Flavors fueling teen nicotine and cannabis vape use

Drug and Alcohol Dependence is an international journal sponsored by The College on Problems of Drug Dependence located in Brentwood, TN, USA. The journal aims to publish original research, academic reviews, and policy analyses related to drug, alcohol, and tobacco use and dependence. On March 11, 2023, the journal published a paper entitled "Flavors increase adolescents' willingness to try nicotine and cannabis vape products".

The source of the image is the front page of the March 2023 issue of the journal "Drug and Alcohol Dependence". The article is titled "The Flavors of Nicotine and Cannabis E-cigarette Products are An Incentive for More Adolescents to Try".

The abstract of the paper is translated as follows in standard journalistic English:

The research project was led by experts from various institutions including the Tobacco Control Research and Education Center, Division of Oral Epidemiology and Oral Public Health at the University of California, San Francisco, as well as the California Tobacco Control Program at the state's Public Health Department. The team, composed of Benjamin W. Chaffee, Elizabeth T. Couch, Monica L. Wilkinson, Candice D. Donaldson, Nancy F. Cheng, Niloufar Ameli, Xueying Zhang, and Stuart A. Gansky, released their findings for the first time on December 28, 2022.

Research Method: In an online survey conducted from 2021 to 2022 for the California Youth Nicotine and Tobacco Project, a discrete choice experiment was embedded for a non-probability sample of N = 2342 adolescents aged 12 to 17. Participants were presented with four randomly-generated hypothetical electronic cigarette product pairs varying in device type (disposable, rechargeable), content (nicotine, cannabis, "just water vapor"), and flavor (seven options), and were asked which they would be more likely to try if offered by their best friend. Conditional logistic regression analysis quantified the associations between product characteristics and participant choices, including interactions with past 30-day use of electronic cigarettes, cannabis, or both.

Results show that in this experiment, participants who did not use e-cigarettes or marijuana, and those who only used e-cigarettes or a combination of e-cigarettes and marijuana, were more willing to try e-cigarette products with candy/dessert, fruit, and fruit ice cream flavors as compared to tobacco flavors. Among participants who only used marijuana, no flavor, candy/dessert, and menthol/mint flavors were the most popular. For participants who did not use e-cigarettes or marijuana, the model predicted that regardless of nicotine content (fruit/sweet: 21%, tobacco/untasted: 4%), marijuana (fruit/sweet: 18%, tobacco/untasted: 6%), or "just vapor" (fruit/sweet: 29%, tobacco/untasted: 16%), teenagers had a higher willingness to choose flavored products than tobacco or untasted products.

The article highlights the most significant discovery made in the experiment.

Teenagers are more inclined to try e-cigarette products with a variety of flavors rather than plain ones. The flavors enhance their willingness to try nicotine and cannabis e-cigarette products. Flavors also entice non-smokers who are indifferent to nicotine and cannabis to try e-cigarettes. A comprehensive ban on e-cigarette products with multiple flavors may reduce teenage usage.

Social significance: This study is of significant value to public health policy and adolescent health issues, as it provides insight into better ways to limit adolescent exposure to electronic cigarettes and marijuana e-cigarettes. The study's authors suggest a ban on all flavored electronic cigarettes and marijuana e-cigarettes in the United States, in order to reduce the number of adolescents using these products. The findings of this article can be used to develop effective policies, aimed at reducing the number of adolescents using electronic cigarettes and marijuana e-cigarettes, thus safeguarding adolescent health.

Reference:

A study shows that flavors found in nicotine and cannabis vape products can potentially increase the likelihood of teenagers trying these products.

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