Dr. Hai Nguyen published in JAMA Pediatrics
Dr. Hai Nguyen鈥檚 paper, 鈥淎ssociation of Canada鈥檚 Provincial Bans on Electronic Cigarette Sales to Minors With E-cigarette Use Among Youths鈥 has been published in the JAMA Pediatrics. Dr. Nguyen is a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Health Policy Evaluation and Health Care Sustainability.
In Canada, e-cigarette use amongst youth almost doubled between 2014 and 2017, which risks 鈥渃reating a new generation of nicotine-addicted youths who face a higher risk of smoking combustible cigarettes and are subject to negative outcomes beyond the adverse physiological effects of nicotine,鈥 Dr. Nguyen鈥檚 paper reads.
E-cigarette sales to minors has been banned in several US states and in all Canadian provinces; however, there is limited knowledge about the extent to which these bans can reduce e-cigarette use among youths.
The paper investigates whether these bans are effective at reducing e-cigarette use among youths, and the mechanisms through which these bans worked (or failed to work).
Dr. Nguyen found that banning e-cigarette sales to minors helped reduce the rise in e-cigarette use by youths. However, he also uncovered evidence that youths responded to the bans by increasingly obtaining e-cigarettes through their social sources (friends, relatives, etc.).
鈥淭he study鈥檚 findings suggest that this policy should be supplemented with other measures that can reduce young people鈥檚 desire to obtain e-cigarettes through social sources, such as a ban on products with flavors that appeal to youths and children.鈥
The full paper can be read on the . For further information and to arrange interview, please contact Heidi Wicks (communications advisor, School of Pharmacy) at 749-7462, 864-8732 or wicksh@mun.ca