Responses to real-world and hypothetical e-cigarette flavor bans…
Tam J, et al.Responses to real-world and hypothetical e-cigarette flavor bans among US young adults who use flavored e-cigarettes, Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 23 Dec 2023;, ntad258, https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntad258
https://academic.oup.com/ntr/advance article/doi/10.1093/ntr/ntad258/7492743
An online, national survey of young adults ages 18-34 who use flavored e-cigarettes was conducted in 2021 (n=1,253), oversampling states affected by e-cigarette flavor restrictions. Participants were asked about their responses to real-world changes in the availability of flavored e-cigarettes. Unaffected participants were asked to predict their responses under a hypothetical federal e-cigarette flavor ban.
Young adults who vape-flavored e-cigarettes have mixed responses to e-cigarette flavor bans. Under both real-world and hypothetical e-cigarette flavor bans, most who use flavored e-cigarettes continue vaping. Under a real-world ban, the second most common response among those who exclusively vape is to switch to smoking; under a hypothetical federal ban, it is to quit all tobacco.
Note: If E-cig flavor restrictions were put in place, many would switch to or continue using combustible tobacco. While the use of combustible cigarettes is bad for public health, it is important to note that many youth are dual users, and moving to only combustible cigarettes when restrictions on flavored e-cigarettes are imposed results in the use of one unsafe product, not two (both e-cigarettes and combustibles). In addition, given a hypothetical federal ban, many youth state they would quit all tobacco. In short, the result could be good in both the real world and hypothetical cases depending on the level of restriction on e-cigarette flavors.
Stephen Hamann
