Restrictions Can Lower Vaping

It is 2022. In other words, everyone knows the harmful effects smoking has on the body. With all the anti-smoking campaigns, it doesn’t come to a surprise that fewer and fewer people are smoking. However, now society faces another issue that seems to be hitting hard with the youth: e-cigarettes or vaping. And to be honest, it is probably not all too surprising that vaping would pose an issue. I guess people just love to burn things and inhale them. But with all the appealing flavors available for vaping as well as some arguing that it is a less harmful avenue for smoking, it is easy to see how vaping is enticing to not just past smokers but to the young as well. Of course, we have all seen now the campaigns against vaping which only got stronger with all the lung injuries we have seen with the use of unsafe cannabis pods. Indeed, times are constantly changing and acclimating to the current trends. For this issue we have already seen states taking measures such as raising the age of when a person could buy nicotine products. However, the question is whether such changes work to deter possible patrons? That is exactly what a group of scientists have tried to answer.

Let's talk science.

A recent study was published in JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association): Evaluation of Statewide Restrictions on Flavored e-Cigarette Sales in the US from 2014 to 2020 by Ali et al. 2022. Essentially they asked if restrictions on selling flavored e-Cigarettes would lead to an overall reduction in e-cigarette sales. Why could this be important? While some may argue that e-cigarettes are "healthier" than regular cigarettes, I would agree that it does not make it a healthy habit. It's like the argument that drinking a case of beer every night is healthier than finishing a bottle of vodka every night.

To answer their question, they looked into data from the IRI on sale data from various states, including states with restrictions and more lenient conditions. Then, they analyzed the data using a difference-in-difference analysis. Having never heard of that before, I didn't know what that meant. Thankfully we have the internet.

A difference-in-difference analysis is an approach to compare different groups of various outcomes over time. The difference in groups, in this case, was whether restrictions were in place or not. Now don't ask me exactly how they do that with numbers because I do not know or care for this particular study. To be blunt.

The results were that sales of e-cigarettes seem to be reduced with restrictions in place. Suprise, Suprise. However, science is about really showing explanations with data. What gets interesting, in my opinion, is that the authors claim they did not include online sales and vape shops. So, essentially, saying the data is partially gone. But if we use our logical brains, it would still make sense that sales go down anyway. However, this leads to my next thought. Would the restrictions ultimately lead to trying to make the DIY vape solutions or smuggling them from different states? Finally, it seems the authors are arguing for more regulations. And in theory, it looks like a good idea simply due to the data seen, especially when we know that e-cigarettes are very present with the youth. The authors provide us with sources of what those numbers have been. At least 1.7 million high schoolers and 320,000 middle schoolers. And I agree that we need to reduce the numbers. However, I worry that these restrictions may lead to more dangerous avenues kids may take to continue their vaping.