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© 2015, BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved.The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 gave the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory authority over cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products and authorised it to assert juri

Objectives. We examined associations between neighborhood demographic characteristics and the availability of commercial physical activity--related outlets by zip code across the United States. Methods. Multivariate analyses were conducted to assess the availability of 4 types of outlets: (1) physical fitness facilities, (2) membership sports and recreation clubs, (3) dance facilities, and (4) public golf courses. Commercial outlet data were linked by zip code to US Census Bureau population and socioeconomic data. Results. Results showed that commercial physical activity--related facilities were less likely to be present in lower-income neighborhoods and in neighborhoods with higher proportions of African American residents, residents with Hispanic ethnicity, and residents of other racial minority backgrounds. In addition, these neighborhoods had fewer such facilities available. Conclusions. Lack of availability of facilities that enable and promote physical activity may, in part, underpin the lower levels of activity observed among populations of low socioeconomic status and minority backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TEENAGE CIGARETTE SMOKING is sensitive to the price of cigarettes. The most recent research suggests that a 10% increase in price would reduce the number of teenagers who smoke by 7%. If the proposed 43-cent hike in the Federal excise tax rate on cigarettes contained in the Hatch-Kennedy Bill were enacted, the number of teenage smokers would fall by approximately 16%. This translates into more than 2.6 million fewer smokers and more than 850,000 fewer smoking-related premature deaths in the current cohort of 0 to 17-year-olds. Adjusted for inflation, the current 24-cent-a-pack tax costs the buyer about half of the original cigarette tax of 8 cents imposed in 1951. A substantial tax hike would curb youth smoking; this strategy should move to the forefront of the antismoking campaign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the relationship between state laws requiring minimum bussing distances, hazardous route exemptions, sidewalks, crossing guards, speed zones, and traffic control measures around schools and active travel to school (ATS) policies/practices in nationally representative samples of U.S. public elementary schools between 2007-2009. The state laws and school data were compiled through primary legal research and annual mail-back surveys of principals, respectively. Multivariate logistic and zero-inflated poisson regression indicated that all state law categories (except for sidewalks) relate to ATS. These laws should be considered in addition to formal safe routes to school programs as possible influences on ATS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In November 2021, the Tobacconomics team published the second edition of the Cigarette Tax Scorecard which evaluates cigarette taxation in each country based on four components-cigarette price, affordability change, tax share and tax structure. This study examines the relationship between the overall cigarette tax score and tobacco excise tax revenue between 2014 and 2018., Methods: Using cigarette tax scores from the Tobacconomics Cigarette Tax Scorecard and tobacco excise tax revenue information from WHO, this analysis is based on ordinary least squares estimations to assess the association between the overall cigarette tax scores and tobacco excise tax revenues per capita controlling for countries' tobacco control environment, sociodemographic characteristics and country and year fixed effects., Results: A 1-point higher overall cigarette tax score is associated with higher tobacco excise tax revenue per capita of $11.98 (in constant 2018 purchasing power parity international dollars). For low and middle-income countries and lower performing countries at baseline, a 1-point higher overall cigarette tax score is associated with higher tobacco excise tax revenue per capita of $11.32 and $6.92, respectively. If all countries had increased their scores to '5', the tobacco excise tax revenue per capita would have increased by 22.51%., Conclusions: Higher overall cigarette tax scores are associated with higher tobacco excise tax revenue per capita. Countries aiming to reach higher cigarette tax scores would be able to reduce tobacco use and increase their tobacco tax revenue, which can be allocated to development priorities., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Background: This study examines the association between the Tobacconomics cigarette tax scores and cigarette consumption in 97 countries during the period of 2014-2020., Methods: Data on countries' retail cigarette sales and overall cigarette tax scores from 2014 to 2020 are drawn from the proprietary Euromonitor International database and the Tobacconomics Cigarette Tax Scorecard (second edition). Information on countries' tobacco control environments and demographic characteristics is from the relevant years' WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, and the World Bank's World Development Indicators database. Ordinary least squares regressions are employed to examine the link between countries' overall cigarette tax scores and cigarette consumption. All regressions control for countries' tobacco control environments, countries' demographic characteristics, year indicators and country fixed effects., Results: Each unit increase in the overall cigarette tax scores is significantly associated with a reduction of 9% in countries' per-capita cigarette consumption during 2014-2020. The reduction is more pronounced in low and middle-income countries (9%) than in high-income countries (6%). The modest improvement in scores from 2014 to 2020 is associated with a reduction of 3.27% in consumption, while consumption could have been reduced by 20.74% had countries implemented optimal tax policies that would earn the highest score of 5., Conclusions: Our results provide evidence on the association between higher cigarette tax scores and lower cigarette consumption. To reduce tobacco consumption, governments must strive to implement all four components in the Cigarette Tax Scorecard at the highest level., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Objective: To use a standardised e-cigarette tax measure to examine the impact of e-cigarette taxes on the price and sales of e-cigarettes and cigarettes in the USA., Design: We used State Line versions of NielsenIQ Retail Scanner data from quarter 4 of 2014 through quarter 4 of 2019 to calculate e-cigarette and cigarette prices and sales in 23 US states. We then estimated how these outcomes are associated with standardised state-level e-cigarette taxes, controlling for state fixed effects, quarter-by-year fixed effects, cigarette taxes, other tobacco control policies and other state-level time-varying characteristics., Results: A real $1 increase in the e-cigarette standardised tax increases the price of 1 mL of e-liquid between $0.43 and $0.59 depending on specification. Controlling for fixed effects and cigarette taxes, a 10% increase in e-cigarette taxes is estimated to reduce e-cigarette sales by 0.5% and increase cigarette sales by 0.1%, though both results are attenuated and statistically insignificant in a model with full controls., Conclusions: Our study finds that e-cigarette taxes increase e-cigarette retail prices by approximately half of the tax. Further, e-cigarette taxes are associated with reduced sales of e-cigarettes and increased sales of cigarettes in some specifications. Our estimates are sizably lower than from other studies using sales and survey data., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Introduction: Cigarette affordability, the price of tobacco relative to consumer income, is a key determinant of tobacco consumption., Aims and Methods: This study examined trends over 12 years in individualized factory-made cigarette affordability in the Netherlands, and whether these trends differed by sex, age, and education. Data from 10 waves (2008-2020) of the International Tobacco Control Netherlands Surveys were used to estimate individualized affordability, measured as the percentage of income required to buy 100 cigarette packs (Relative Income Price [RIP]), using self-reported prices and income. The higher the RIP, the less affordable cigarettes are. Generalized estimating equation regression models assessed trends in individualized affordability over time and by sex, age, and education., Results: Affordability decreased significantly between 2008 and 2020, with RIP increasing from 1.89% (2008) to 2.64% (2020) (p ≤ .001), except for 2008-2010, no significant year-on-year changes in affordability were found. Lower affordability was found among subgroups who have a lower income level: Females (vs. males), 18-24 and 25-39-year-olds (vs. 55 years and over) and low or moderate-educated individuals (vs. highly educated). Interactions between wave and education (p = .007) were found, but not with sex (p = .653) or age (p = .295). A decreasing linear trend in affordability was found for moderately (p = .041) and high-educated (p = .025), but not for low-educated individuals (p = .149)., Conclusions: Cigarettes in the Netherlands have become less affordable between 2008 and 2020, yet this was mostly because of the decrease in affordability between 2008 and 2010. There is a need for more significant increases in tax to further decrease affordability., Implications: Our findings suggest that cigarettes have become less affordable in the Netherlands between 2008 and 2020. But, this appears to be the result of a steep decrease in affordability between 2008 and 2010. Affordability was lower among groups who have on average lower incomes (females, young adults, and low- and moderate-educated individuals), and differences in trends across education levels could be explained by per capita income changes. Our individualized measure indicated lower affordability than published aggregate affordability estimations. Future tax increases should be large enough to result in a lower affordability., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

This study aims to examine how e-cigarette prices and advertising, key determinants of e-cigarette demand, are associated with the demand for smokeless tobacco (SLT) products in the US. Market-level sales and price data by year (2010-2017), quarter, and type of retail store were compiled from Nielsen retail store scanner database. E-cigarette TV advertising ratings data were compiled from Kantar Media. Four-way (market, year, quarter, store type) fixed-effect models were used to estimate the associations between e-cigarette price and TV advertising and sales of SLT products (chewing loose leaf, moist snuff, and snus). Our results showed that a 1% rise in own price was associated with a reduction in sales by 1.8% for chewing loose leaf, 1.6% for moist snuff, and 2.2% for snus, respectively. In addition, a 1% rise in disposable e-cigarette price was associated with 0.3% and 0.6% increased sales for moist snuff and snus, respectively. The association between e-cigarette TV advertising and SLT product sales was not significant. Our results suggest that disposable e-cigarettes and certain SLT products (moist snuff and snus) are potential substitutes. Policies aiming to regulate e-cigarette use and sales need to consider their potential link with the demand for SLT products.

Introduction: E-cigarette advertising has been shown to increase e-cigarette awareness and use. Although e-cigarette marketing in the early 2010s has been well-documented, little is known about how it has changed in recent years in response to the regulatory scrutiny from the FDA and the Congress to combat youth vaping epidemic. This study aims to examine the exposure to e-cigarette TV advertising among youth and adults in the U.S. from 2013 to 2019, overall and by media market and brand., Methods: Quarterly data on e-cigarette TV advertising exposure, measured by target rating points (TRPs), and expenditures from 2013 to 2019 were compiled from the StradegyTM of Kantar Media. Trends of quarterly e-cigarette advertising TRPs were reported by age group, market, and brand., Results: Over the study period, overall exposure to e-cigarette TV advertising was higher among adults than among youth. E-cigarette advertising TRPs and expenditures were relatively stable, despite intermittent fluctuations, between 2013 Q1 and 2017 Q1 except for a one-time dip in 2015 Q3, followed by a sharp decline in 2017 Q2 and stayed low till the end of 2018. A resurgence of e-cigarette advertising TRPs occurred in 2019 Q1, led by the advertising from JUUL, Blu, and Vuse, which peaked in the third quarter of 2019, with quarterly TRPs reaching 316.8 for youth and 1,701.9 for adults, and quarterly advertising expenditure totaling $31 million., Conclusions: Significant variations, both over time and across media markets and brands, were observed for e-cigarette televised advertising between 2013 and 2019. Following a lull in TV advertising in 2017/18, major e-cigarette companies have substantially increased advertising of their products on American television since early 2019, resulting in a surge in exposure to e-cigarette advertising among both youth and adults. Our findings highlighted the importance of continued monitoring of e-cigarette advertising in the U.S., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Despite mixed evidence, many smokers use e-cigarettes to quit smoking. With the substantial growth of e-cigarette sales in recent years, it is important to understand how it may affect FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products in the US. This study aims to investigate the impact of e-cigarette prices and TV advertising on the demand for NRT products. Quarterly (2010 Q1-2017 Q4) retail sales and price data of e-cigarettes and NRT gum and patch, compiled from Nielsen retail store scanner database, were linked with contemporaneous quarterly television rating data for e-cigarettes and NRT products, compiled from Kantar Media, using state and county identifier. Market, year, and quarter fixed effects models were used to estimate the impact of NRT price and TV advertising, as well as e-cigarette price and TV advertising, on the demand for NRT gum and patch. NRT gum price elasticity was estimated to be -0.91. Higher patch price was found to decrease gum sales (cross-price elasticity -0.96). Higher e-cigarette prices were found to decrease NRT gum sales. Higher cigarette prices were found to increase NRT gum sales. NRT patch price elasticity was estimated to be -2.05. Higher gum price was found to increase patch sales (cross-price elasticity 0.97). E-cigarette TV advertisement was positively associated with NRT gum sales. NRT gum appeared to be complements for e-cigarettes. Recent growth in e-cigarette sales may have increased the demand for NRT gum. More studies are needed to understand the differential behavioral patterns of NRT gum users and NRT path users., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aims: To examine the association between alcohol prices and age of initiation of alcohol use and the association between age of alcohol use initiation and heavy episodic drinking (HED) among adolescents in Chile., Design: We estimated discrete-time hazard models using retrospective data and generalized ordered probit models with repeated cross-sectional data., Setting: Chile., Participants: A total of 248 336 urban youth who attended secondary school between 2003 and 2015 and self-reported ever having tried alcohol., Measurements: We created drinking histories from self-reported responses of age, age of alcohol use initiation and year/month of survey. From two self-reported responses, we created a four-category ordinal variable of heavy episodic drinking: none, one to two, three to nine and more than 10 HED episodes in the past 30 days. We constructed a monthly measure of real alcohol prices using the all-items and alcohol component of the Consumer Price Index compiled by Chile's statistical agency, the Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas., Findings: First, we found negative, statistically significant and policy-meaningful associations between alcohol prices and the age of alcohol use initiation. The estimated price elasticity of delay was -0.99 [95% confidence interval (CI) = -1.30, -0.69]. A 10% increase in real alcohol prices was associated with delayed alcohol use initiation of approximately 6.6 months. Secondly, we found that youth who had started drinking alcohol at a later age had statistically significant and substantially lower probabilities of having reported HED during the previous month. For example, youth who started drinking at 16 were 4.9 (95% CI = 4.2-5.6) percentage points more likely to have reported no HED in the previous month relative to youth who started drinking alcohol when aged 12 years or younger., Conclusions: Increasing the price of alcohol products may delay alcohol initiation among young people in Chile. Chilean youth who start drinking alcohol later may engage in less harmful drinking practices., (© 2020 The Authors. Addiction published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for the Study of Addiction.)

Background: Many countries have implemented alcohol excise taxes. However, measures of excise taxes as a percentage of alcohol prices have not been systematically studied., Methods: Data on the retail prices of alcoholic beverages sold in stores and excise taxes in 26 countries during 2003-2018 was from the Economist Intelligence Unit price city data and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) tax database. The percentages of excise taxes in off-premise retail prices were derived as the ratio of taxes to prices at different price levels. Changes of excise taxes over time were assessed using negative binominal regressions., Results: The percentage of excise taxes in average off-premise alcohol prices was from 5 % in Luxembourg to 59 % in Iceland for beer, and from 0 % in France to 26 % in Iceland for wine. Excise taxes accounted for 5% of discount liquor prices in Czech Republic to 41 % in Sweden for Cognac, for 19 % in the United States (US) to 67 % in Sweden for Gin, for 13 % in the US to 63 % in Australia for Scotch Whisky six years old, and for 6 % in Iceland to 76 % in Sweden for Liqueur Cointreau. There were no significant changes in the percentage of excise taxes in alcohol prices over time in most countries except for Nordic countries. While wine had the lowest excise taxes, liquors had the highest tax burden., Conclusion: Tax burden on alcoholic beverages is low in OECD countries, indicating ample room for increasing alcohol excise taxes, particularly for beer and wine in those countries., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Study Objectives: To compare the prices paid for nicotine vaping products (NVPs) and supplies among current NVP users to prices paid for cigarettes among current smokers., Data: The 2016 International Tobacco Control Four Country Vaping and Smoking Survey (4CV1). Key measures included: (1) self-reported prices paid for reusable NVPs (eg, rechargeable devices with cartridges and tank system devices with e-liquids) in the 3-month period prior to the survey among current NVP users, (2) prices paid for disposable NVPs, cartridges and e-liquids purchased in the last 30 days among current NVP users and (3) self-reported prices paid for cigarettes among current smokers., Results: Disposable NVP price was higher than the price of a comparable unit for combustible cigarettes in England (EN), USA and Canada (CA). Prefilled cartridge price was higher than the price of a comparable unit of cigarettes in USA and CA, but lower in EN and Australia. E-liquid price was consistently lower than the price of a comparable unit of cigarettes across four countries. For start-up costs, price of a rechargeable device is approximately 3-5 times higher than a pack of cigarettes in four countries., Conclusion: NVP prices were generally higher than prices of combustible cigarettes, especially the high upfront NVP devices. The high upfront costs of purchasing a reusable NVP may discourage some smokers from switching to vaping. However, the average lower costs of cartridges and e-liquids relative to a package of cigarettes make switching to a NVP an attractive alternative to smoking in the long term so long as smokers switch completely to vaping., Competing Interests: Competing interests: KMC has received grant funding from Pfizer, Inc. to study the impact of a hospital-based tobacco cessation intervention. KMC also receives funding as an expert witness in litigation filed against the tobacco industry. GTF has served as an expert witness on behalf of governments in litigation involving the tobacco industry., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Tax pass-through rates to prices measure how much prices increase when taxes are increased by one unit, which will in turn determine the effectiveness of taxation policies in reducing substance use. Using longitudinal data of alcohol prices and excise taxes from 27 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries from 2003 to 2016, we estimate the tax pass-through rates to prices for a variety of alcoholic beverages-beer (1.24; 95% CIs: [0.67, 1.81]), wine (2.4; 95% CIs: [1.7, 3.11]), Cognac (1.71; 95% CIs: [1.07, 2.35]), Gin (0.85; 95% CIs: [0.34, 1.35]), Scotch whisky (1.14; 95% CIs: [0.52, 1.75]), and Liqueur Cointreau (1.98; 95% CIs: [1.21, 2.76]). While excise taxes on wine, Cognac, and Liqueur Cointreau are over-shifted to prices, taxes on Gin are exact- or under-shifted. Excise taxes on beer and Scotch whisky are likely over-shifted to prices, but the tax pass-through rates for these beverages are not significantly different from 1 and we cannot completely rule out exact pass-through of taxes to prices. The tax pass-through to prices for most beverage types is also higher for higher-priced products. Dynamic model further shows a lagged impact of wine and beer taxes on prices, indicating pricing strategies that may target lower-priced beer and wine.

Introduction: The experimental tobacco marketplace (ETM) approximates real-world situations by estimating the effects of several, concurrently available products and policies on budgeted purchasing. Although the effects of increasing cigarette price on potentially less harmful substitutability are well documented, the effects of other, nuanced pricing policies remain speculative. This study used the ETM as a tool to assess the effects of two pricing policies, conventional cigarette taxation and e-liquid subsidization, on demand and substitutability., Methods: During sampling periods, participants were provided 2-day samples of 24 mg/mL e-liquid, after which ETM purchase sessions occurred. Across two ETM sessions, conventional cigarettes were taxed or e-liquid was subsidized in combination with increasing cigarette price. The other four available products were always price constant and not taxed or subsidized., Results: E-liquid functioned as a substitute for conventional cigarettes across all conditions. Increasing cigarette taxation and e-liquid subsidization increased the number of participants for which e-liquid functioned as a substitute. Cigarette taxation decreased cigarette demand, by decreasing demand intensity, and marginally increased the initial intensity of e-liquid substitution, but did not affect the functions' slopes (substitutability). E-liquid subsidization resulted in large increases in the initial intensity of e-liquid substitution, but did not affect e-liquid substitutability nor cigarette demand., Implications: 24 mg/mL e-cigarette e-liquid was the only product to significantly substitute for cigarettes in at least one condition throughout the experiment; it functioned as a significant substitute throughout all four tax and all four subsidy conditions. Increasing cigarette taxes decreased cigarette demand through decreases in demand intensity but did not affect e-cigarette substitution. Increasing e-liquid subsidies increased e-liquid initial intensity of substitution but did not affect cigarette demand., Conclusions: This study extended research on the behavioral economics of conventional cigarette demand and e-liquid substitutability in a complex marketplace. The results suggest that the most efficacious method to decrease conventional cigarette purchasing and increase e-liquid purchasing may involve greatly increasing cigarette taxes while also increasing the value of e-liquid through potentially less harmful product subsidization or differential taxation., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Introduction: Globally, a growing burden of morbidity and mortality is attributable to lifestyle behaviours, and in particular to the consumption of tobacco, alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB). In low-income and middle-income countries, this increased disease burden falls on already encumbered and resource-constrained healthcare systems. Fiscal policies, specifically taxation, can lower consumption of tobacco, alcohol and SSB while raising government revenues., Methods: We simulated the health and economic effects of taxing cigarettes, alcohol and SSB over 50 years for 30-79 years old populations using separate mathematical models for each commodity that incorporated country-level epidemiological, demographic and consumption data. Based on data availability, national-level health effects of higher tobacco, alcohol and SSB taxes were simulated in 141, 166 and 176 countries, respectively, which represented 92%, 97% and 95% of the global population, respectively. Economic effects for tobacco, alcohol and SSB were estimated for countries representing 91%, 43% and 83% of the global population, respectively. These estimates were extrapolated to the global level by matching countries according to income level., Results: Over 50 years, taxes that raise the retail price of tobacco, alcoholic beverages and SSB by 20% could result in a global gain of 160.7 million (95% uncertainty interval (UI): 96.3 to 225.2 million), 227.4 million (UI: 161.2 to 293.6 million) and 24.3 million (UI: 15.7 to 35.4 million) additional life years, respectively., Conclusion: Excise tax increases on tobacco, alcohol and SSB can produce substantial health gains by reducing premature mortality while raising government revenues, which could be used to increase public health funding., Competing Interests: Competing interests: JB is an employee of the funding organisation., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Objective: A Working Group (WG) of tobacco regulatory science experts identified measures for the tobacco environment domain., Methods: This article describes the methods by which measures were identified, selected, approved and placed in the PhenX Toolkit., Findings: The WG identified 20 initial elements relevant to tobacco regulatory science and determined whether they were already in the PhenX Toolkit or whether novel or improved measures existed. In addition to the 10 complementary measures already in the Toolkit, the WG recommended 13 additional measures: aided and confirmed awareness of televised antitobacco advertising, interpersonal communication about tobacco advertising, media use, perceived effectiveness of antitobacco advertising, exposure to smoking on television and in the movies, social norms about tobacco (for adults and for youth), worksite policies, youth cigarette purchase behaviours and experiences, compliance with cigarette packaging and labelling policies, local and state tobacco control public policies, and neighbourhood-level racial/ethnic composition. Supplemental measures included youth social capital and compliance with smoke-free air laws and with point of sale and internet tobacco marketing restrictions. Gaps were identified in the areas of policy environment (public and private), communications environment, community environment and social environment (ie, the norms/acceptability of tobacco use)., Conclusions: Consistent use of these tobacco environment measures will enhance rigor and reproducability of tobacco research., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) [year]. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Objectives: In this study, we used a discrete choice experiment (DCE) conducted August-October 2017 to examine electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) product preferences in a national sample of adult smokers (N = 1154) who were also using ENDS or had not ruled out future use., Methods: The DCE evaluated 5 ENDS attributes: relative harm; effectiveness for helping smokers quit; nicotine strength; flavor; and price. We asked participants to choose among their own cigarettes, 2 ENDS products whose attributes varied across tasks, or none. We analyzed ENDS preferences using multinomial, nested, and mixed logit regressions., Results: Smokers preferred ENDS that are less harmful than cigarettes, are effective in helping smokers quit, are lower priced, and are not menthol-flavored. The marginal willingness to pay for an ENDS product was $8.40 when less harmful than cigarettes, $4.13 when of unknown effectiveness in helping quitting ($13.90 when effective), and $3.37 when ENDS are not menthol-flavored. Furthermore, the overall flavor preference is driven by tobacco smokers, not by menthol cigarette smokers who do prefer menthol-flavored ENDS., Conclusions: Policies that affect perceptions of ENDS effectiveness in promoting cessation and their relative harm may alter smokers' ENDS preferences. Regulating flavors and price also may influence adult smokers' ENDS preference., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

The PhenX (Phenotypes and eXposures) Toolkit provides researchers with recommended standard consensus measures for use in epidemiological, biomedical, clinical and translational studies. To expand the depth and breadth of measures in the PhenX Toolkit, the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Food and Drug Administration have launched a project to identify 'Core' and 'Specialty' collections of measures recommended for human subjects studies in tobacco regulatory research (TRR). The current paper addresses the PhenX Toolkit TRR Vector specialty area and describes the 6-month process to identify high-priority, low-burden, scientifically supported consensus measures. Self-reported, interviewer-administered and observational measurements were considered, and input from the research community assisted in justifying the inclusion of 13 tobacco industry-relevant measures (mainly interviewer-administered or self-reported measures) in the PhenX Toolkit. Compared with measures of addiction or the use of tobacco products, assessments of many Vector factors are much newer and at an earlier stage of development. More work is needed to refine and validate measures of the spatial distribution of tobacco retailers, retail environment, price promotions and corporate social responsibility., Competing Interests: Competing interests: Dr. Ribisl serves as an expert consultant in litigation against tobacco companies. No other interests were declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Building on substantial tobacco control action over the previous decade, Australia increased the taxes on tobacco by 25% without forewarning on April 30, 2010. Australia then became one of a few countries to pre-announce a series of increases in tobacco taxes, with annual 12·5% increases starting from December, 2013. We aimed to examine the effects of both tax increases on smoking prevalence., Methods: By use of survey data from Australians aged 14 years and older in five capital cities, we did an interrupted time-series analysis to model the monthly prevalence of smoking (overall, of factory-made cigarettes [FMC], and of roll-your-own tobacco [RYO]), in the total sample and stratified by socioeconomic status subgroups. We measured outcomes in May, 2001-April, 2010; May, 2010-November, 2013; and December, 2013-April, 2017., Findings: The 25% tax increase was associated with immediate (-0·745 percentage points; 95% CI -1·378 to -0·112) and sustained reductions in prevalence (monthly trend -0·023 percentage points; -0·044 to -0·003), which were driven by reductions in the prevalence of smoking of FMC. The prevalence of smoking of RYO increased between May, 2010, and November, 2013, after the 25% tax increase. At the start of the pre-announced annual 12·5% increases, we observed an immediate reduction in smoking (-0·997 percentage points; -1·632 to -0·362), followed by decreasing overall prevalence (monthly trend -0·044 percentage points; -0·063 to -0·026) due to ongoing decreases in the prevalence of FMC smoking and a cessation of increases in the prevalence of smoking of RYO. Immediate decreases in smoking and changing trends in the prevalence of smoking of RYO were most evident among groups with a lower socioeconomic status., Interpretation: Large tax increases are effective in reducing smoking prevalence, both as a single increase without forewarning and as a pre-announced series of increases. However, taxes on tobacco are best structured to apply equally to FMC and RYO products. Tobacco control policies should prohibit price marketing that otherwise erodes the full impact of such tax increases., Funding: Cancer Council Victoria., (Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Aims: To determine if there are associations between changes in the explicit (i.e. price) and implicit (i.e. use restrictions in public places) costs of cigarettes and nicotine vaping products (NVPs) and their use patterns in the United States., Methods: Data came from wave 1 (2016) US data of the ITC Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey (ITC US 4CV1) and Nielsen Scanner Track database. A multiple logistic regression model was applied to estimate the likelihoods of NVP use (vaping at least monthly), cigarette/NVP concurrent use (vaping and smoking at least monthly) and switch from cigarettes to NVPs (had quit smoking < 24 months and currently vape) among ever smokers, conditioning upon cigarette/NVP prices, use restrictions and socio-demographics., Results: Living in places where vaping is allowed in smoke-free areas was significantly associated with an increase in the likelihood of vaping [marginal effect (ME) = 0.17; P < 0.05] and the concurrent use of cigarettes and NVPs (ME = 0.11; P < 0.05). Higher NVP prices were associated with decreased likelihood of NVP use, concurrent use, and complete switch (P > 0.05). Higher cigarette prices were associated with greater likelihood of cigarette and NVP concurrent use (P > 0.05). Working in places where vaping is banned is associated with lower likelihood of vaping and NVP and cigarette concurrent use (P > 0.05)., Conclusions: Higher prices for nicotine vaping products (NVPs) and vaping restrictions in public places are associated with less NVP use and less concurrent use of vaping and smoking. Public policies that increase prices for vaping devices and supplies (i.e. regulations, taxes) and restrict where vaping is allowed are likely to suppress vaping., (© 2019 Society for the Study of Addiction.)