RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Menthol e-cigarette sales rise following 2020 FDA guidance
JF Tobacco Control
JO Tob Control
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP tobaccocontrol-2020-056053
DO 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2020-056053
A1 Megan C Diaz
A1 Emily M Donovan
A1 Barbara A Schillo
A1 Donna Vallone
YR 2020
UL http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2020/09/23/tobaccocontrol-2020-056053.abstract
AB Objective To explore patterns in flavoured e-cigarette sales following Juul Labs’ 2019 removal of mint-flavoured products and the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) 2020 e-cigarette flavour guidance which prohibits flavoured cartridge-based sales, but allows for the sale of tobacco-flavoured and menthol-flavoured cartridges, open-system and disposable e-cigarettes.Methods We examined Nielsen Retail Scanner data from September 2013 to March 2020. Inflation-adjusted sales dollars for e-liquid-containing products were classified into five flavour categories (fruit, menthol, mint, tobacco and other).Results Following the Juul Labs 2019 and FDA 2020 actions, total e-cigarette sales declined; however, menthol-flavoured e-cigarette sales dollars increased, while mint-flavoured e-cigarette sales dollars decreased in both instances. Juul Labs’ removal of mint-flavoured products was followed by a 59.4% increase in the market share of menthol-flavoured e-cigarettes over 4 weeks. The FDA’s 2020 guidance was followed by a 54.5% increase in the market share of menthol-flavoured e-cigarettes over 4 weeks and a 82.8% increase over 8 weeks.Conclusions Juul Labs’ self-regulation and the current FDA flavour guidance were followed by a shift towards menthol-flavoured e-cigarettes. Industry self-regulation and current federal guidance appear insufficient in reversing the youth vaping epidemic. E-cigarettes must be fully regulated as a tobacco product including the removal of flavoured e-cigarettes, including menthol, from the market to reduce youth e-cigarette use.