In case you missed it, this is a great piece featuring my dear colleague Carol McGruder, co-founder of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council: exposetobacco.org/news/menthol...

Meet Kimberly Jordan-Casarona! Dr. Jordan-Casarona will be a presenter at the Rutgers Tobacco Treatment Specialist (TTS) virtual training, and registration is still open! To learn more and sign up, go to tobaccoprogram.org

So very excited for Rafael to join the Rutgers family!!

A new study led by Cristine Delnevo, Director of Rutgers Institute for Nicotine and Tobacco Studies (INTS), suggests that nicotine pouches may offer a path to reduced tobacco harm ➡️ jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

More than 1,000 HHS staff call on RFK Jr. to resign thehill.com/policy/healt...

For the serious policy wonks. The White House released an amended version of OMB Circular A-11. www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u... I have NOT been through this (it'a ~1000 pages) but I understand it asserts more authority to not spend appropriated funds. This is relevant to the FY 2027 budget.

Today, little kids at Annunciation Catholic School were forced into a club that no child should ever join. It’s a fucked up club, and it’s growing because our so-called leaders refuse to act.

$5M. 2/2 www.commondreams.org/news/russell...

Your tax dollars pay around $7 million per year for Russell Vought’s personal security detail, while he and his friends incite stochastic violence against scientists and the CDC. 1/2

Updated funding curves (new format) (Data through July 18) Fraction of grant budget, all awards 1/5

🧪 Senate appropriators say: NIH's budget gets a... boost! Rather than 40% cut, NIH gets a $400M *increase* in the Senate committee bill for FY26 (about +1%). "Congress has your back," said @murray.senate.gov. ADVOCACY MATTERS! There's still a long road (esp in the House), so keep up pressure.

Nerds.

Concerns have been raised that vaping has created a 'new generation of nicotine addicts'. We examined changes in the proportion of US high-school students reporting symptoms of nicotine dependence, in the context of changing patterns of nicotine product use. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

@crisdelnevo.bsky.social & Andrea Villanti are coauthors of a new study published in Tobacco Control examining trends in U.S. cigarette consumption—specifically comparing menthol & non-menthol cigarettes—since the enactment of the Tobacco Control Act in 2009. tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/earl...

Donate to @trevorproject.bsky.social here. give.thetrevorproject.org/give/696138/...

Not every decision requires an RCT (and no RCT is infinitely generalizable). Scientists would do well to incorporate power and wealth and their agendas into their thinking about scientific progress. Science is political by its nature, but for pro-democracy parties, it should not be partisan.

RFK Jr. wants to Make America Healthy Again. But he's ignoring the country's leading cause of preventable deaths: smoking.

In 2021 Democratic turnout in NJ. 383,000. At 10pm today with 77% of the vote in —> 656,460 😱🤯🙊

From the makers of Zyn. How is this Rocket Pop Cigar ok? Who knew summer could taste like a carcinogen?

JAMA Forum on the proposed NIH budget… jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids applauds today’s announcement by the FDA that they seized nearly two million units of unauthorized e-cigarette products, with an estimated retail value of nearly $34 million, during a joint enforcement operation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

🚨REMINDER CDC AND ALLIES!🚨 We have power together. To see our strength and build community, we ask that you wear something 💚green💚 to work TOMORROW to show solidarity and readiness to defend public health. Please spread the word! #courageiscontagious #wearthecolor #spreadthecolor

Northwestern has not received any NIH funds since March. No written communication about why or what can be done. Thank you Ben Singer for raising awareness at #ATS2025

Why the FDA is right about Zyn. "It may seem like authorizing another nicotine product- especially one with its own youthful cultural cachet- is a risky decision. But when evaluating all the factors (e g 2.4% youth use after 10y), it actually makes sense." www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

How much does the absence of the ‘hidden population’ from United Kingdom household surveys underestimate smoking prevalence? buff.ly/cCYCYMC Emma Beard @lionshahab.bsky.social @jamiebrown.bsky.social @sharoncox.bsky.social

As federal civil servants, we have anxiety about accepting a branded water bottle at a conference... lest we trigger an ethics review. Meanwhile, Trump’s out here getting a $400M sky palace from Qatar. Cool cool.

Jefferson Griffin, the Republican candidate in the 2024 North Carolina state Supreme Court election, finally conceded six months after losing the race to incumbent Justice Allison Riggs, a Democrat. Marc Elias and Paige Moskowitz discuss. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpOx...

This IS a privacy violation of Autistic persons. RFK jr can not just conduct "research" on Autism by pillaging people's Medicaid or Medicare records. They still need consent from the individuals to use their data for something it's not intended for. It's infuriating, he has NO right. #MentalHealth

I listened to a hearing today in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Kennedy, Jr. (1:25-cv-10814) (Grant Terminations) I found Judge Young, a Reagan appointee, to be on top of the issues. He clearly wanted to understand the potential impacts of the case. 1/n

I crack myself up

Prince would’ve ate this theme UP! RIP. #MetGala

Destroying NIOSH without congressional approval is illegal. It is also stealing from you. You pay taxes to the federal gov with the expectation that it will provide services to you including making sure workplaces are safe. That is the purpose of NIOSH. And RFKJ just fired 90% of the staff.

Huge thank you to the states suing over cuts to HHS. RFKJ quietly fired the rest of the staff at CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Friday evening. NIOSH was established by congress with the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. apnews.com/article/laws...

Good night! #BeKind

CDC REJOICE!!! We just got an email saying we no longer have to send in those stupid 5 bullets emails. About time since they've been coming back undeliverable for weeks. Waste and abuse found and eliminated 🤺 thanks DOGE 🖕

I spend a lot of my free time sending cigar-related Instagram posts back and forth with Ollie, and we published a paper from it! @otg2014.bsky.social with @kevinrjschroth.bsky.social @crisdelnevo.bsky.social & Andrea Villanti @ru-ints.bsky.social

I reread the memorials to John. I noticed the absence of posts from some (self included). TC community should know, this is a testament to how profound the loss was. some of us couldn’t quite articulate in the moment the magnitude of his passing. Just hope we made him proud. #WWSD

Tagging chums at @ru-ints.bsky.social and others who will appreciate the shout-out to the late and truly great, Dr John Slade. @crisdelnevo.bsky.social @jonathanfoulds.bsky.social Words can Harm, Words can Heal open.substack.com/pub/sensible...

New at Can We Still Govern: An anonymous NIH employee maps out the GOP budget gameplan to permanently gut our most important science agency. Impoundment, delay and red tape will create artificial "savings" that become the new benchmark for NIH budgets. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nih-bu...

Important!! 🚨 “Using the rescission process, which requires only a simple majority in the Senate, the Republican majorities can vote to return the unspent funds. That will lop billions off the NIH budget.” 1/2

Happening right now!! 🔥🏛️ Cory Booker and Hakeem Jeffries are staging a sit-in on the Capitol steps ✊ to protest Trump’s proposed budget cuts — including attacks on Medicaid — and defend democracy! 📢 Livestreaming here: www.youtube.com/live/5ceR90l...

Can confirm: 60 Minutes will be worth watching tonight about #NIH.

He is starting to sound a little desperate. Somebody give him some kittens to torture or something

Some old school social media fun.

Hearing Brown hasn’t received a cent of NIH funding since April 3. Again, this is what happens b/c we let a bunch of teenage losers illegally take over the government payment systems. This is what Orban did too— today’s neofascist takeovers involve taking control of money. Quotes in thread 1/

And we documented that Geek Bar is now the #2 selling ecig in convenience stores