Yong Hua-Hie, Borland Ron, Balmford James, McNeill Ann, Hitchman Sara, Driezen Pete, Thompson Mary E, Fong Geoffrey T, Cummings K Michael
VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Australia;
Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK;
Nicotine Tob Res. 2015 Oct;17(10):1203-11. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntu231. Epub 2014 Oct 30.
E-cigarettes (ECs) have gained significant attention in recent years. They have been introduced in jurisdictions with divergent existing laws that affect their legality. This provides the opportunity for natural experiments to assess effects of such laws in some cases independent of any formulated government policy. We compare patterns of EC awareness and use over a 3 year period in Australia where laws severely restrict EC availability, with awareness and use in the United Kingdom where ECs are readily available.
Data analyzed come from Waves 8 and 9 (collected in 2010 and 2013, respectively) of the International Tobacco Control surveys in Australia and the United Kingdom (approximately 1,500 respondents per wave per country).
Across both waves, EC awareness, trial, and use among current and former smokers were significantly greater in the United Kingdom than in Australia, but all 3 of these measures increased significantly between 2010 and 2013 in both countries, and the rate of increase was equivalent between countries. Seventy-three percent of U.K. respondents reported that their current brands contained nicotine as did 43% in Australia even though sale, possession and/or use of nicotine-containing ECs without a permit are illegal in Australia. EC use was greater among smokers in both countries, at least in part due to less uptake by ex-smokers.
EC awareness and use have risen rapidly between 2010 and 2013 among current and former smokers in both Australia and the United Kingdom despite different EC regulatory environments. Substantial numbers in both countries are using ECs that contain nicotine.
近年来，电子烟备受关注。它们已进入现有法律各异、影响其合法性的司法管辖区。这为自然实验提供了机会，以便在某些情况下独立于任何既定政府政策来评估此类法律的影响。我们比较了在澳大利亚（其法律严格限制电子烟的可得性）和英国（电子烟很容易获得），三年间电子烟知晓率和使用率的模式。
分析的数据来自澳大利亚和英国国际烟草控制调查的第8波和第9波（分别于2010年和2013年收集）（每个国家每波约1500名受访者）。
在这两个时间段内，英国当前和以前吸烟者中的电子烟知晓率、尝试率和使用率均显著高于澳大利亚，但这三项指标在2010年至2013年间在两国均显著上升，且两国的上升速率相当。73%的英国受访者报告称他们目前使用的品牌含有尼古丁，澳大利亚这一比例为43%，尽管在澳大利亚未经许可销售、持有和/或使用含尼古丁的电子烟是非法的。两国吸烟者中的电子烟使用率更高，至少部分原因是前吸烟者的使用率较低。
尽管电子烟监管环境不同，但在2010年至2013年间，澳大利亚和英国当前和以前吸烟者中的电子烟知晓率和使用率均迅速上升。两国都有大量人群在使用含尼古丁的电子烟。
