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TUESDAY, July 21, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n
Banning flavored cigarettes led to a large decline in smoking<\/a> among U.S. teens<\/a> and young adults, a new study suggests.<\/p>\n The U.S. ban on flavored cigarettes (other than menthol) took effect in September 2009. To find out how it affected teens<\/a> and young adults, researchers analyzed data from the 2002-2017 U.S. National Survey on Drug Use<\/a> and Health.<\/p>\n They found a 43% decline in smoking<\/a> among youth ages 12-17 and a 27% decline among young adults ages 18-25.<\/p>\n “Our study suggests that the ban of flavored cigarettes was extremely effective at reducing smoking<\/a> among young people,” said study leader Matthew Rossheim. He’s an assistant professor of global and community health at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.<\/p>\n “This shows incredible promise for future comprehensive bans of flavored tobacco products, including those in e-cigarettes<\/a>, which to-date have received significant exemptions,” Rossheim said in a university news release. “Policymakers should take note of the evidence from this study and pass legislation to extend flavor bans to other tobacco and nicotine<\/a> products.”<\/p>\n The study didn’t find a similar reduction in smoking<\/a> among older people, suggesting that the ban on flavored cigarettes reduced smoking<\/a> specifically among young people. The findings could not prove cause and effect but suggest the reduction was affected by the ban and not by other factors, according to the researchers.<\/p>\n “We observed an increase in smoking<\/a> of menthol cigarettes among youth right after the ban took effect,” Rossheim said. “It appears that young people smoke menthol cigarettes more when other flavor options are no longer available.”<\/p>\n Previous research has shown that menthol tobacco products are disproportionately used by Black Americans.<\/p>\n To maximize their effectiveness among young people and to avoid increasing health disparities among Black Americans, Rossheim said flavor bans should include all flavors and tobacco products.<\/p>\n Previous research found that flavored cigarettes largely appeal to underage smokers<\/a>, and can lure them into long-term smoking.<\/p>\n The current findings were published July 13 in the Journal of Adolescent Health<\/i>.<\/p>\n — Robert Preidt<\/p>\n![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
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