Flavors of e-Cigarettes Used by Youths in the United States.

Introduction:
This text provides an analysis of the prevalence of JUUL e-cigarette flavors used among US youths in 2019. The study's key findings offer valuable insights into the flavor preferences of adolescent e-cigarette users, which can inform regulatory decisions aimed at reducing youth e-cigarette use.

Key Points:

* The study is based on the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey, which questioned a nationally representative sample of 8th, 10th, and 12th-grade students in the US.
* The JUUL module, featuring pictures of JUUL devices and flavor options, was randomly assigned to every student with a 1-in-3 probability.
* The analytic sample included 1739 past 30-day JUUL users with flavor preference data.
* among 8th-grade past 30-day JUUL users, the most popular flavors were mango, mint, fruit, and other.
* In 10th and 12th grades, mint was the most popular flavor, followed by mango, fruit, and other.
* Tobacco-related flavors were the least popular in all grades.
* Flavor preferences were generally similar across youths who used JUUL on 20 or more days vs. fewer than 20 days in the past month.

Main Message:
The study emphasizes the importance of understanding youth e-cigarette flavor preferences when considering regulatory measures. The findings suggest that mint is the most popular flavor among 10th and 12th-grade JUUL users, and its exemption from regulatory policies may not be an optimal strategy for reducing youth e-cigarette use. Therefore, regulatory agencies should carefully evaluate the potential implications of exempting certain flavors, such as mint, from regulatory restrictions or sales suspensions.

Leventhal aM, Miech R, Barrington-Trimis J, Johnston LD, O’Malley PM, Patrick ME. Flavors of e-Cigarettes Used by Youths in the United States. JaMa. 2019;322(21):2132-2134. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.17968