Department of Health Administration and Informatics, Governors State University, University Park, IL, USA.
Department of Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
Nicotine Tob Res. 2024 Jul 22;26(8):1007-1013. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntae017.
While retail sales and retailer inspection studies generally indicate high compliance with state sales restrictions on Nicotine Vaping Products (NVPs) within the restricted area, studies using survey data generally indicate that most users could readily continue gaining access to restricted NVPs. Our study bridges a gap in the current literature and investigates the potential role of cross-state border purchases to evade state emergency NVP sales restrictions in 2019.
The study sample was restricted to NVP sales from the states neighboring Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Washington, three states that implemented all NVP or flavored NVP sales restrictions in 2019. Among these neighboring states, the 2019 weekly county-level NVP sales by flavors (tobacco, mint/menthol, and other flavors) were compiled using Nielsen Scanner data. A quasi-experimental, comparison group pre-post study design was used to study the impacts of NVP sales restrictions on cross-state border NVP purchases.
Weekly NVP sales for border counties significantly increased in response to the MA, RI, and WA bans for tobacco flavored (56%, 45%, 14%, respectively), menthol/mint flavored (51%, 2%, 41%, respectively), and other flavored (79%, 3%, 4%, respectively) products, compared to sales for non-border counties (all p-values < .01).
Our study identified significant cross-state border NVP purchases in all studied states to circumvent NVP emergency sales restrictions in response to the EVALI outbreak. Policymakers should factor in these purchasing behaviors to evade sales restrictions when evaluating any future potential policies at the state or local levels.
While retail sales data and retailer inspections indicate high compliance with Nicotine Vaping Product (NVP) flavor sales restrictions from major retail outlets, survey data obtain mixed findings on the effects of sales restrictions on vaping behaviors. Our study identified a significant increase in cross-state border NVP purchases to circumvent NVP sales restrictions in 2019, consistent across all three settings of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Washington. Policymakers should factor in these cross-state border NVP purchases in response to sales restrictions when evaluating any future potential NVP sales restrictions.
虽然零售销售和零售商检查研究通常表明，在受限区域内，尼古丁蒸气产品（NVP）的销售限制得到了高度遵守，但使用调查数据的研究通常表明，大多数用户可以轻易继续获得受限的 NVP。我们的研究填补了当前文献中的一个空白，调查了 2019 年跨越州界购买以规避州紧急 NVP 销售限制的潜在作用。
研究样本仅限于马萨诸塞州、罗得岛州和华盛顿州邻近各州的 NVP 销售，这三个州在 2019 年实施了所有 NVP 或调味 NVP 销售限制。在这些邻近州中，使用尼尔森扫描器数据编制了 2019 年每周按口味（烟草、薄荷/薄荷醇和其他口味）划分的县一级 NVP 销售情况。采用准实验、对照组前后研究设计，研究 NVP 销售限制对跨越州界 NVP 购买的影响。
由于 MA、RI 和 WA 禁止销售烟草味（分别为 56%、45%和 14%）、薄荷/薄荷醇味（51%、2%和 41%）和其他口味（79%、3%和 4%），边境县的每周 NVP 销售额显著增加，而非边境县的销售额则没有变化（所有 p 值均<.01）。
我们的研究发现，在所有研究州，都有大量的跨州际 NVP 购买行为，以规避对 EVALI 爆发的 NVP 紧急销售限制。政策制定者在评估任何未来州或地方一级的潜在政策时，应考虑到这些规避销售限制的购买行为。
尽管零售销售数据和零售商检查表明，主要零售渠道对尼古丁蒸气产品（NVP）口味销售限制的遵守程度很高，但调查数据对销售限制对吸烟行为的影响得出了混合的结论。我们的研究发现，2019 年，为了规避 NVP 销售限制，跨越州界的 NVP 购买量大幅增加，这在马萨诸塞州、罗得岛州和华盛顿州三个州都得到了一致的体现。政策制定者在评估任何未来的 NVP 销售限制时，应考虑到这些针对销售限制的跨州际 NVP 购买行为。
