Youth E-Cigarette Initiation After the Food and Drug Administration's Missed Deadline

Elizabeth K Do; Elizabeth C Hair; Emily M Donovan; Carlin D Nelson; Tatum McKay; Donna M Vallone; Barbara A Schillo

doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2023.04.015

Youth E-Cigarette Initiation After the Food and Drug Administration's Missed Deadline

Am J Prev Med. 2023 Nov;65(5):886-891. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2023.04.015. Epub 2023 May 2.

Authors

Elizabeth K Do¹, Elizabeth C Hair², Emily M Donovan³, Carlin D Nelson³, Tatum McKay³, Donna M Vallone², Barbara A Schillo³

Affiliations

¹ Truth Initiative Schroeder Institute, Washington, District of Columbia; Department of Epidemiology, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia. Electronic address: edo@truthinitiative.org.
² Truth Initiative Schroeder Institute, Washington, District of Columbia; Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, New York.
³ Truth Initiative Schroeder Institute, Washington, District of Columbia.

PMID: 37141951
DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2023.04.015

Abstract

Introduction: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration was ordered to evaluate electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products by September 9, 2021, but missed the court-ordered deadline. This study provides an estimate of electronic cigarette (E-cigarette) use initiation among youth and young adults after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's missed deadline.

Methods: Data were obtained from the Truth Longitudinal Cohort, a probability-based longitudinal sample of youth and young adults aged between 15 and 24 years (N=1,393). Respondents were surveyed at baseline (July-October 2021) and at follow-up (January-June 2022). Individuals who had not previously used any E-cigarette products were included in analyses conducted in 2022.

Results: Results indicate that 6.9% of youth and young adults had initiated E-cigarette use, suggesting that about 900,000 youth aged 15-17 years and 320,000 young adults aged 18-20 years initiated E-cigarette use after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's missed court-ordered deadline.

Conclusions: Over a million youth and young adults initiated E-cigarette use after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's missed court-ordered deadline. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration needs to continue evaluating premarket tobacco product applications, enforce decisions on premarket tobacco product applications, and remove E-cigarettes that are deemed harmful to public health to effectively address the E-cigarette epidemic among young people.