Tobacco

Health Organizations Praise E-Cigarette Investigation - 03/12/2020

The Texas Medical Association, along with numerous state health organizations, applauded Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s recent announcement of a multi-state investigation into the marketing and sales practices of JUUL Labs, which makes popular e-cigarette devices.

Sparking a Conversation on Vaping - 02/28/2020

A panel of lawmakers and physicians participated in a state Parent Teacher Association (PTA) town hall event at the Texas Capitol on Tuesday. The panel discussed the vaping health epidemic; issues with implementation of a state law passed last year that raised the minimum age to use or purchase tobacco products – including vaping devices – to 21; and the need for support to help students quit.

Public Health: Tobacco Triumph - 02/19/2020

Texas physicians got the kind of huge win on tobacco issues they haven’t seen in decades – a law to keep tobacco products away from young people.

Regulate E-Cigarettes - 02/03/2020

The Texas Pediatric Society and the Texas Medical Association represent more than 48,000 physicians and medical students. Our members have made it a priority to advocate for limiting youth access to e-cigarettes, including marketing strategies aimed at youth. Texas physicians are concerned about the known and unknown health risks associated with e-cigarettes. Scientific conclusions on the effects of e-cigarettes, which are only now beginning to emerge, vary due to differences among devices, e-juices, and product brands. However, we feel that the available information warrants restrictions on youth access to e-cigarettes and the marketing of these products to youth for three major reasons.

Tell FDA to Regulate All Tobacco Products - 02/03/2020

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is urging public comment in support of regulation of all tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes and cigars, by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Click here to submit your comments directly to the FDA. The submission deadline is Aug. 8.

TMA Supports Bill to Prohibit E-Cigarettes on School Campuses - 02/03/2020

TMA reviewed studies on e-cigarette use last year and found many states and communities had already restricted the use of these products. Texas is only one of 10 states that have not already restricted the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. Several studies on e-cigarettes have identified the major components of e-cigarettes (nicotine, propylene glycol, and/or glycerin). There is no water in e-cigarettes. However, because these are unregulated products with poor quality control, physicians and public health experts are concerned about the lack of information on the precise amount and type of compounds in the many different brands of e-cigarettes, and the potential short- and long-term health effects of the compounds produced by heating in these devices.

2015 Legislative Wins: Family Medicine - 02/03/2020

2015 Legislative Wins: Family Medicine

Youth Safeguards, Budget Boons - 02/03/2020

The Texas Medical Association, the Texas Public Health Coalition, and diligent physicians earned significant public health victories during the Texas Legislature's 2015 session in their drive to reduce tobacco and electronic cigarette use and to protect schoolchildren at risk for anaphylaxis.

Texas 21 Pushes to Raise the Age for Tobacco Sales - 02/03/2020

Texas 21, a coalition of 75 public health groups that includes the Texas Medical Association and two powerful state legislators, on Tuesday called for the Texas Legislature to stop the sale of tobacco to anyone under the age of 21.

Protect Texas’ Youths – Raise the Smoking Age to 21 - 02/03/2020

The younger kids are when they start using tobacco, the more likely they’ll become addicted. Exposure to tobacco and nicotine at a young age affects brain development and increases risk for nicotine dependence. With nicotine addiction and continued use into adulthood come even greater risks of lung cancer, coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and other cancers, as well as early death.  If current trends continue, nearly half a million (498,000) Texas kids alive now will ultimately die prematurely from smoking.

Legislative Top 10: A Closer Look at Texas’ New “Tobacco 21” Law - 02/03/2020

One of the major public health achievements the Texas Medical Association pushed for this past legislative session was Senate Bill 21, which raises the minimum age to buy tobacco and vape-product in Texas from 18 to 21 years. The lifesaving measure, which Gov. Greg Abbott signed last week, is featured in today’s TMA’s Legislative News Hotline video report.  

Teach Teens to “Escape the Vape” - 02/03/2020

As a physician you understand the health risks associated with tobacco products, but how do you effectively talk to your young patients about those dangers? Well, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is here to help with a free online course entitled “Escape the Vape: Help Stop the E-Cigarette Epidemic Among Adolescents.”

CDC: More Possible Pulmonary Disease Cases Linked to Vaping Reported - 02/03/2020

Texas health officials are investigating suspected cases of pulmonary disease among people who have reported vaping, according to a health alert posted Friday.

Medical Students Win TMA Foundation Grants to Help Texans - 02/03/2020

Texans in cities across the state will benefit from nearly $27,000 in Texas Medical Association Foundation (TMAF) grant funding awarded to budding physicians for health-improvement projects.

More Cases of Severe Pulmonary Disease Associated With Vaping Identified in Texas - 02/03/2020

The number of people with pulmonary illness linked to vaping continues to rise both in Texas and nationwide. As of Monday, 263 possible cases of EVALI, or e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury, have been reported in Texas.

Medicine Pushes State Lawmakers For Stronger Policies to Curb Teen Vaping - 02/03/2020

With the recent rise in severe pulmonary illness linked to vaping and e-cigarettes, state lawmakers on Tuesday took steps to curb use of those products, particularly among children and teenagers.

Vitamin E Acetate “A Strong Culprit” in Vaping-Related Lung Injuries - 01/31/2020

Vitamin E acetate, a sticky substance used in skin lotions and vitamin supplements, could be to blame for severe lung injuries linked to vaping that have sickened more than 200 people in Texas and thousands more across the U.S., health officials said Friday.

Texas Needs More Action to Curb Tobacco Use, Health Organizations Say - 01/31/2020

While praising recent restrictions on smoking, e-cigarettes, and vaping products, a coalition of Texas health organizations called on state lawmakers to do even more to keep children from using those products.

Hotline Video: Medicine Calls For Tobacco Reforms - 04/12/2019

In this week’s TMA Legislative Hotline Video, watch physicians and lawmakers argue why a bill making its way through the Capitol could save the lives of thousands of young Texans.  

Legislative Hotline: Bill to Raise Tobacco-Purchase Age Moving Forward - 04/05/2019

Lawmakers unveiled new balance-billing legislation this week, while several physicians testified on key issues such as limiting scope-of-practice expansions, medical liability, and pharmacy benefit managers. All of this and more in this week’s TMA Legislative News Hotline video.

TMA Hotline Feb. 14: Push To Raise Tobacco Sales Age to Get Senate Boost - 02/14/2019

Medicine received good news Wednesday that Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston) will refile a bill that would raise the tobacco sale age to 21. Refiling might not sound like much, but this is a very good indication of the bill’s likelihood of success in the Senate.

San Antonio Snuffs Out Tobacco Sales to Teens - 01/30/2018

A bill to raise the state’s age to purchase tobacco to 21 burned out during last year’s legislative session. But now that the city of San Antonio has done it on a local level, advocates of “T-21” are hoping to light a fire under other Texas cities ― and state lawmakers ― to do the same.

Get Started Helping Your Patients Quit Smoking - 01/29/2018

What can you do as a physician who’s trying to reduce the preventable diseases that smoking and other tobacco products cause? Here’s an idea: You and your staff can attend a formal tobacco cessation course put on by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Support Tobacco-Use-Age Bill for Women’s and Babies’ Health - 01/29/2018

As you are aware, the minimum age to buy tobacco is 18 years old. On average, 90 percent of adult smokers begin smoking during their teenage years, and 95 percent of users begin before their 21st birthday. By raising the minimum age required to buy tobacco products and helping delay — or prevent altogether — the start of tobacco use, we can significantly improve public health outcomes for the patients I care and advocate for: women, children, and infants.

2015 Legislative Wins: Oncologists - 06/22/2016

2015 Legislative Wins: Oncologists