Raising taxes on e-cigarettes by just $1 could lead to more youngsters in their early 20s taking up smoking, a new study finds.
Researchers at Georgia State University, in Atlanta, monitored 38,000 youngsters and found raising the price of e-cigarettes triggered a rise in the number smoking by 3.7 percent once the increase was implemented.
They said the results showed taxes should be raised on both cigarettes and e-cigarettes at the same time to avoid youngsters switching to 'more lethal' cigarettes. They also pointed out the early 20s is a period when many switch from 'experimental' to 'daily' nicotine use.
A total of 30 American states and Washington D.C. already tax e-cigarettes in the hopes of putting off more youngsters. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is also cracking down on certain brands that are accused of driving a spike in nicotine use among young adults.
In the study, published in the journal Addiction, scientists analyzed data from the Current Population Survey — a monthly survey of households in the U.S. conducted by census officials.
They looked at the number of youngsters aged 18 to 25 years old who said they smoked or vaped in each state from 2010 to 2019.
Results showed that raising taxes on vaping by $1 per milliliter led to their use falling by 2.5 percent in the age group. But it also caused a 3.7 percent surge in the number taking up smoking.
Similarly, increasing tax on cigarettes by $1 led to a fall in smoking by 2.5 percent but a rise in e-cigarette use by the same amount.
Dr Abigail Friedman, an associate professor of public health at Yale School of Public Health who led the study, warned some youngsters were changing how they consumed nicotine due to prices.
She said: 'Anyone who is going to levy a tax on one tobacco or nicotine product needs to think about the tax rates on all the others.'
'People are substituting between products, and if you raise the price of one, some subset is going to switch to a less expensive option, even if they don't like that product as much.
'From a public health perspective, it is important that that less expensive option is also less harmful.'
In the paper, the researchers warned cigarettes were more lethal than vaping products — suggesting it was worse for national health if vapes were more expensive.
Cigarette smoke contains more harmful substances — such as tar — which studies suggest raises the risk of health issues later in life such as cancer.
In the study, they also found people aged 18 to 25 were three times more responsive to price changes than older adults making them more likely to switch between them.
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