Jacob James Rich

Epidemiology & Biostatistics, @CWRUSOM | Healthcare Policy, @ReasonFdn | Views my own.

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

Another week, another tobacco control retraction.

Note to the THR community, this is a study that someone should actually do well.

[Arielle Selya @ArielleSelya]

Another retraction❌of a paper analyzing NHANES and claiming a link between e-cig/dual use and COPD:

https://t.co/NzQvsxXHkx

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

@ChaunceyGardner @CDCgov When we cite surveys, we aren't expecting them to be perfectly accurate in counts. But we can rely on relative trends over time if they keep using the same methodology.

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

26.1 million adults use e-cigarettes in the USA alone. Where is the WHO getting its statistics?

Also, clearly more adults use e-cigarettes than youth.

[WHO FCTC @FCTCofficial]

#WNTD2026

Did you know?

Around 15 million adolescents aged 13–15 worldwide already use e-cigarettes.

This is a public health emergency — and we all have a role to play. Join the movement and take action ⬇️

🚫 Ban flavours

Make flavours a thing of the past.

⚙️ Regulate product design

Less appealing. Less addictive. Less toxic. Less harm.

📦 Plain packaging

Reduce appeal. Save lives.

📢 Ban advertising, promotion and sponsorship

Out of sight. Out of mind.

🌿 Tobacco- and nicotine-free public places

Clean air is everyone’s right. Protect people.

💙 Support quitting

Break the cycle of nicotine addiction.

💰 Increase taxes

Less affordable. Less accessible.

#FCTCSavesLives
https://t.co/8gA6kHZXH7

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

@ChaunceyGardner @CDCgov From the highlighted quote from SAMHSA above: 8.3 million + 17.8 million = 26.1 million https://t.co/u25489UIpu

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

@jkelovuori @RushmoreExt23 @ChaunceyGardner @FCTCofficial @WHO Me and the gang will need to see if this replicates.

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

@jkelovuori @RushmoreExt23 @ChaunceyGardner @FCTCofficial @WHO Do we know which scientists authored this report?

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

Also these aren't selectively chosen figures from a controversial study. They're from SAMHSA's NSDUH: https://t.co/u25489UIpu

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

@RushmoreExt23 @ChaunceyGardner My point is that @FCTCofficial claims both that youth are 9x more likely to vape and that 15 million children ages 13-15 vape worldwide. Yet 26.1 million adults vape in the US alone? None of these numbers make sense.

@WHO needs to audit this account.

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

@FCTCofficial https://t.co/io3BnQMG51

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

26.1 million adults use e-cigarettes in the USA alone. Where is the WHO getting its statistics?

Also, clearly more adults use e-cigarettes than youth.

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

Almost no one will understand what I'm saying here, but "hanging indent to delimiter" style is superior to the more common "hanging indent" style in coding syntax.

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

I stand corrected. After further evaluation, AI stands for Absolute Idiot.

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

Everyone who knows me knows that I've been an AI pessimist, in that I think it's very useful, but I'm not too worried about Terminator. After working with updated models today, I might have changed my mind...

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

@jgitchell Right now, we can still unplug it.

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

Everyone who knows me knows that I've been an AI pessimist, in that I think it's very useful, but I'm not too worried about Terminator. After working with updated models today, I might have changed my mind...

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

@JTSemprini Yes. Tobacco products, especially cigarettes and e-cigarettes, are clearly substitutes. Restricting access to one will increase the use of the other.

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

This paper is both incredibly impressive and bad. The analysis was technically sophisticated, but it included too many arbitrary components that drastically affect the results—a slight, reasonable change in methodology would likely produce the opposite conclusion.

[Health Economics @HECJournal]

What happens when vaping gets more expensive?

A new Health Economics study finds higher e-cigarette prices and taxes reduce vaping, but users may switch across device types rather than to cigarettes.

Policy design matters. https://t.co/R9PMU495Ov

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

At SRNT, a Yale medical student insisted to me that there's no difference between smoking 10 or 20 cigarettes per day.

@ArielleSelya explains the ridiculousness of the new academic discussion on "dual use" of cigarettes and e-cigarettes: https://t.co/FIH8CWggFV

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

@ArielleSelya @mikepesko Wait, but I was certain that cigarettes and e-cigarettes aren't substitutes. https://t.co/rlnMIE39zi

[Health Economics @HECJournal]

What happens when vaping gets more expensive?

A new Health Economics study finds higher e-cigarette prices and taxes reduce vaping, but users may switch across device types rather than to cigarettes.

Policy design matters. https://t.co/R9PMU495Ov

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

@jayvanbavel @jgitchell Pareto would suggest that a small fraction of the population always has a disproportionate influence over any domain.

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

@newrepublic @EdithOlmsted To be fair, @newrepublic does cite this statistic from @WHO, but it clearly in no way applies to the United States. And honestly, I'd be surprised if it's actually true.

Maybe it's time for a replication study? https://t.co/GF0EZV1WNO

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

According to @newrepublic: "Children are, on average, nine times more likely to vape than adults, according to the World Health Organization."

However, federal US data disagree: https://t.co/u25489UIpu

Any comments, @EdithOlmsted?

[The New Republic @newrepublic]

RFK Jr. Uses Vape Brand’s Marketing to Promote Vaping https://t.co/16fjjCuKVG

[Jacob James Rich @jacobjamesrich]

(Originally posted here: https://t.co/zNJU9R1CuU)

[Phil @phil_w888]

@jacobjamesrich @newrepublic https://t.co/v43ApsfUp4