoking and reduce your risk. The most important goal is to help everyone stop using deadly cigarettes. Period.
What are the challenges you have faced as someone who smokes and is trying to quit?
There is a lot of misinformation about nicotine and these reduced-risk products. Some of the research that we supported found that as many as two-thirds of physicians around the world wrongly believe that nicotine itself causes the cancers we know are related to combustible tobacco. The truth is that it is actually caused by the thousands of other chemicals in tobacco smoke.
That’s why we’re here. In this community newsletter, you’ll get a monthly update on the latest nicotine and tobacco science and global regulations. You’ll hear from different members of our team, each of whom have their own unique reasons for wanting to help people quit, and all of whom are passionate about putting people first in public health.
Most importantly, you’ll hear from your peers as they share their quitting successes and challenges. You are not alone on this journey, and we know that we can accomplish more together.
All my best,
Clifford E. Douglas
President and CEO of Global Action to End Smoking
By the Numbers
This translates to 750 million people worldwide.
Quitting is hard and we want you to have all the tools you need to succeed.
What are the challenges you have faced as someone who smokes and is trying to quit? Click here or the button below to send us your answer, or reply to this email.
Global Action in the news
GA provides scientific evidence in Supreme Court case
On September 3, 2024, Global Action to End Smoking filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Food and Drug Administration v. Wages and White Lion Investments, LLC, regarding the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) regulation of e-cigarettes.
An amicus brief is a written argument submitted to a court by a non-party to the case. Its purpose is to provide additional information or arguments that may help the court make its decision.
Global Action submitted the brief as a neutral expert with great interest in the public health ramifications of the FDA’s regulation of these products. Of all the briefs submitted, ours is the only one to support science and public health alone, and not one of the parties.
We believe the FDA should take a balanced approach that protects youth from exposure to nicotine, while making noncombustible, reduced-risk options available to adults who cannot or will not otherwise stop smoking. As we have seen youth e-cigarette use fall to reach its lowest level in a decade and youth smoking has plummeted to historic lows, there is a clear path forward to support adults who smoke with reduced-risk options.
For more reading, see our amicus brief, press release, and this Bloomberg Law article on all the briefs filed.
We welcome your feedback. Reply to this email or reach out to gacommunity@actiontoendsmoking.org with your thoughts on the SCOTUS case.
The big idea
Not all products that contain nicotine are equal.
The most important part of quitting smoking is moving away from cigarettes.
watch this
In this interview with Regulator Watch’s Brent Stafford, Cliff Douglas explains how his decades-long career in tobacco control led him to Global Action to End Smoking, and unpacks the dangers and consequences of dismissing the truth about reduced-risk nicotine products.
research corner
A snapshot of new scientific articles and discussion in the nicotine and tobacco space.
The Effect of E-Cigarette Flavor Bans on Tobacco Use (GA supported)
Do E-Cigarette Retail Licensure Laws Reduce Tobacco Use? (GA supported)
Disclaimer: This newsletter does not provide medical advice. The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained in this newsletter are for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute providing medical advice or professional services. No material in this newsletter is intended to be a substitute for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease. Those seeking personal medical advice should consult with a licensed physician or other qualified health care provider. Always seek the advice of your licensed physician or other qualified health care provider regarding a medical condition or with any questions you may have regarding treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you read in this newsletter. No physician-patient relationship is created by this newsletter. Global Action doesn’t make representations, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.