New research showing flavour restrictions are linked to increased smoking rates in young adults

Abigail S. Friedman, Michael F. Pesko, Travis R. Whitacre

A cross-sectional survey of 376,963 young adults (18–29 years) undertaken by researchers from the University of Missouri and the Yale School of Public Health Analysis, has found that state restrictions on flavoured ENDS sales were linked to a 3.6-percentage point reduction in daily vaping but a 2.2-percentage point increase in daily smoking compared to states without restrictions. These findings suggest that such policies may reduce vaping but inadvertently increase cigarette smoking, potentially offsetting their public health benefits.

According to researcher, Professor Michael Pesko, public health policymakers need to always be “cognizant that any policy will have unintended effects, especially in the public health space”.

“In this case, our study finds flavoured e-cigarette restrictions have the unintended effect of sizably increasing cigarette use. This is not good from a public health perspective because cigarettes are far more dangerous products. It’s the equivalence of steering a ship away from a storm straight into a whirlpool.”

Pesko believes policy goals should focus on reducing tobacco-related disease and death with policies that encourage a shift away from the most harmful tobacco products to less harmful alternatives.

“E-cigarette flavour restrictions have the opposite effect of pushing many people towards more harmful tobacco.”

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