Tobacco & Nicotine: Public Health, Science, Policy, and Law
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What you'll learn
Understand the history of smoking and other tobacco/nicotine use; individual and public health impact; and tobacco use trends in key populations
Learn how smoking came to be and remains the leading preventable cause of death despite one of the most successful public health efforts in history
Explore the complex history of legal and regulatory challenges in a rapidly changing market, and how they continue to shape the landscape today
Skills you'll gain
- Legal Risk
- Legal Strategy
- Health Disparities
- Substance Abuse
- Policy Analysis, Research, and Development
- Policy Analysis
- Public Health and Disease Prevention
- Public Policies
- Plaintiff
- Epidemiology
- Health Equity
- Trend Analysis
- Health Policy
- Law, Regulation, and Compliance
- Policy Development
- Litigation and Civil Justice
- Regulatory Compliance
- Public Health
- Lawsuits
- Risk Analysis
Details to know
See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills
There are 7 modules in this course
This course provides a strong foundation in the history of smoking and other tobacco and nicotine use; the individual and public health impact; tobacco use prevalence trends in adults, youth and key subpopulations; and how cigarette smoking came to be, and remains to this day, the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. and globally, despite the fact that tobacco control efforts have collectively constituted one of the most successful public health endeavors in our history.
The course also explores the role of the tobacco industry in the epidemic, as well as the pursuit of accountability and industry behavior change through legal action; the rapidly evolving tobacco and nicotine product marketplace; the unique and ever-changing regulatory and other policy challenges that have emerged; and the implications of this rapid change for public health today and in the future. The course features 18 experts in a range of tobacco control areas and issues. Through a series of lectures, interviews, readings, and assessments, the course tells the story of smoking and tobacco and nicotine product use, focusing on the specific - but not unique - story of the U.S., while also presenting important information and insights from elsewhere in the world. The content of this course is solely the responsibility of the authors and contributors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or the Food and Drug Administration. Cliff Douglas, the former lead instructor for this course, was, throughout the entire period of the development of the course and at the time of its launch (May 2023), the Director of the University of Michigan Tobacco Research Network (UMTRN), as well as a Co-investigator with the Center for the Assessment of Tobacco Regulations (CAsToR) at the University of Michigan, Georgetown University, and the British Columbia Cancer Research Institute. As of October 2023, he released his affiliations with UMTRN and CAsToR and became the President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Action to End Smoking. The content of this course was not affected by his new role, nor will Mr. Douglas receive any revenue from this course at any point.
This module provides an overview of the history and current state of the tobacco epidemic. You will learn about the health effects of both combustible and non-combustible tobacco and nicotine products, the causes of smoking, and key trends in cigarette and other tobacco/nicotine product use.
What's included
8 videos10 readings2 discussion prompts
8 videos•Total 119 minutes
- Introduction to Tobacco and Health•9 minutes
- Combustible Tobacco Use•16 minutes
- Introduction to Non-Combustible Products with Ken Warner•14 minutes
- Continuum of Risk and Harm with Mitch Zeller•6 minutes
- Causes of Smoking and Overall Trends with Ken Warner•18 minutes
- Behavioral Health & Tobacco Use Trends with Chad Morris•40 minutes
- Trends in Adolescent Tobacco Use with Richard Miech•14 minutes
- Module 1 Wrap-up•2 minutes
10 readings•Total 58 minutes
- Meet your Lead Instructor•10 minutes
- Expert Course Contributors •1 minute
- Course Syllabus•10 minutes
- Course Acknowledgments •2 minutes
- Pre-Course Survey•5 minutes
- Health Consequences of Smoking, Surgeon General Fact Sheet•10 minutes
- Module 1, Lesson 1: Optional Readings and Resources•0 minutes
- The Evolving Cigarette•20 minutes
- Module 1, Lesson 3: Optional Readings and Resources •0 minutes
- Module 1: Optional Readings, Resources and Slides•0 minutes
2 discussion prompts•Total 20 minutes
- Introduce yourself!•10 minutes
- The Contempory Population of Smokers•10 minutes
This module describes the strategies and tactics used by the tobacco industry that created and continue to perpetuate the smoking epidemic, and it also begins to explore the complexities of contemporary and potential future relationships between the public health community and the tobacco industry.
What's included
8 videos7 readings1 assignment
8 videos•Total 205 minutes
- Introduction to Module 2•6 minutes
- Origins of the Cigarette Catastrophe with Robert Proctor•20 minutes
- Deception, Corruption, and What is to be Done? with Robert Proctor•28 minutes
- Industry Insider Perspective: Interview with Bill Farone•74 minutes
- Massachusetts Tobacco Tax Campaign: Interview with Howard Koh•39 minutes
- Evolving Marketplace of Nicotine Products with Mike Cummings•23 minutes
- Contradictions within Industry Behavior with Mike Cummings•13 minutes
- Module 2 Wrap-up•1 minute
7 readings•Total 75 minutes
- Support for policies to prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes and all tobacco products among adults•10 minutes
- Smoke Screen: The Pursuit to Create Doubt •30 minutes
- An analysis of the successful 1992 Massachusetts tobacco tax initiative•5 minutes
- The first decade of the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program•5 minutes
- Module 2: Lesson 1 Optional Readings and Resources •0 minutes
- The past is not the future in tobacco control•25 minutes
- Module 2: Optional Readings, Resources and Slides•0 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
- Quiz 1•30 minutes
This module introduces the major aspects of tobacco control policy interventions and their effects on tobacco consumption and health historically, in addition to newer policy approaches. You will learn about non-governmental policy interventions, state and federal level policy, and global policy as they relate to tobacco control, and you will understand the importance of considering unintended consequences of policy interventions.
What's included
5 videos13 readings1 discussion prompt
5 videos•Total 52 minutes
- Introduction to Tobacco Policy•5 minutes
- Tobacco Control Policy•21 minutes
- Global Tobacco Policy (FCTC)•5 minutes
- Policy Interventions and Unintended Consequences - Abby Friedman•20 minutes
- Module 3 Wrap-up•2 minutes
13 readings•Total 75 minutes
- CDC Best Practices Guide•10 minutes
- Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids webpage on the WHO FCTC•5 minutes
- The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: an overview•15 minutes
- New proposed cigarette health warnings•5 minutes
- FDA requires new health warnings for cigarettes packages and advertisements•5 minutes
- Graphic warning labels on cigarettes could have prevented hundreds of thousands of deaths•5 minutes
- Court ruling against FDA’s graphic cigarette warnings is wrong on the law and must be appealed•5 minutes
- Module 3: Lesson 2 Optional Readings and Resources •0 minutes
- FDA announces plans for proposed rule to reduce addictiveness of cigarettes and other combusted tobacco products•5 minutes
- The U.S. government’s call for deep nicotine reduction in cigarettes could save millions of lives - an expert who studies tobacco addiction explains•10 minutes
- Module 3: Lesson 3 Optional Readings and Resources •0 minutes
- Let’s Make the Next Generation Tobacco-Free: Your Guide to the 50th Anniversary Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health•10 minutes
- Module 3: Optional Readings, Resources and Slides•0 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
- Tobacco control policy intervention•10 minutes
This module provides a look into the legal strategies pursued to address the tobacco industry's impact on U.S. public health, covering the period of the 1950s to 2020 and beyond. Lectures and interviews provide first hand accounts of this fascinating and ongoing pursuit.
What's included
6 videos4 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt
6 videos•Total 157 minutes
- Litigation Introduction•5 minutes
- Tobacco on Trial: Claims with Mike Cummings•31 minutes
- Tobacco on Trial: Issues and Processes with Mike Cummings•24 minutes
- A Look Back at the History of Tobacco Litigation and What Changed in the 1990s: Interview with Dan Zegart•42 minutes
- State Attorney General Action and the Master Settlement Agreement: Interview with Mike Moore•54 minutes
- Module 4 Wrap-up•1 minute
4 readings•Total 40 minutes
- Epidemiology of the third wave of tobacco litigation in the United States, 1994-2005•5 minutes
- Tobacco Manufacturers’ Defence Against Plaintiffs’ Claims of Cancer Causation: Throwing Mud at the Wall and Hoping Some of It Will Stick•25 minutes
- Master Settlement Agreement Summary•10 minutes
- Module 4: Optional Reading and Slides•0 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
- Quiz 2•30 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
- Did the MSA meet its stated aims? •10 minutes
This module explores the concept of harm reduction as it relates to tobacco control and encourages you to think critically about the controversies that have been raise in this ongoing debate. You will learn about alternative products and where they fall on the continuum of risk, issues of adult cessation and youth initiation, and some potential paths forward in terms of policy.
What's included
6 videos8 readings1 discussion prompt
6 videos•Total 98 minutes
- Harm Reduction Module Introduction•4 minutes
- Introduction to Harm Reduction with Mike Cummings•6 minutes
- Historical Context of Alternative Nicotine Products with Mike Cummings•27 minutes
- Modern Context of Alternative Nicotine Products with Mike Cummings•29 minutes
- Harm Reduction Controversy and the Issue of Common Goals with Mitch Zeller•29 minutes
- Module 5 Wrap-up•3 minutes
8 readings•Total 65 minutes
- Clearing the Smoke: Assessing the Science Base for Tobacco Harm Reduction - Executive Summary •25 minutes
- The Future of Nicotine Regulation: Key Questions and Challenges•5 minutes
- Module 5, Lesson 1: Optional Readings and Resources •0 minutes
- Considering Different Perspectives on E-Cigarettes and Harm Reduction•5 minutes
- Balancing Consideration of the Risks and Benefits of E-Cigarettes•10 minutes
- A Proposed Policy Agenda For Electronic Cigarettes In The US: Product, Price, Place, And Promotion•10 minutes
- How to Think—Not Feel—about Tobacco Harm Reduction•10 minutes
- Module 5: Optional Readings, Resources and Slides•0 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
- Advocate A Different Perspective•10 minutes
This module provides an overview of modeling and its role in tobacco policy and tobacco regulatory science with a focus on the U.S. federal policy context. Three examples of how modeling has been used in this field are covered: menthol cigarette bans, youth nicotine use, and forecasting future smoking prevalence.
What's included
8 videos6 readings1 assignment
8 videos•Total 105 minutes
- Modeling Introduction•4 minutes
- What Is Modeling? with Rafael Meza•13 minutes
- Why Do We Model? with Rafael Meza•10 minutes
- Modeling in Tobacco Control with Rafael Meza•13 minutes
- Menthol Cigarettes: Past, Present, and Future with David Mendez•39 minutes
- Youth Nicotine Use with Ruoyan Sun•14 minutes
- Forecasting Future Smoking Prevalence with Ken Warner•12 minutes
- Module 6 Wrap-up•1 minute
6 readings•Total 25 minutes
- Why is the FDA seeking to ban menthol cigarettes? 4 questions answered•5 minutes
- CDC Fact Sheet on Menthol Tobacco Products•5 minutes
- CDC Fact Sheet on Youth and Tobacco Use •10 minutes
- Monitoring the increase in the U.S. smoking cessation rate and its implication for future smoking prevalence•5 minutes
- Module 6, Lesson 2: Optional Readings and Resources •0 minutes
- Module 6: Optional Readings, Resources and Slides•0 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
- Quiz 3•30 minutes
This module describes the overall tobacco landscape, both in the U.S. and globally, and how tobacco control may look in the coming decades. Additionally, you will consider the "tobacco endgame" and complete a Peer Review assignment which allows you to choose an endgame strategy and analyze it. Finally, you will reflect on the issues within tobacco control that have been highlighted throughout this course.
What's included
5 videos4 readings1 peer review
5 videos•Total 105 minutes
- What is the Tobacco Endgame and Why Does It Matter?•10 minutes
- Smoking Endgame in Aotearoa New Zealand: Case Study with Ben Youdan•39 minutes
- Moderated Panel Discussion with Chris Bostic, Ann McNeill, and Ken Warner•54 minutes
- Module 7 Wrap-up•1 minute
- Course Conclusion•1 minute
4 readings•Total 25 minutes
- Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan •15 minutes
- A Global First: New Zealand Passes Tobacco Endgame Bill Package•5 minutes
- Module 7, Lesson 3: Optional Readings, Resources, and Slides•0 minutes
- Post-Course Survey•5 minutes
1 peer review•Total 60 minutes
- Tobacco "Endgame" Scenario Analysis•60 minutes
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