Vaping Research Compendium

 

    1. A NIH-funded study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that “E-cigarettes were more effective for smoking cessation than nicotine-replacement therapy, when both products were accompanied by behavioral support.” (February 14, 2019)

    2. A Journal of the American Medical Association Study found that among 1,600 active smokers who had no intention to quit, 28% who used vaping products daily stopped smoking traditional cigarettes within 12 months. (December 28, 2021)

    3. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews looked at 50 studies beginning in 2012 and concluded, “quit rates were higher in people randomized to nicotine [e-cigarettes] than in those randomized to nicotine replacement therapy.” (October 14, 2020)

    4. Flavors are essential to adults who want to quit smoking. A study published by Oxford University Press found that 63% of adults use vaping flavors other than tobacco. (May 25, 2020)

    5. Journal of American Medical Association Network found that adults who vaped flavored e-cigarettes were more likely to quit smoking than those who used unflavored e-cigarettes. (June 5, 2020)

    6. Cochrane Library review found 9-14% of people who use vaping products are successfully quitting smoking, compared to only 6% with traditional nicotine replacement therapy, and 4% who are attempting to quit without assistance. (September 14, 2021)

    7. Harm Reduction Journal: “Adult frequent e-cigarette users in the USA who have completely switched from smoking cigarettes to using e-cigarettes are increasingly likely to have initiated e-cigarette use with non-tobacco flavors and to have transitioned from tobacco to non-tobacco flavors over time. Restricting access to non-tobacco e-cigarette flavors may discourage smokers from attempting to switch to e-cigarettes.” (June 28, 2018)

    8. Even by the CDC’s own conservative estimates, over 4 million U.S. adult vapers are ex-smokers. It’s important to note that this data does not include people who quit smoking and later quit vaping. (CDC, 2019)

    • A study published by Oxford University Press found that 1 in 3 young adults (ages 18 to 34) would switch back to cigarettes if flavors were banned. (July 31, 2021)

    • A study published in the journal Addictive Behaviors found that, if flavors were banned, 28% of adult vapers would find a way to obtain banned flavors, driving them to illicit markets. (February 2022)

    • And probably the most important study from Yale University found that a flavor ban imposed by the City of San Francisco in 2018 “may have had the opposite effect.” The study found that, with the flavor ban, the odds of a high school student “smoking conventional cigarettes doubled.”

  • Several independent studies, many of them funded by the U.S. government, reveal that vaping taxes drive adults back to harmful cigarettes.

    In November 2021, Michael Pesko, Associate Professor of Economics at Georgia State University,wrote to Members of Congress to report on his NIH funded study on vaping policies. Dr. Pesko warned:

    “Given extensive peer-reviewed evidence indicating that these products are substitutes, an unintended but inevitable effect of increasing taxes on e-cigarettes is to increase cigarette use. Given that cigarettes are believed to be substantially more harmful than e-cigarettes, this effect on cigarette use is concerning. “

    Here is recent research that emphasizes the unintended, and dire, consequences of vaping taxes:

    • A study by Michael Pesko published in the Journal of Risk & Uncertainty concluded that a proposed national e-cigarette tax of $1.65 per milliliter of vaping liquid would raise the proportion of adults who smoke cigarettes each day by approximately one percentage point, translating to 2.5 million extra adult daily smokers compared to not having the tax. (June 2020)

    • A working paper funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health, “Intended and Unintended Effects of E-cigarette Taxes on Youth Tobacco Use,” found increased taxes drive up youth smoking. A proposed national e-cigarette tax of $1.65 per milliliter of vaping liquid would result in approximately half a million more teenage smokers.

    • A National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper evaluated taxes in 17 states plus the District of Columbia and found that for every one e-cigarette pod no longer purchased as a result of an e-cigarette tax, 5.5 packs of cigarettes are purchased instead. (February 2022)

    • A Tax Foundation analysis of Congress’ 2021 tobacco and nicotine tax proposal concluded that it “look[s] like a harm-maximizing strategy.” (November 4, 2021)

    • An evaluation of Minnesota’s exorbitant state tax on vaping, which is 95% of the wholesale price, found that higher cost drives adults back to smoking cigarettes. Researchers estimate that without the tax about 32,400 adults would have quit smoking. Equity in taxes between nicotine and tobacco “could deter” more than 2.75 million smokers from quitting. (December 2019)

    • Researchers reviewed pregnancy data from 2013 to 2018 and evaluated the potential impact of a national tax. Estimates suggest a proposed national e-cigarette tax of $1.65 per milliliter of vaping liquid would cause approximately 26,000 more prenatal smokers. (July 2019 (Revised June 2020)

    • Marijuana

    • Alcohol

      • In 2020, 20.3% of 10th graders and 33.6% of 12th graders reported using alcohol in the previous 30 day period (Source: NAHDAP MTF).

      • In 2020, 9.3% of 10th graders and 19.8% of 12th graders reported being drunk in the past 30 days. (Source: NAHDAP MTF)

      • In 2020, 9.6% of 10th graders and 16.8% of 12th graders reported binge drinking (5+ drinks in a row) in the previous 2 weeks. (Source: NAHDAP MTF)

    • Vaping

      • 11.3% of US high school students reported using a vape once in the previous 30 days. Only 3% of US high schoolers vape nicotine daily (Source: CDC National Youth Tobacco Survey, 2021); and most of them smoked first (Source: NYU).

      • US teen vaping dropped 29% from 2019 to 2020 and another 42% from 2020 to 2021, according to CDC’s NYTS.

    • The United Kingdom and New Zealand proactively promote vaping as part of its approach to public health.

    • Unlike the U.S. Centers for Disease Control or National Institutes of Health, Public Health England regularly and systematically measures the use of vaping products as a smoking cessation tool.

    • In the UK, over 70,000 people have quit smoking by vaping according to data from 2017.

    • The UK Royal Academy of Physicians (April 2016):

      • “E-cigarettes appear to be effective when used by smokers as an aid to quitting smoking.”

      • “The hazard to health arising from long-term vapour inhalation from the e-cigarettes available today is unlikely to exceed 5% of the harm from smoking tobacco.”

      • “In the interests of public health it is important to promote the use of e-cigarettes, NRT and other non-tobacco nicotine products as widely as possible as a substitute for smoking in the UK.”