Youth Tobacco Use Before and After Local Sales Restrictions on Flavored and Menthol Tobacco Products
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Posted by: Natalia Gromov
Olson
LT, Coats EM, Rogers T, et al.
Youth Tobacco Use Before
and After Local Sales Restrictions on Flavored and Menthol Tobacco Products in
Minnesota.
J Adolesc Health. 2022;70(6):978-984. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.01.129
Purpose. Minneapolis
and St. Paul, Minnesota, implemented sales restrictions on all flavored tobacco
products in 2016 ("flavor policy") and expanded the restrictions to
menthol tobacco products in 2018 ("menthol policy"). We examined data
from surveys of Minnesota youth collected before and after the flavor and
menthol policies.
Methods.
We measured changes in youth tobacco use prevalence using data from the
Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey and the Minnesota Student Survey. We analyzed
tobacco use overall and, where possible, by product category and flavor
category among survey respondents in the Twin Cities area (including
Minneapolis and St. Paul) and the rest of the state of Minnesota (ROS).
Results.
In the Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey, overall youth use of any tobacco product
significantly increased in ROS (by 26.6%) but did not change in the Twin Cities
after the flavor policies. Similarly, the Minnesota Student Survey showed the
youth use of any tobacco product increased to a greater extent in ROS (by
44.6%) than that in the Twin Cities (by 34.6%) after implementation of the
menthol policies. In both surveys, increases in youth use of particular tobacco
products were less pronounced in the Twin Cities relative to the rest of the
state.
Discussion.
Policies restricting sales of all flavored and menthol tobacco products may be
associated with attenuated increases in youth use of tobacco product
categories. Policy exemptions and proximity to nonpolicy jurisdictions may have
diluted the effect of policies on overall tobacco product use among youth
tobacco users.
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