Design: This was a prespecified secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial involving adolescents aged 16 to 19 from 15 school-based health programmes in Connecticut.
Participants: A total of 532 adolescents were included; 269 were assigned to the digital behavioral health game and 263 to an attention-matched active control.
Results: At 12 months, adjusted depression scores were modestly lower in the intervention group. No significant association was detected for anxiety scores.
Context: Eligibility included recent alcohol, cannabis, vaping or other non-opioid substance use, or elevated depression or anxiety symptoms. The study itself primarily evaluated mental health rather than vaping or tobacco outcomes.
Scope: This technical review examined the architecture and environmental management of fourth-generation electronic nicotine delivery systems.
Evidence: A bibliometric and technical analysis covered 21 key studies from 2010 to 2026. The authors identified problems in separating and recovering batteries, plastics, metals and electronic components.
Environmental concern: Evidence from selected markets included ENDS leachate with lead concentrations reported as high as 50 mg/L. The authors caution that global data coverage is uneven.
Recommendations: The proposed circular-design framework includes modularity, Digital Product Passports and Deposit Return Schemes to improve material recovery.
Policy: Since January 1, 2024, the Netherlands has banned e-liquid flavours other than tobacco and permits a restrictive list of 16 flavour-determining ingredients.
Methods: Researchers analysed e-cigarette product notifications submitted to the Dutch section of the European Common Entry Gate database between January 2020 and December 2025.
Results: Newly notified products were 61% lower in 2025 than in 2020. The percentage containing only allowed flavourings increased by 38%, while the percentage containing non-allowed flavourings decreased by 56%.
Conclusion: The authors say the findings support the immediate goals of the flavour ban, but studies of consumer behaviour, attractiveness and sales are still required.
Background: The authors examined New Zealand smoking trends before and after the period in which vaping became more widely available and was supported as a cessation option.
Findings: Joinpoint regression identified a statistically significant acceleration in the decline of smoking prevalence from 2018/19 compared with earlier trends. The reduction was particularly pronounced among Māori and younger adults.
Current pattern: Adult daily smoking has plateaued below 7%. Youth smoking remains historically low and youth vaping has declined following regulatory tightening.
Interpretation: The authors argue that harm reduction alongside established FCTC measures can accelerate smoking decline. The observed timing and population trends are supportive but do not alone establish that vaping caused the decline.
Publication: This article was written by Alan Blum, Yuhui Yao and Jeremiah Mock and published in The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific.
Topic: The title presents a critical view of optimism about the use of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation in New Zealand.
Limitation: PubMed provides no abstract. Detailed claims, evidence and policy recommendations have therefore not been added beyond what can be verified from the indexed record.
Purpose: Researchers developed a matrix-free laser desorption and photoionization mass spectrometry method for detecting compounds in individual human hair samples.
Performance: The technique successfully mapped nicotine and caffeine and achieved approximately 102-micrometre spatial resolution.
Cigarette exposure experiment: Hair samples were exposed to cigarette smoke for periods between 0 and 120 minutes to examine the relationship between exposure time and nicotine deposited on the surface.
Application: The authors suggest potential use in rapid monitoring of drug molecules in hair and forensic toxicology.
Purpose: The study examined changes in nicotine dependence and use patterns among exclusive cigarette smokers who remained smokers, became dual cigarette-and-ENDS users or switched completely to ENDS.
Data: Researchers analysed longitudinal data from Waves 1-7 of the US Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study covering 2013-2023.
Findings: Exclusive ENDS switchers reported the largest overall dependence reductions. Dual users showed moderate overall reductions but little reduction in cigarette-specific dependence, although they were more likely to become non-daily smokers and reduce cigarette consumption by at least half.
Interpretation: The authors describe the dual-use pattern as more consistent with supplementation, while complete switching was associated with larger reductions in cigarette dependence.
Methods: Researchers used the TriNetX database to identify adults who underwent isolated primary arthroscopic partial meniscectomy. Patients were matched on demographics, substance use and medical conditions.
Sample: After matching, 9,594 patients with non-tobacco nicotine dependence were compared with 9,594 without recorded dependence.
Results: The nicotine-dependence group had higher rates of emergency and outpatient visits and pneumonia within 90 days, more opioid prescriptions during one year and more subsequent meniscus surgery at one and two years.
Limitation: This retrospective observational study identifies associations and does not establish direct causation.