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Objectives: Tobacco-free campus policies are needed to create environments conducive to prevention or quitting in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), where the use of various tobacco products is on the rise among university students. The objectives of this study were to assess overall support for a 100% tobacco-free campus policy and its predictors among different stakeholder groups at the largest national university in Qatar and to understand attitudes towards specific policy components., Study Design: A cross-sectional online survey of faculty and students., Methods: We measured sociodemographic variables, tobacco use, and support for components of a 100% tobacco-free campus policy. A total score for support was calculated, and associations with selected predictors were assessed using multivariable linear regression., Results: 413 respondents participated in the survey. A majority of faculty/staff and students (76.6% and 75.5%, respectively) supported the implementation of a 100% tobacco-free campus policy, with a majority supporting extension of the policy beyond cigarettes. Support for other components of the policy varied. Among students, overall support was lower among males and tobacco users and higher among the married. Among faculty and staff, support was lower among Qatari nationals and tobacco users., Conclusion: In the context of a growing tobacco crisis in the EMR, implementing and understanding the impact of tobacco-free campus policies is essential. This paper underscores the importance of addressing diverse stakeholder attitudes and providing empirical evidence to guide policy implementation and evaluation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Introduction: The prevalence of vaping among youth and young adults (YYAs; 16-18 and 19-24 years old, respectively) is moderate worldwide. Existing vaping cessation evidence lacks input from ex-vapers with a history of regular use and substantial maintenance periods. This study noted cessation strategies, relapse triggers, and recommendations for quitting identified by ex-vapers and assessed differences in outcomes across age and gender groups., Methods: We recruited ex-vapers (N = 290; mean use = 6.5 days/week, SD = 1.05) with a minimum maintenance period of 30 days and a history of three months of consecutive use of nicotine-based devices from Nova Scotia, Canada. The ex-vapers responded to open-ended questions regarding vaping cessation strategies, triggers, and recommendations for quit strategies in an online survey. We coded responses to each topic (e.g., triggers) and grouped them into categories (e.g., social influences). We used chi-square tests and Bonferroni correction tests to determine group differences by topic and within each category., Results: YYA ex-vapers identified cold turkey (28.9 %), self-restriction (27.5 %), and alternative coping mechanisms (19.0 %) as the most common cessation strategies; social influences (35.5 %,), mental state (18.3 %), and substance use (15.7 %) as the top triggers; and support systems (29.5 %), apps (17.3 %), and education (11.8 %) as the most useful recommendations for others. A higher proportion of female youth (51.3 %) identified social influences as a relapse trigger than male YAs (21.2 %) and female YAs (30.3 %). Further, male YAs (36.5 %) reported higher proportions of substance use as a relapse trigger than male youth (3.0 %) and female youth (2.6 %). Female youth (23.7 %) and YAs (22.6 %) recommended apps as a useful cessation strategy more often than male YAs (3.8 %)., Conclusions: Input from ex-vapers can help to inform cessation practices, and gender and age differences shed light onto the need to tailor treatments, such as using social-centric behavioral therapy, for female youth and adopting a polysubstance substance use treatment approach for YAs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Mohammed Al-Hamdani, Myles Davidson, and D. Brett Hopkins were affiliated with the Lung Association of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island when conducting the study. They are no longer affiliated with this organization. There may be a perceived conflict due to these past affiliations., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The prevalence of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) is increasing globally. Population-level data from several nations suggest that a higher proportion of youth and young adults are using e-cigarettes compared to the general population. Though significant work has been done in Western countries to better understand various aspects of e-cigarette use among youth and young adults, there is limited evidence about this phenomenon in Middle Eastern countries. This commentary summarizes the known aspects of youth and young adult e-cigarette use and the limitations of the evidence in the Middle East. Specifically, the limitations of the current literature indicate an overreliance on university-based samples, the overuse of non-user samples, a lack of studies on behaviour change, high variance in existing data, and a lack of uniform instruments to measure e-cigarette use. Lending from findings in other regions, we identify how these limitations should be addressed through future research to fill knowledge gaps in the Middle East., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

In recent years, there has been a rapid expansion of the vaping market which has led many to question whether vaping can assist people in smoking cessation, or if it in fact paves the way for new smokers. While there has not been conclusive evidence regarding vaping as a smoking cessation tool, there is striking evidence that vaping is linked to new smoking addictions, especially in teenagers and young adults. Despite the prevalent belief that tobacco is more harmful to the body, early research on vaping has already shown very detrimental effects, and the comprehensive effects may become much clearer in the years to come. To curtail the rapidly increasing number of teenagers and young adults vaping, strict action must be taken. Legalization with tight control of vaping products would focus the efforts on those attempting to quit, while helping to prevent acquisition by teenagers and young adults that are not of legal age. In the years to come, vaping controls should be carefully considered to ensure that the purported benefits of helping those overcome a smoking addiction are not outweighed by the unintended consequences of creating a teenage demographic addicted to vaping., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2021 The Author(s).)