Flavored Tobacco Product Use Among California Adolescents Before and Immediately After a Statewide Flavor Ban

Introduction:
This text provides an analysis of the impact of a statewide flavor ban on tobacco product use among California adolescents. The study compares the prevalence of flavored tobacco use among California adolescents before and after the enactment of SB-793, which prohibited sales of most flavored tobacco products in the state. The study also examines perceived access to flavored e-cigarettes and awareness of the California flavored tobacco law.

Key Points:

* The study uses data from the Teens Nicotine and Tobacco (TNT) Project, an ongoing statewide youth tobacco surveillance project.
* The TNT Online Survey is a non-probability sample drawn from multiple commercial market research panels, with eligible participants being California residents aged 12-17.
* The study measures past 30-day use of various tobacco products, flavored product use, and perceived access to flavored e-cigarettes.
* The study finds that the prevalence of flavored product use declined for cigarettes, cigars, and smokeless tobacco, but not for e-cigarettes or hookah.
* In 2023, 10.2% of all participants used any flavored tobacco product, primarily flavored e-cigarettes.
* In 2023, 22.0% of all participants were aware of the statewide flavor ban, including 44.1% of participants who reported tobacco use.
* Focus group participants were largely unaware of the statewide flavor ban and expressed skepticism about its ability to deter teenagers from accessing flavored e-cigarettes.

Main Message:
The study suggests that the California flavored tobacco ban has decreased the use of some forms of flavored tobacco among adolescents, but potential challenges exist related to implementation, enforcement, and evasion of the law, particularly for e-cigarettes. The study emphasizes the need for more time for policy effects to be fully realized and for complementary and comprehensive tobacco prevention and control policies at the local, state, and federal levels to curb further youth access to flavored e-cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Benjamin W Chaffee, Candice D Donaldson, Elizabeth T Couch, Claudia Guerra Castillo, Omara Farooq, Nancy F Cheng, Niloufar Ameli, Monica L Wilkinson, Stuart A Gansky, Xueying Zhang, Kristin S Hoeft, Flavored Tobacco Product Use Among California Adolescents Before and Immediately After a Statewide Flavor Ban, Nicotine & Tobacco Research, Volume 27, Issue 6, June 2025, Pages 1035–1042, https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntae261