MONDAY, July 15, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Restrictive regulations regarding electronic cigarette (EC) characteristics may result in increased combustible cigarette (CC) use among dual EC and CC users, according to a study published online July 15 in Substance Use & Misuse.
Lauren R. Pacek, Ph.D., from the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues assessed young adult dual EC and CC users' anticipated responses to hypothetical market restrictions regarding key EC characteristics. Data were included for 240 young adult dual EC and CC users recruited in June 2017.
The researchers found that intentions to decrease EC use and increase CC use were reported in response to hypothetical restrictions. Restrictions regarding e-liquid nicotine content had the greatest impact, followed by flavor and ability to modify EC devices. The likelihood of reporting intentions to reduce EC use and increase CC use was highest for individuals reporting use of flavored e-liquid, high nicotine-content e-liquid, and customizable EC devices.
"These findings serve as a useful baseline indicator of what a significant proportion of tobacco product users believe they would do in response to regulations," the authors write. "In addition, determining the correlation between anticipated use behaviors and actual use behaviors, in response to product regulation, will be important for interpreting results of hypothetical measures such as this one."
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