UW-CTRI once again lassoed headlines locally and nationally. Saddle up!
Nicotine Regulation
- Science News interviewed Dr. Megan Piper regarding a proposed rule by the FDA to regulate the nicotine in cigarettes below addictive levels. Science News gets more than 600,000 unique viewers between print and online editions.
- The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an opinion piece by UW-CTRI Researcher Dr. Brian Williams, urging President Trump to support the FDA’s proposed rule. More than 220,676 readers saw the story in print and online.
- The FDA has proposed enforcing this rule.
Vape Check Study
- The Cap Times and Badger Herald newspapers wrote about the Vape Check study, which is recruiting 400 people who vape and 200 who don’t to set the record straight on any long-term effects of vaping, good or bad. The papers interviewed study Principal Investigators Dr. Jim Stein and Dr. Tim Baker. These stories reached approximately 3,300 Cap Times readers and 921 Badger Herald viewers in Madison. It also was promoted in an email to 27,000 UW-Madison employees.
Menthols
- The Quit Line was featured in several Wisconsin publications as part of the state health department’s warning about how menthol flavoring in tobacco products makes it easier to become addicted, harder to quit, and ultimately more deadly. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel interviewed UW-CTRI Quit Line Coordinator Kate Kobinsky as well as Lorraine Lathen from the Wisconsin African American Tobacco Prevention Network. Yahoo News, Spectrum News, Wisconsin Public Radio and other TV outlets across Wisconsin and Minnesota covered the story nationwide. All told, more than 4 million people saw at least 19 stories about this topic. While the FDA had proposed a rule banning menthols, they later rescinded the rule proposal.