Combustibles Outperform E-Cigarettes

Traditional cigarette sales in the U.S. have continued to do better than those of e-cigarettes during the coronavirus pandemic. Overall sales volume for combustible cigarettes was down 0.2 percent for the four-week period ending July 11 while e-cigarette sales were down 13.2 percent, according to Nielsen data.

The drop in e-cigarette sales follows more regulation on the products from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “It is deeply ironic that the credit for the recovery of the cigarette business from a near-death experience a little over a year ago can be credited to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Michael Bloomberg and the others who pushed an abstinence-only agenda on nicotine,” said David Sweanor, an adjunct law professor at the University of Ottawa and the author of several e-cigarette studies.

“By undermining the low-risk alternatives to cigarettes, they protected the cigarette business.” When the stay-at-home orders were first issued, combustible cigarette sales increased 1.1 percent for the week ending March 22.