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Taxes on both cigarettes and e-cigarettes should be raised to prevent young people from switching to deadlier cigarettes, study says

Taxes on both cigarettes and e-cigarettes should be raised to prevent young people from switching to deadlier cigarettes, study says

2022-07-26

A new study found that raising taxes on e-cigarettes by just $1 could lead to more cigarettes in their early 20s.


Researchers at Georgia State University in Atlanta monitored 38,000 teens and found that once the price of e-cigarettes was raised, smoking increased by 3.7 percent.


They say the results suggest that taxes on both cigarettes and e-cigarettes should be raised to prevent young people from switching to more deadly cigarettes. They also noted that around age 20 is the period when many people switch from experimentation to daily nicotine use.


A total of 30 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., have imposed taxes on e-cigarettes, hoping to put off more young people. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is also cracking down on certain brands accused of causing a spike in nicotine use among youth.


In the study, published in the journal Addiction, scientists analyzed data from the Current Census—a monthly survey of U.S. households conducted by census officials.


They looked at the number of 18- to 25-year-olds who smoked or vaped in each state between 2010 and 2019.


The results showed that an increase in e-cigarette tax of $1 per milliliter led to a 2.5% decrease in e-cigarette use in this age group. But it also led to a 3.7% surge in smoking.


A study last week found that e-cigarette use declined in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.


The researchers, from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, found a 7 percent drop across the board in 2020 compared to two years ago.


But data broken down by age group showed the fastest decline was in the under-20s, down 17%.


This is one of the first signs of a worrying trend reversal.


Since December 2019, it has been illegal in the United States to purchase tobacco products under the age of 20, including e-cigarettes.


Likewise, raising the tax on cigarettes by $1 would result in a 2.5% drop in smoking rates, but an increase in e-cigarette use by the same amount.


Dr. Abigail Friedman, an associate professor of public health at the Yale School of Public Health who led the study, warned that some young people are changing the way they consume nicotine because of the price.


She said: "Anyone contemplating a tax on one tobacco or nicotine product needs to consider the tax rate on all other products.


People substitute between products, and if you raise the price of one product, some subsets will switch to cheaper options, even if they don't like that product much. It is important from a public health perspective that the cheaper option is also less harmful. "


In the paper, the researchers warn that cigarettes are more deadly than vaping products - suggesting that e-cigarettes are more harmful to national health if they are more expensive.


Cigarette smoke contains more harmful substances -- such as tar -- which studies show can increase the risk of health problems later in life, such as cancer.


In the study, they also found that 18- to 25-year-olds were three times more responsive to price changes than older adults, making them more likely to switch between the two.


An estimated 8.1 million U.S. adults, or 6 percent, use e-cigarettes each year, but that rate is three times the average for under-25s.


By comparison, 30 million adults nationwide use cigarettes every year—12 percent of the population.


Cigarettes tend to be taxed more than e-cigarettes — although this varies by state.


There is currently a $1 per pack federal tax on cigarettes, with all states levying their own additional fees. Chicago, Illinois had the highest price at $6 per pack.


But there is currently no tax on e-cigarettes nationwide. A total of 30 states currently apply their own rates, but these rates are calculated on a wholesale price or per container basis. Minnesota has the highest wholesale tax rate at 95%, while the highest per container is Kentucky at $1.50 per container.


A study by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, found last week that e-cigarette use is down 7 percent across the board in 2020 compared to two years ago.


Breaking the data down by age shows that the under-20s saw the biggest decline, falling 17% over the period.


It has been illegal for people in this age group to buy tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, since December 2019. Previously, the minimum age was 18.


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