Costs of vaping: evidence from ITC Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey
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.
Do Tobacco Companies Have an Incentive to Promote “Harm Reduction” Products?: The Role of Competition
Although cigarette companies will back alternatives to combusted tobacco when threatened by competition, the prospects for their lasting conversion to NCNDPs will depend on the extent of such competition, which will be influenced by government regulation of tobacco products. The regulation of non-combustible nicotine delivery products and cigarettes should be proportionate to their relative risks, so that smokers have incentives to switch from combustibles to safer alternatives, and cigarette companies have incentives to promote safer products.
Intended and Unintended Effects of E-cigarette Taxes on Youth Tobacco Use
Over the past decade, rising youth use of e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) has contributed to aggressive regulation by state and local governments. Between 2010 and mid-2019, ten states and two large counties adopted ENDS taxes. We use two large national surveys (Monitoring the Future and the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System) to estimate the impact of ENDS taxes on youth tobacco use. We find that ENDS taxes reduce youth ENDS consumption, with estimated ENDS tax elasticities of -0.06 to -0.21. However, we estimate sizable positive cigarette cross-tax effects, suggesting economic substitution between cigarettes and ENDS for youth. These substitution effects are particularly large for frequent cigarette smoking. We conclude that the unintended effects of ENDS taxation may considerably undercut or even outweigh any public health gains.
The Effects of Traditional Cigarette and E-Cigarette Taxes on Adult Tobacco Product Use
We study the effects of traditional cigarette tax rate changes and e-cigarette tax adoption on use of these products among U.S. adults. Data are drawn from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and National Health Interview Survey data over the period 2011 to 2017. Using a differences-in-differences model, we find that higher traditional cigarette taxes reduce adult traditional cigarette use and increase adult e-cigarette use, suggesting that the products are economic substitutes. E-cigarette tax adoption reduces e-cigarette use, with some heterogeneity across groups, and dilutes the own-tax responsiveness of traditional cigarettes.
National Trends in Sales and Price for Commercial Tobacco and Nicotine Products, 2018-2022
Faced with many products, consumers may be influenced by price differences to purchase products with varying levels of harm. In particular, the cheapness of cigars, which are combustible tobacco products with many of the same health risks as cigarettes,6 may perpetuate use. Policies that impact price (ie, taxation and minimum pack size) can discourage use of the most dangerous products and should be considered.
Cost Comparison and Spending on Tobacco Products: Evidence from A Nationally Representative Sample of Adult E-Cigarette Users
Among US adult vapers, frequencies of tobacco use and e-cigarette device type are closely related to cost measures; and e-cigarette taxes are associated with cost perception of e-cigarettes relative to cigarettes, suggesting potential financial disincentive for vaping. Policymaker may consider imposing differential taxes by e-cigarette product types due to their different costs to consumers.
