Nicotine & Tobacco
Combustible tobacco, vaping, smokeless products, and pouches. Still the deadliest legal drug.
Latest reporting
The FDA Let Flavored Vapes Back In. Its Own Enforcement Staff Didn't See It Coming.
On May 22, the FDA authorized four flavored e-cigarettes for sale in the United States and issued guidance allowing flavored nicotine pouches to remain on store shelves while under
The First New Quit-Smoking Drug in Two Decades Is Ten Days from an FDA Decision
The FDA has until June 20 to approve cytisinicline, a plant-derived alkaloid from the laburnum tree with 60 years of European use. Two Phase 3 trials. The first potential new quit-smoking drug since Chantix in 2006.
The FDA Just Authorized Mango and Blueberry Vapes. Sen. Durbin Called It a Gift to Big Tobacco.
The FDA authorized fruit-flavored e-cigarettes in May 2026 while withdrawing a menthol ban proposal. The policy tension: adult smoking cessation tool vs. adolescent nicotine recruitment vector.
Through eight lenses
Science
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist; heterogeneous subtype effects.
Cytisinicline Has 13 Days. So Does the Generation That Started Vaping in Eighth Grade.
Jun 7Substance Spotlight: Nicotine & Tobacco — The Vaping Cessation Gap and the Drug That Could Fill It
May 28Cytisinicline's FDA Decision Is 30 Days Away — and It Could Be the First New Quit-Smoking Drug in Two Decades
May 21
Biology
Acute cardiovascular effects, chronic cardiovascular + cancer risk from combustion (not primarily nicotine), EVALI and vaping-associated lung injury history, nicotine-only harm profile.
Psychology
Rapid dependence, highest relapse rates of any SUD.
Policy
FDA CTP, T21, flavor bans, SynZonic/Zyn scrutiny.
Trends
Youth vaping declining overall, pouches rising fast, combustibles at historic lows.
Treatment
FDA-approved — varenicline, bupropion, NRT (patch/gum/lozenge/inhaler/nasal spray).
Harm Reduction
Step-down, combination NRT, vape-to-quit (controversial but supported by some evidence).