E-cigarettes
Online Pro-Tobacco Marketing Exposure Is Associated With Dual Tobacco Product Use Among Underage US Students
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0890117120905231
Abstract
Purpose:
To understand the effect of pro-tobacco marketing on electronic cigarette and combustible cigarette dual use among US middle and high school students under 18 years of age.
Design:
Data were derived from the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey, an annual self-administered school-based cross-sectional survey.
Setting:
The survey was administered in public and private middle and high schools across the United States.
Participants:
The probability sample size was 15 238 middle and high school students with complete responses who were under 18 years of age during the study period.
Measures:
The study measured self-reported exposure to online combustible and electronic cigarette advertisements, dual use of combustible and electronic cigarettes during the past 30 days, exposure to the Real Cost antitobacco campaign advertisements, and other sociodemographic factors (eg, race/ethnicity, gender, and grade).
Analysis:
Logistic regressions were used to measure pro-tobacco marketing exposure and dual use as a function of pro-tobacco marketing exposure.
Results:
Descriptive analyses show that 59.0% of respondents were exposed to pro-tobacco online marketing, and 2.9% were dual users. Dual users (odds ratio [OR] = 1.73) and high school students (OR = 1.43) were more likely to report exposure to online pro-tobacco marketing.
Conclusions:
Findings indicate that a gap in electronic cigarette pro-tobacco marketing regulatory oversight may exist. Further policy action may be warranted to protect the public health of minors and other vulnerable populations who are most susceptible to pro-tobacco marketing.
Integrating Social Dynamics Into Modeling Cigarette and E-Cigarette Use
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1090198119876242
Abstract
Background.
The use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarette) offers potential to facilitate cigarette smoking cessation, yet potentially increases risk of cigarette smoking initiation. This relationship has been primarily modeled in mathematical ways that often do not represent real-world complexities, which could inform decisions regarding local prevention programs or policies. Aims. To develop a model of cigarette and e-cigarette use that combines current research on tobacco use and incorporates real-world geographic and demographic data. Method. We used a platform for developing agent-based models with demographic information representative of the population in Pennsylvania. We developed three models of cigarette and e-cigarette use. The primary outcome for each was the total number of users for cigarette, e-cigarette, and total nicotine. The first model applied current cigarette and e-cigarette data, the second tested the effect of implementing a program of e-cigarette education and policies, and the third considered a social contagion factor, where local schools functioned as a transmission vector. Results. The baseline and social contagion models found an overall decline in cigarette use but an increase in e-cigarette and total nicotine use. The education/policies model had declines in all categories. Sensitivity analysis suggested the importance of nuanced e-cigarette/cigarette interactions when modeling tobacco use.
Discussion.
Public health campaigns that focus on reducing youth e-cigarette usage can have a large effect. Social contagion should be strongly considered when studying e-cigarette spread. Conclusion. Targeted public health campaigns focused on reducing school prevalence of e-cigarette use may be particularly valuable.
Historical Perspective of Proactive and Reactive Regulations of E-cigarettes to Combat Nicotine Addiction
https://journals.lww.com/journaladdictionmedicine/Abstract/publishahead/Historical_Perspective_of_Proactive_and_Reactive.99259.aspx
Abstract
Cigarettes and electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are major sources of exposure to nicotine, an addictive chemical. Although these products are being regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Tobacco Control Act, specifications about the nicotine content in these products have not been established yet. In e-cigarettes, nicotine concentration ranges from 0 to > 50mg/mL, and the recent e-cigarette devices provide control to change nicotine flux for higher nicotine delivery. Due to the lack of robust regulations in manufacturing, distribution and marketing, e-cigarettes have already infiltrated the market with youth appealing flavors and devices. As a result, the country is facing a youth epidemic of e-cigarette use. The unregulated nicotine levels in both cigarettes and e-cigarettes can lead to repeated and overexposure of nicotine to youth which can lead to the addiction and detrimental effects on their cognitive functions. Over the past decade, the corrective measures being taken by the FDA for cigarette and e-cigarette regulations also should focus on nicotine exposure levels. Before it is too late to prevent youth from lifetime addiction to nicotine, it is important to address the issues of nicotine concentration, nicotine flux and the e-cigarette device regulations while offering adults with smoking disorder less harmful alternatives to cigarettes.
New Zealand moves to ban vaping ads, sales to minors
(Reuters) – New Zealand’s government said on Sunday it will introduce laws banning all advertisements of e-cigarettes and the sale of such products to people under 18 in a move to regulate a market that has been under pressure globally.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newzealand-vaping/new-zealand-moves-to-ban-vaping-ads-sales-to-minors-idUSKCN20H00M
A string of vaping-related deaths and illnesses tied to e-cigarettes, which allow users to inhale nicotine vapor, often flavored, without smoking, have been reported in the United States, leading to lawsuits and restrictions.
The New Zealand bill, posted on the health ministry’s website, also seeks to ban e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in smoke-free areas, restrict who can sell them and give the government the powers to recall or suspend vaping products.
“We are making sure that we are protecting our kids but at the same time ensuring that smokers who want to use vaping as a quit tool still have access to those products,” Associate Health Minister Jeny Salesa told state-owned TVNZ.
Although the number of people smoking has steadily fallen in New Zealand, according to official data, nearly one in eight adults, or close to half a million people, are regular cigarette smokers.
The government said in the bill, which will be proposed to parliament on Monday, that it “acknowledges” that vaping and smokeless tobacco products are less harmful than smoking and the bill would exempt vaping products from some of the provisions that apply to tobacco products.
“(The bill) enables all retailers to display products in-store, in contrast to requirements that require tobacco products to be out of the public’s sight,” the government said.
In the United States, the Trump administration earlier this year banned some popular e-cigarette flavours to curb rising teenage use of vaping products, allowing only menthol and tobacco flavours to remain on the market.
The New Zealand government came short of prohibiting flavours, but the bill limits general stores, such as convenience outlets, to selling only three flavours: tobacco, mint and menthol.
“Flavors may be used to attract children and young people to vape or use smokeless tobacco products, however, they also seem to be an important factor in supporting smokers to switch,” the government said in the bill.