Junk Science

Fairly recently a whole ’new study’ saw the light of day in the Tobacco Control Journal but it didn’t seem to get the fanfare of scary headlines that most get, mostly because the “research” is way too picky. Not to mention it is “the first of its kind”. Natch.

So what was this “study” all about then?

Price-related promotions for tobacco products on Twitter

At first glance you could be forgiven if you thought it was all about traditional tobacco products, cigars, cigarettes and the like, but you would in fact be completely wrong.

Breaking News! E-Cigs Will Help Them Quit Smoking! A survey says…

Same old same old. Whenever someone references a “survey” it does make me wonder who wrote the survey, and how they interpret the results. This one is unfortunately no different.

E-cigarette users are much more hopeful that the devices will help them quit smoking than the general public is, including people who just smoke traditional tobacco cigarettes, according to a new French survey.

There has been a whole slew of reports in the media and on the various “Smoke Free” Twitter accounts recently all pertaining to the recent plain packs debacle. As you may know, Australia became the first to implement plain packs back in 2012. With that implementation, those rather pleasant insane folks over in Tobacco Control kept a very careful beady eye on the rate of smoking down under.

Despite there being very little evidence to show that it is having any effect on the actual rate of smoking, instead they try to view it from the perspective of falling sales indicates fewer smokers. The Guardian reported that plain packaging to thank for Australia’s decline in smoking. Well, to be honest it is pure hubris to assume that any decline is the result of a single policy, let alone one that is going to play right into the illicit markets hands.