Think Globally, Act Locally: Local Tobacco Control

Extract

This month’s issue of Nicotine & Tobacco Research includes several studies of tobacco control policy initiatives (including regarding Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems; ENDS) from global frameworks¹ to federal initiatives² to local policies.^3,4 While it would be ideal to implement effective tobacco control policies that influence the largest possible population to maximize benefits to public health, it may not always be possible to pass national legislation to do so. In fact, England’s Department of Health tobacco control plan⁵ specifically mentions shifting focus from national legislation to the local level in an attempt to support quitting behavior.

Two local policy initiatives within the United States were examined in this month’s issue: the impact of local laws restricting the sale of menthol and other flavored ENDS and tobacco products³ and the impact of local “Tobacco 21” laws⁴ in which the sale of products identified as “tobacco products” by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA), including ENDS, is limited to those who are at least 21 years old. Rogers et al.³ sought to assess the quality of evidence (using GRADE⁶ ratings) regarding the effectiveness of local laws restricting the sale of flavored (including menthol) ENDS and tobacco products in the United States. While they³ report only low-quality evidence to support the influence of local laws restricting the sale of flavored ENDS and tobacco products on quitting behavior, the evidence ranged from moderate to moderate-to-high quality regarding the association between such policies and reduced flavored product availability, reduced marketing and sales of flavored products, and reduced prevalence of ENDS and tobacco product use.