‘Flavors motivate initiation’

Flavors motivate people to start using e-cigarettes and are also associated with a stronger perception of being addicted, according to new research from the Tobacco Center for Regulatory Science of the American Heart Association.

Researchers surveyed about 1,500 U.S. e-cigarette users aged 18 and older to determine whether flavors played a role in getting them to start vaping and to continue vaping. Current users were defined as those who had used e-cigarettes within the previous week and for six months or longer and had used e-cigarettes on at least 20 occasions in their lifetime, regardless of whether they had smoked combustible cigarettes.

Nearly a third of respondents said the presence of flavors in e-cigarettes was a major reason they started vaping. Young adults aged 18–24 were nearly twice as likely as people aged 35–44 to identify flavors as the major reason they took up e-cigarette use. Respondents who had never smoked traditional cigarettes were more likely than current or former cigarette smokers to list flavors as a primary reason they started using e-cigarettes.

Support for raising the minimum age for tobacco purchases is strongest among adults aged 65 and older—though majorities of other age groups support the policy change as well. Support is a bit lower among young adults aged 18 to 29—some of whom the policy would affect—but even among this group, two in three support it.