Flavor Bans Bring Unintended Consequences
18-24 year old cigarette smoking has increased dramatically where flavor bans exist
Recent peer-reviewed studies show that banning flavored tobacco products or flavored vaping products has significant negative public health impacts policymakers must consider in deciding the proper scope of regulation.
Several studies indicate banning all flavored tobacco products actually increases the number of young people who smoke cigarettes.
The first study, published in June 2020 in “Science Direct-Addictive Behavior Reports,” considered San Francisco’s total flavored tobacco ban, finding that after the ban was in force for nearly a year, flavored tobacco product use was reduced, but cigarette smoking among 18-24-year-olds increased by over 35%. The study also found that most consumers of flavored tobacco find other sources for these products.
The second study, published in May 2021 in “JAMA Pediatrics,” also concerned San Francisco’s flavored tobacco ban and compared youth smoking rates among high school students in the San Francisco School District to the smoking rates of high school students in seven other metropolitan school districts located in cities without a flavored tobacco ban.
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