Tengjiao Chen

After the outbreak of e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury (EVALI) strongly linked to vitamin E acetate found in some tetrahydrocannabinol-containing vaping products in 2019, several states passed emergency bans on the sale of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) products. We use a fixed-effect panel regression model with an embedded difference-in-differences design to evaluate the unintended effects of state-level ENDS bans.

Data Monthly combustible cigarette and ENDS product sales data at the store level were obtained from one of the largest convenience store chain brands in Canada.Footnote 2 Cigarette sales data were measured in sales volume (by cigarette carton, and 1 carton contains 200 sticks) and sales value (in $CAD) by combining sales from all brands of available cigarettes in stores.

Highlights • In the fall of 2019, several US states passed short-term bans on the sale of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) in response to an outbreak of illnesses strongly linked to tetrahydrocannabinol vaping products that received national news coverage. This study assessed how such state-level ENDS bans in 3 US states may have affected cigarette sales. • Cigarette sales in states banning ENDS were significantly higher than would have been observed otherwise.