Effect of Massachusetts House Bill No. 4196 on electronic cigarette use: a mixed-methods study
Abstract Background Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are devices that deliver nicotine-containing aerosol and were used by 2.8% of American adults in 2017. Many people who smoke cigarettes have used e-cigarettes for smoking cessation, and the general consensus among health providers is that w...
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doaj-8be3a9b04a1f4c0194db2de0c754b2202021-05-09T11:05:33ZengBMCHarm Reduction Journal1477-75172021-05-0118111510.1186/s12954-021-00498-0Effect of Massachusetts House Bill No. 4196 on electronic cigarette use: a mixed-methods studyAmanda Katchmar0Adrian Gunawan1Michael Siegel2School of Public Health, Boston UniversityBoston University School of MedicineSchool of Public Health, Boston UniversityAbstract Background Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are devices that deliver nicotine-containing aerosol and were used by 2.8% of American adults in 2017. Many people who smoke cigarettes have used e-cigarettes for smoking cessation, and the general consensus among health providers is that while vaping is not harmless, it is less harmful than smoking. To try to reduce youth e-cigarette use, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts imposed a 75% excise tax on nicotine-containing vaping products and banned the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including combustible tobacco, effective June 1, 2020. This tax, like similar taxes in other states, aimed to reduce e-cigarette consumption. However, past research has found that e-cigarettes and cigarettes are economic substitutes, meaning that an increase in e-cigarettes prices may push more people who smoke e-cigarettes to smoke combustible cigarettes. Methods To determine the impacts of several events, such as the e-cigarette and vaping-associated lung injury (EVALI) outbreak and implementation of the Massachusetts e-cigarette tax, on e-cigarette and cigarette purchasing, we conducted an interrupted time-series analysis of year-on-year consumer purchasing data to impute changes in e-cigarette and cigarette purchasing in the Greater Boston area and the entire USA after several intervention points. We then surveyed a subset of people who used e-cigarettes to evaluate the plausibility that some e-cigarette consumers would travel out-of-state to purchase e-cigarettes. Results The purchasing data indicated that there was no significant decrease in e-cigarette purchases in the Greater Boston convenience market after tax implementation. However, we found that e-cigarette purchases decreased significantly while cigarette purchases increased after several bans on e-cigarettes and numerous policy statements related to the EVALI outbreak. The survey results suggested that people who smoke e-cigarettes did not decrease their consumption after the implementation of the tax, but instead obtained e-cigarettes outside of Massachusetts. Conclusion These results suggest that the Massachusetts flavor ban and tax did not reduce e-cigarette consumption in the Greater Boston area, and that messaging questioning the safety of e-cigarettes led to an increase in combustible cigarette use. This suggests the need for health authorities to reconsider how they communicate the relative risks of smoking and vaping.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-021-00498-0E-cigarettesSmoking tobaccoVapingPolicyTaxation |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Amanda Katchmar Adrian Gunawan Michael Siegel |
spellingShingle |
Amanda Katchmar Adrian Gunawan Michael Siegel Effect of Massachusetts House Bill No. 4196 on electronic cigarette use: a mixed-methods study Harm Reduction Journal E-cigarettes Smoking tobacco Vaping Policy Taxation |
author_facet |
Amanda Katchmar Adrian Gunawan Michael Siegel |
author_sort |
Amanda Katchmar |
title |
Effect of Massachusetts House Bill No. 4196 on electronic cigarette use: a mixed-methods study |
title_short |
Effect of Massachusetts House Bill No. 4196 on electronic cigarette use: a mixed-methods study |
title_full |
Effect of Massachusetts House Bill No. 4196 on electronic cigarette use: a mixed-methods study |
title_fullStr |
Effect of Massachusetts House Bill No. 4196 on electronic cigarette use: a mixed-methods study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effect of Massachusetts House Bill No. 4196 on electronic cigarette use: a mixed-methods study |
title_sort |
effect of massachusetts house bill no. 4196 on electronic cigarette use: a mixed-methods study |
publisher |
BMC |
series |
Harm Reduction Journal |
issn |
1477-7517 |
publishDate |
2021-05-01 |
description |
Abstract Background Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are devices that deliver nicotine-containing aerosol and were used by 2.8% of American adults in 2017. Many people who smoke cigarettes have used e-cigarettes for smoking cessation, and the general consensus among health providers is that while vaping is not harmless, it is less harmful than smoking. To try to reduce youth e-cigarette use, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts imposed a 75% excise tax on nicotine-containing vaping products and banned the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including combustible tobacco, effective June 1, 2020. This tax, like similar taxes in other states, aimed to reduce e-cigarette consumption. However, past research has found that e-cigarettes and cigarettes are economic substitutes, meaning that an increase in e-cigarettes prices may push more people who smoke e-cigarettes to smoke combustible cigarettes. Methods To determine the impacts of several events, such as the e-cigarette and vaping-associated lung injury (EVALI) outbreak and implementation of the Massachusetts e-cigarette tax, on e-cigarette and cigarette purchasing, we conducted an interrupted time-series analysis of year-on-year consumer purchasing data to impute changes in e-cigarette and cigarette purchasing in the Greater Boston area and the entire USA after several intervention points. We then surveyed a subset of people who used e-cigarettes to evaluate the plausibility that some e-cigarette consumers would travel out-of-state to purchase e-cigarettes. Results The purchasing data indicated that there was no significant decrease in e-cigarette purchases in the Greater Boston convenience market after tax implementation. However, we found that e-cigarette purchases decreased significantly while cigarette purchases increased after several bans on e-cigarettes and numerous policy statements related to the EVALI outbreak. The survey results suggested that people who smoke e-cigarettes did not decrease their consumption after the implementation of the tax, but instead obtained e-cigarettes outside of Massachusetts. Conclusion These results suggest that the Massachusetts flavor ban and tax did not reduce e-cigarette consumption in the Greater Boston area, and that messaging questioning the safety of e-cigarettes led to an increase in combustible cigarette use. This suggests the need for health authorities to reconsider how they communicate the relative risks of smoking and vaping. |
topic |
E-cigarettes Smoking tobacco Vaping Policy Taxation |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-021-00498-0 |
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