Flavored vape bans led to increase in teen smoking: study

Banning flavored e-cigarettes, also known as vapes, could lead to an unintended increase in tobacco use, especially among young adults, according to a recent analysis.

Public health experts have long questioned whether the availability of flavors such as fruit, candy and mint significantly attracts young people to vaping products. Over the past decade, the immense popularity of vaping brands like Juul has led to piecemeal restrictions on flavored varieties. (The FDA banned Juul outright in 2022, but recently reversed course.)

But a new working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research finds “evidence of an unintended effect” among younger consumers who, rather than abandoning nicotine products in the face of the vaping ban flavored cigarettes, seem to simply be moving towards combustible cigarettes, which are widely considered combustible cigarettes. be a more dangerous product.

“The restrictions are associated with a decline in sales of flavored electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), but also an increase in cigarette sales,” according to the paper titled “The Effect of Banning Cigarette Flavors electronic information on tobacco consumption.

The research, conducted by researchers at institutions including Michigan State University and San Diego State University, indicated that adopting flavor restrictions led to a significant reduction in vaping among young people by 1.2 to 2.5 percentage points.

However, it has also led to a “notable increase” in combustible cigarette smoking, particularly among 18 to 20-year-olds.

“The reduction in vaping appears to occur through substitution for the consumption of combustible cigarettes. Such substitution is arguably more surprising and remarkable,” the authors write.

According to the study, restrictions were associated with a 2.4 to 2.6 percentage point increase in the likelihood of smoking cigarettes.

Researchers analyzed data from the State and National Youth Risk Behavior Surveys and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The study was funded by a grant from Global Action to End Smoking, an independent U.S. nonprofit organization.

This is not the first time that researchers have reached such a conclusion. Research published in 2021 by the Yale University School of Public Health suggests that restrictions on vaping products, intended to curb nicotine use among youth, may have backfired and pushed teens towards traditional cigarettes.

“Given the presumably higher health risks of combustible cigarettes compared to e-cigarettes, such substitution implies that the net effect of ENDS flavor restrictions on public health may be limited, or even potentially negative,” they found Yale researchers.

The study also found that while flavor restrictions were effective in reducing vaping among younger users, they had little to no impact on older adults, who showed no significant changes in their vaping use.

Secondary analyzes found that various flavor bans did not lead to significant increases in other risky behaviors such as binge drinking or illicit drug use. However, the main concern remains the shift from vaping to smoking, which poses a greater health risk due to higher levels of toxic substances in cigarette smoke than in e-cigarette vapor.

A 2023 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that more than 1 in 10 Americans ages 18 to 24 are regular e-cigarette users. That same year, the National Youth Tobacco Survey found that 89% of youth who vaped used flavored varieties.

Last year, nine states, the District of Columbia and more than 370 localities adopted policies restricting the sale of flavored e-cigarettes.