896 - World No Tobacco Day: Unmasking the Appeal of New Products

May 19, 2025

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About this episode:

While cigarette use has radically declined in the U.S., many still die from smoking here and around the world. World No Tobacco Day—celebrated annually on May 31 since the 1980s—has helped expose tobacco industry tactics and highlight progress in global tobacco control. This year, a look at how manufacturers are increasing efforts to hook younger users on new products like e-cigs with fun packaging, new flavors, fashionable designs, and gimmicks including video games and social media integration.

Guests:

Kevin Welding is an economist studying corporate influence on public health at the Institute for Global Tobacco Control.

Tuo-Yen Tseng is a health policy researcher who studies social and behavioral change at the Institute for Global Tobacco Control.

Host:

Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Show links and related content:

World No Tobacco Day 2025 Evidence and Resources—Institute for Global Tobacco Control
25 Years of Fighting Tobacco—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Quit Smoking—American Lung Association
The Inside Story of the 1964 Surgeon General’s Report That Changed How Americans Viewed Smoking—Public Health On Call (July 2024)
An Update on Efforts to Prevent Tobacco-Caused Death and Disease—Public Health On Call (February 2024)

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