Banning flavorings in e-cigarettes increased sales of traditional cigarettes. This is according to a new US study. The researchers compared sales of vejp products and smoking tobacco in convenience stores and gas stations, before and after a flavor ban was introduced.
"There are many indications that more young people started buying cigarettes instead of e-cigarettes," says economist Michael Pesko.
Taste bans, high taxes and other restrictions are common policy tools to prevent young people and minors from using electronic cigarettes. But what are the real consequences of such legislation? Researchers at the Yale School of public health and Missouri University find out.
Many local taste bans
In total, 375 different US local authorities, as well as seven states, have banned all flavors in e-liquid except menthol and tobacco. At the federal level, the sale of pre-filled pod systems with flavors other than those mentioned is also prohibited. However, the federal ban does not apply to disposable models or bottled e-liquid, which local bans often include.
"We looked at sales of both pods and disposables, between the years 2018 to 2023 in the states where flavor bans have been introduced and compared it to the sales of cigarettes over the same period. This allowed us to see the effects before and after the ban and also to compare with those that did not introduce a ban." Michael Pesko, an economics researcher at the University of Missouri, told the RegWatch news channel.
Fewer e-cigs - more cigarettes
The study focused on sales in the so-called convenience sector, i.e. convenience stores, gas stations and the like. Here, e-cigarettes are sold alongside regular cigarettes and, according to Michael Pesko, it is in this environment that the effect of restrictive legislation is most clearly seen.
"The results showed that e-cigarette sales dropped significantly after a flavor ban. At the same time, cigarette sales increased significantly. For every 7 milliliters of e-liquid that was not sold, 15 cigarettes were sold instead" says Michael Pesko.
"Flavors are highly valued"
Flavor bans have become a trendy policy tool to curb the use of e-cigarettes among young people. According to proponents, it is mainly fruit and candy flavors that attract young people to vejpa. And this is certainly true, according to Michael Pesko.
"We see in our studies that flavors are highly valued in the market. If we introduce restrictions on flavors in e-cigarettes, we will see a dramatic drop in sales, for sure," he told RegWatch.
Young people bought cigarettes - instead
But according to Michael Pesko, the results also show another, perhaps less desirable effect.
"We cannot see the age of the buyers in the sales statistics. But we do know that young smokers prefer to buy certain brands of cigarettes. At the same time, when a flavor ban was introduced, it led to a significant increase in sales of the very cigarette brands that young people tend to buy. This is worrying, especially from a health perspective, as the harmful effects of smoking are much greater than those of vejping, based on what we know today" says Michael Pesko.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes on Drug Abuse.
Similar results in taxation
The research team, a collaboration between Yale University School of Public Health and the University of Missouri, has previously looked at sales statistics associated with the introduction of taxes on e-cigarettes and e-liquid. Again, there were clear signs that e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes are interchangeable on the market.
"Actually, it's not that remarkable". says Michael Pesko "If we think that there are 10 nicotine products on the market and one of them is e-cigarettes. And we make sure that one of them, in this case the e-cigarette, becomes less attractive than it was. Then we will see an effect. Some consumers may leave the nicotine market altogether, sure. But a majority will likely switch to another nicotine product. Anyone who thinks that a flavor ban on e-cigarettes will cause people to stop buying nicotine products is living in a fantasy world." Michael Pesko told RegWatch.
