© 2008 the Regents of the University Of California. All rights reserved. This material was made possible With funds from the research account of the Tobacco Tax and Health Protection Act of 1988(Proposition 99).

Colleagues,

Menthol Moves Center Stage
In this edition, Burning Issues zeroes in on Menthol. In the lead article we examine the significance of menthol for African American smokers, the uproar surrounding the exemption given to menthol initially in the proposed FDA oversight legislation and the nationwide fight and outcry that culminated in menthol moving to the top of the FDA’s agenda.

Health Hazards of Chewing Acera Nut, Betel-Quid and Gutkha,
part-2
In the first part of this article Drs. Asotra and Sharan discussed the history and explained the use of areca nut in India and other parts of Asia. The first article also discussed the good pharmacological properties associated with this substance, whether as a digestive aid, or for relief from headaches and arthritis. On the other hand, in this second installment, the ugly side of areca nut use and addiction is explored.

TRDRP: Still Relevant after 20 years
Interim Director George Lemp looks back over the 20 years of TRDRP's existence and highlights some of our accomplishments and identifies that even though there have been bumps in the road, the future is bright for tobacco related disease research in California.

Major Changes to TRDRP award mechanism
This short announcement by the TRDRP Senior Staff is just one of many reminders of the changes to TRDRP award mechanisms; we have dropped our Research Awards and IDEA Awards and replaced them with Exploratory and Developmental Awards and California specific Awards.

Phillip Gardiner, Dr.P.H.
Editor