Young adult dual combusted cigarette and e-cigarette users’ anticipated responses to a nicotine reduction policy and menthol ban in combusted cigarettes

Abstract

BackgroundThe aim of the study was to assess young adult dual e-cigarette (EC) and combusted cigarette (CC) users’ anticipated responses to a hypothetical very low nicotine content product standard and menthol ban in CC. MethodsData came from 240 young adult (18–29 years) dual CC and EC users recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk between June 20–22, 2017. Descriptive statistics were used to report sample characteristics. McNemar’s tests were used to assess differences between product categories in terms of anticipated responses to hypothetical regulations. ResultsA hypothetical very low nicotine content product standard in CC resulted in reported intentions to quit or reduce CC use and increase use of EC (p’s<0.001). Hypothetical restrictions regarding the availability of menthol CC resulted in marginally significant reported intentions to increase EC use (p = 0.080). Anticipated responses to regulation were associated with baseline EC and CC use characteristics. ConclusionsThis work provides preliminary evidence of the impact that regulations regarding nicotine content and menthol in CC may have on the use of EC among young adult dual users.