Associations between e-cigarette policies and adolescent use and access to e-cigarettes
Background: Tobacco control policies have been adapted to address rising levels of adolescent e-cigarette use. Despite new restrictions, adolescents are continuing to access e-cigarettes. Methods: We linked 2015–2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data on 503,154 14–18-year-olds from 40 states with stat...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772724623000276 |
| _version_ | 1797801672897986560 |
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| author | Alexandra Pastrana Christopher F. Baum Summer Sherburne Hawkins |
| author_facet | Alexandra Pastrana Christopher F. Baum Summer Sherburne Hawkins |
| author_sort | Alexandra Pastrana |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Tobacco control policies have been adapted to address rising levels of adolescent e-cigarette use. Despite new restrictions, adolescents are continuing to access e-cigarettes. Methods: We linked 2015–2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data on 503,154 14–18-year-olds from 40 states with state-level e-cigarette minimum legal sales age (MLSA) laws, taxes, and smoke-free legislation. Using two-way fixed effects probit regression models, we first examined the associations between these statewide e-cigarette policies and adolescent use and, second, with access to e-cigarettes. We subsequently tested interactions between age and each policy and present average marginal effects as percentage point (pp) changes. Results: While MLSA laws for e-cigarettes were associated with slight increases in e-cigarette use (2.72 pp; 1.29, 4.15), associations were no longer significant after at least 1-year post-implementation. MLSA laws were also associated with decreases in e-cigarette purchases in stores (-9.50 pp; -18.21, -0.79) and increases in acquiring them from someone else (13.26 pp; 4.10, 22.42), particularly among 18-year-olds. E-cigarette taxes were associated with decreases in use (-9.18 pp; -11.63, -6.73), but there were limited associations with e-cigarette access. While smoke-free legislation prohibiting e-cigarettes was associated with slight increases in use (1.87 pp; 0.23, 3.50), after at least 1-year post-implementation, they were associated with decreases in use. Smoke-free legislation was also associated with decreases in purchases in stores by 14-year-olds, but increases in online purchases by 18-year-olds. Conclusion: Understanding the immediate and longer-term consequences of e-cigarette policies is essential to influence adolescent e-cigarette use. Adolescents will continue acquiring e-cigarettes across varying sources if measures are not taken to address access alongside policies aimed at reducing use. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T04:54:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ebf93358bad641d3944f218896e6fb08 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2772-7246 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T04:54:03Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-ebf93358bad641d3944f218896e6fb082023-06-18T05:04:21ZengElsevierDrug and Alcohol Dependence Reports2772-72462023-06-017100157Associations between e-cigarette policies and adolescent use and access to e-cigarettesAlexandra Pastrana0Christopher F. Baum1Summer Sherburne Hawkins2Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, United States of AmericaSchool of Social Work, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States of America; Department of Economics, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States of America; Department of Macroeconomics, German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), Berlin, GermanySchool of Social Work, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States of America; Corresponding author.Background: Tobacco control policies have been adapted to address rising levels of adolescent e-cigarette use. Despite new restrictions, adolescents are continuing to access e-cigarettes. Methods: We linked 2015–2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data on 503,154 14–18-year-olds from 40 states with state-level e-cigarette minimum legal sales age (MLSA) laws, taxes, and smoke-free legislation. Using two-way fixed effects probit regression models, we first examined the associations between these statewide e-cigarette policies and adolescent use and, second, with access to e-cigarettes. We subsequently tested interactions between age and each policy and present average marginal effects as percentage point (pp) changes. Results: While MLSA laws for e-cigarettes were associated with slight increases in e-cigarette use (2.72 pp; 1.29, 4.15), associations were no longer significant after at least 1-year post-implementation. MLSA laws were also associated with decreases in e-cigarette purchases in stores (-9.50 pp; -18.21, -0.79) and increases in acquiring them from someone else (13.26 pp; 4.10, 22.42), particularly among 18-year-olds. E-cigarette taxes were associated with decreases in use (-9.18 pp; -11.63, -6.73), but there were limited associations with e-cigarette access. While smoke-free legislation prohibiting e-cigarettes was associated with slight increases in use (1.87 pp; 0.23, 3.50), after at least 1-year post-implementation, they were associated with decreases in use. Smoke-free legislation was also associated with decreases in purchases in stores by 14-year-olds, but increases in online purchases by 18-year-olds. Conclusion: Understanding the immediate and longer-term consequences of e-cigarette policies is essential to influence adolescent e-cigarette use. Adolescents will continue acquiring e-cigarettes across varying sources if measures are not taken to address access alongside policies aimed at reducing use.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772724623000276AdolescentE-cigarettesSmoke-free legislationTaxes |
| spellingShingle | Alexandra Pastrana Christopher F. Baum Summer Sherburne Hawkins Associations between e-cigarette policies and adolescent use and access to e-cigarettes Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports Adolescent E-cigarettes Smoke-free legislation Taxes |
| title | Associations between e-cigarette policies and adolescent use and access to e-cigarettes |
| title_full | Associations between e-cigarette policies and adolescent use and access to e-cigarettes |
| title_fullStr | Associations between e-cigarette policies and adolescent use and access to e-cigarettes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Associations between e-cigarette policies and adolescent use and access to e-cigarettes |
| title_short | Associations between e-cigarette policies and adolescent use and access to e-cigarettes |
| title_sort | associations between e cigarette policies and adolescent use and access to e cigarettes |
| topic | Adolescent E-cigarettes Smoke-free legislation Taxes |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772724623000276 |
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