Young people living in one of four states with flavoring bans for e-cigarettes were only half as likely as peers in other states without such bans to start vaping, according to the results of a study issued today by JAMA Psychiatry.Why It’s Relevant
Nearly 90% of adolescent and young adult e-cigarette users prefer flavored e-liquids, and flavorings are frequently cited as a primary reason for the initiation of vaping. In 2020, several U.S. states implemented comprehensive e-cigarette flavor bans to close the loopholes in federal flavorings regulations, which exclude refillable and disposable e-cigarettes and all menthol-flavored vapes.
By the Numbers
- Researchers analyzed responses to the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study from four states that implemented sales bans for all flavored e-cigarettes—Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York—and compared them to 36 states without bans. They zeroed in on responses from 72,170 participants who had never used e-cigarettes at baseline and who later completed a subsequent interview.
- Among young adults (ages 18 to 24), e-cigarette flavor bans were associated with a more than 50% decrease in starting vaping from the pre-ban rate (6.05 percentage point decrease in initiation).
- However, no significant change was observed among adolescents (ages 12 to 17) or adults age ≥25 years. Furthermore, flavor bans didn’t reduce initiation among disadvantaged subpopulations, including those who are Black or Hispanic or who have household income ≤$50,000, psychosocial distress, or belong to a sexual minority.
The Other Side
The researchers relied on self-reported data, which could be subject to recall errors and social desirability bias. Furthermore, they categorized people as either never having used e-cigarettes or ever having used them, encompassing a wide range of use patterns from experimentation to daily use.
What’s Next
Future studies should examine the association of e-cigarette flavor bans with frequency of use, researchers said.
Related Information
Source:
Meng-Yun Lin, Ph.D., et al. State-level flavored e-cigarette bans and initiation rates among youths and adults. JAMA Psychiatry. Published January 5, 2026.
(Image: Getty Images/iStock/Yaroslav Litun)
