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Category: Science & Innovation

  • Marijuana Passes Cigarette Addiction in U.S.: Survey

    Marijuana Passes Cigarette Addiction in U.S.: Survey

    New data from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows marijuana use disorder is now the second-largest substance use disorder in the United States after alcohol use disorder. The survey found marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug, with 61.6 million people aged 12 and older reporting past-year use. According to the report, for the first time, daily marijuana use (21.4 million daily users) surpassed daily cigarette smoking (19.9 million).

    The survey also reported declines among adolescents and young adults in past-month tobacco, cigarette, nicotine vaping, and marijuana use, along with reductions in substance use disorders and suicide-related measures. Among 18- to 25-year-olds, past-month use of nicotine products, cigarettes, vaping products, alcohol, and marijuana all declined, while youth ages 12 to 17 also reported lower rates of tobacco use, nicotine vaping initiation, and marijuana use.

  • Nicotine Pouches May Cause Receding Gums: Study

    Nicotine Pouches May Cause Receding Gums: Study

    A new Swedish study suggests tobacco-free nicotine pouches may cause gum recession, redness, and oral discomfort, with effects comparable to — and in some cases greater than — those associated with traditional snus. Researchers at the Karolinska Institute found that 45% of nicotine pouch users exhibited receding gums, compared with 52% of snus users and just 6% of non-users, with damage typically occurring where the pouches were placed. The study also found nicotine pouch users experienced more gum irritation than snus users, which researchers said may be linked to flavoring ingredients. While the absence of tobacco eliminates exposure to many known carcinogens, the authors said the long-term health effects of nicotine pouches remain unclear and warrant further study.

  • FDA Releases PATH Study Data from Wave 8

    FDA Releases PATH Study Data from Wave 8

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) and the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) released the Wave 8 Public-Use Files from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, providing researchers with nationally representative survey data collected between January and December 2024. The longitudinal study tracks tobacco and nicotine use among U.S. adults and youth and is a key source of evidence used by FDA to inform tobacco regulatory decisions under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.

    The agencies also updated the Wave 7 Biomarker Restricted-Use File with new tobacco-specific nitrosamine and F2-isoprostane data, expanding the resources available for studying tobacco exposure and health effects. Researchers can request access to the restricted-use biomarker files, while the public-use datasets, documentation, and updated master linkage files are available for download.

    The PATH Study is one of the most widely used data sources for analyzing trends in tobacco and nicotine product use, including cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and oral nicotine products. The latest data release is expected to support ongoing research into consumer behavior, product use patterns, and health outcomes that inform both FDA regulatory science and industry analysis.

  • Women Fueling UK Pouch Market Growth

    Women Fueling UK Pouch Market Growth

    A new Nicotine Pouch Report from Haypp indicates that women are becoming a major driver of growth in the UK nicotine pouch market. According to the report, the number of female customers on Haypp.com and Northerner.com more than tripled during 2025, with nicotine pouch sales to women increasing 202% compared with a 25% increase among men. Women now account for 40% of nicotine pouch sales on Haypp Group platforms, up from 22% previously, reflecting a shift toward broader adoption similar to trends seen in Sweden.

    The report found that discretion is the leading reason women choose nicotine pouches, while flavor ranks as their top purchasing factor, compared with price for men. Among female pouch users, 55% said they had quit smoking after switching to nicotine pouches, and 75% reported encouraging others to move away from cigarettes, suggesting growing consumer acceptance as the category expands.

  • Korean Study Finds Heavy Smoking Ups Fatty Liver Risk 41% in Young Men

    Korean Study Finds Heavy Smoking Ups Fatty Liver Risk 41% in Young Men

    A large South Korean study found that heavy smoking is associated with a significantly higher risk of fatty liver disease among young adults, adding to evidence linking smoking with metabolic liver disorders. Researchers from Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital and Ewha Womans University analyzed health screening data from nearly 3.5 million adults aged 20 to 39 and found that men who smoked 20 or more cigarettes per day had a 41% greater risk of developing fatty liver disease, while smoking for 10 to 19 years increased risk by 15%.

    Although relatively few women in the study smoked, female smokers with a 10- to 19-year history faced an even greater increase in risk. The researchers said the findings support strengthening smoking cessation policies, noting that smoking appears to increase fatty liver risk independently of obesity and alcohol consumption.

  • Rutgers’ CRST Touts Ability to Predict Industry Trends

    Rutgers’ CRST Touts Ability to Predict Industry Trends

    Researchers at Rutgers University’s Center for Rapid Surveillance of Tobacco (CRST) say their real-time monitoring system, developed after Juul’s rapid rise, is helping regulators identify emerging nicotine products before they become widespread. In a special issue of Preventive Medicine Reports, the center detailed how it combines retail audits, sales data, marketing surveillance, and consumer surveys to track more than 50 tobacco and nicotine brands.

    “Large federal surveys are like an aircraft carrier in the ocean,” said Cristine Delnevo, CRST’s director and principal investigator. “They’re extremely powerful in many ways, but they can’t pivot quickly.”

    The researchers highlighted the system’s early identification of unauthorized disposable vape brand Geek Bar, which they correctly predicted would surpass Juul in sales by late 2025, as well as the rapid growth of nicotine pouches led by Zyn. The center also found that pouch users are predominantly adults with prior cigarette or other tobacco use, while emphasizing that continued surveillance is needed to monitor whether marketing begins attracting new youth users as the category expands.

    The center, which is in the fourth year of its five-year contract with the FDA and the National Cancer Institute, publishes regularly updated fact sheets on emerging brands on its website.

  • Bangladesh Banking on Technology to Fight Illicit Tobacco  

    Bangladesh Banking on Technology to Fight Illicit Tobacco  

    Bangladesh’s government unveiled a technology-driven strategy to combat illicit tobacco trade as part of its FY2026-27 budget, aiming to strengthen tax enforcement, protect government revenue, and support public health goals. Central to the plan is a comprehensive Track and Trace system that will use AI-enabled cameras, automated production counting devices, and QR or AR-coded tax stamps to monitor tobacco manufacturing and distribution in real time. Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said tobacco taxation remains a critical tool for both revenue generation and public health, with the new measures designed to create a more modern, transparent, and technology-based VAT system while reducing tax evasion across the tobacco supply chain.

    The proposal also includes a mobile app that allows the public to report illicit tobacco products directly to the National Board of Revenue, along with a whistleblower reward program to encourage reporting of smuggling and illegal sales. Additional measures include restricting cigarette and bidi paper imports to authorized manufacturers, imposing a 300% supplementary duty on cigarette filter materials and a 350% duty on nicotine granules and nicotine pouches, while raising minimum cigarette retail prices and setting maximum prices and excise duties for nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products. The government said the combined approach of digital monitoring, stronger enforcement, and higher tobacco taxes is intended to curb illicit trade, although estimates of Bangladesh’s illicit cigarette market vary widely, ranging from about 5.6% in an independent study to more than 18% according to industry estimates.

  • Study Says Vape Flavors Alter 3K Genes

    Study Says Vape Flavors Alter 3K Genes

    A study published in Frontiers in Oncology found that e-cigarette flavorings were associated with more than 3,000 changes in gene activity among adult vapers, with fruit flavors producing the greatest effects. Researchers analyzed oral cell samples from 35 vapers, 24 smokers, and 24 non-users, finding that fruit-flavored products were linked to changes in 3,124 genes across the genome compared with non-users. The researchers said the findings do not demonstrate that flavored vapes directly cause disease but suggest they may influence biological pathways associated with cancer, cardiovascular, immune, and respiratory conditions.

    The study found fruit flavors accounted for about 31% of the observed gene expression changes, compared with 2.9% for sweet flavors and 0.9% for mint or menthol, while users of multiple flavors exhibited the broadest changes. Researchers also found that more advanced vaping devices were associated with greater changes in gene activity. Despite the findings, the U.K.’s National Health Service continues to state that vaping exposes users to fewer toxins than smoking and remains an effective smoking-cessation aid for adult smokers, while emphasizing that vaping is not risk-free and should not be used by youth or non-smokers.

  • THR Needed for HIV Care, Researcher Says  

    THR Needed for HIV Care, Researcher Says  

    Dr. Jonathan Shuter, an infectious disease physician at Montefiore Einstein and professor of medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, said in an interview with TheBodyPro that smoking-related illnesses now kill more people living with HIV in the United States than the virus itself. He said smoking rates among people with HIV remain around 40% — far higher than in the general population — and that cessation programs have produced disappointing results, with only about one in five smokers successfully quitting.

    Shuter argued that clinicians should adopt a broader harm reduction approach that supports patients who reduce smoking even if they do not quit completely, while emphasizing lung cancer screening, cardiovascular risk management, and tailored interventions that address the different reasons people with HIV smoke. Shuter also said complete switching from cigarettes to vaping could reduce harm compared with smoking, but cautioned that dual use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes offers little health benefit and remains the more common pattern among people living with HIV.

  • Scandit Launches Automated, Age-Verified, Self-Checkout Solution

    Scandit Launches Automated, Age-Verified, Self-Checkout Solution

    Scandit announced the launch of its Age Verified Self-Checkout, a vision AI-powered age verification solution designed to automate purchases of age-restricted products, including tobacco and nicotine products, at self-checkout kiosks. The system enables customers to verify their age in under 10 seconds using a smartphone through facial age estimation or ID scanning, with no additional hardware or app required.

    Scandit said the technology can automatically complete about 80% of age checks, reducing staff intervention, improving compliance, and increasing self-checkout throughput while processing biometric and ID data entirely on the user’s device to meet privacy standards.