Youth Protection Proves Effective for E-Cigarettes
Research
14.11.2023
ZEW Researcher Reveals: Raising the Minimum Age for E-Cigarettes Deters Under-18s from Vaping
E-cigarettes contain fewer harmful substances than traditional cigarettes, but are still harmful to health. As a result, their sale has been regulated in many countries. However, as youth protection can be easily circumvented, debates about its effectiveness continue. A recent study by Professor Nicolas Ziebarth from ZEW Mannheim, based on longitudinal data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse in the USA, demonstrates that youth protection is indeed effective.
Increasing the minimum age for purchasing e-cigarettes to 18 in the USA led to a decline in consumption among adolescents. Occasional use fell by 15 to 20 per cent, while regular use saw a drop of 20 to 40 per cent. These findings are transferable to Germany due to similar societal structures and comparable youth protection measures. “The results are clear: youth protection measures work! Since only the laws regarding the acquisition of vapes changed during the study period, but not those for conventional tobacco products, the differences can be attributed solely to the access to e-cigarettes,” explains Professor Nicolas Ziebarth, head of ZEW’s “Labour Markets and Social Insurance” Unit, and co-author of the study.
Later start of consumption due to higher minimum age
In the USA, there were various regulations for the purchase of e-cigarettes until the introduction of a standardized federal law in 2016. The study relies on nationally representative data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse on 12th-grade high school students from the longitudinal study “Monitoring the Future”, where over 22,000 e-cigarette users were surveyed within eight months after turning 18, from 2014 to 2017. In states where legal purchase was only possible from the age of 18, the values differed significantly from states with no regulations.
The study demonstrates that in states without age restrictions, significantly more adolescents started using e-cigarettes before they turned 18, whereas in states with age restrictions, many did not start vaping until after their 18th birthday. This underscores how effectively youth protection has shielded the under-18 age group from e-cigarette consumption.
