Early assessment of compliance with California's flavoured tobacco sales prohibition: evidence from vape shops.

Abstract

Objective: In December 2022, California became the second US state to prohibit the sale of most flavoured tobacco/nicotine products. To our knowledge, this is the first observational study to assess violations of California's law. It reports on the availability of flavoured vape products in vape shops and tests whether flavoured vape products were more common in vape shops nearer to college campuses compared with those farther from college campuses, adjusting for neighbourhood demographics.

Methods: Between April and July 2023, observations were recorded at vape shops (n=400) nearer to (≤3 miles) or farther from (>3 miles) a college campus. Vape shops were the focus of this study because a large proportion (48.2%) of US young adults purchase vapes from these venues. Availability of any disposable nicotine vapes, JUUL pods and flavoured varieties of these products were recorded. Multivariable logistic regressions tested relationships between flavoured product availability, proximity to a college campus and store neighbourhood demographics.

Results: In violation of California's law, flavoured disposable vapes and/or JUUL pods were available in 50.3% of all vape shops studied. Flavoured disposable vapes were in 53.2% of vape shops with any disposable vapes, and flavoured JUUL pods were in 30.9% of vape shops with any JUUL pods. Contrary to expectation, no significant relationships were identified between the availability of flavoured vapes and proximity to a college campus or store neighbourhood demographics.

Conclusions: This study revealed high rates of violations among vape shops within 4 to 7 months after the implementation of California's law. Efforts to improve retailer education and enforcement are warranted.