Smokers’ attitudes and support for e-cigarette policies and regulation in the USA
Menée à partir d'une enquête en ligne réalisée auprès de 519 fumeurs adultes avant la proposition de loi permettant à la "Food and Drug Administration" de réglementer les cigarettes électroniques (avril 2014), cette étude américaine évalue les connaissances des participants sur la réglementation de la cigarette électronique et analyse leurs attitudes vis-à-vis de possibles réglementations et politiques ciblant l'utilisation de ce produit
Background : In April 2014, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a rule to extend its tobacco regulatory authority to e-cigarettes, which have been unregulated and growing in use since their 2006–2007 US introduction. The FDA will issue a final rule based on comments and data received from researchers, tobacco companies and the public. We aimed to present data about current smokers’ awareness of and attitudes towards potential e-cigarette regulation and various policies in the USA.
Methods : We conducted a cross-sectional online e-cigarette focused survey of 519 adult current smokers in April 2014, before the FDA's proposed rule was announced. Participants were recruited from a private research panel (GFK's Knowledge Networks) designed to be representative of the US population.
Results : The majority of respondents (62.5%) did not know that e-cigarettes are unregulated by the FDA but agreed that e-cigarettes should be regulated by the FDA for safety and quality (83.5%), carry warning labels about their potential risks (86.6%) and have the same legal age of sale as other tobacco (87.7%). Support was similarly high among current e-cigarette users. Support was substantial though lower overall for policies to restrict e-cigarette indoor use (41.2%), flavouring (44.3%) and advertising (55.5%), and was negatively associated with current e-cigarette use.
Conclusions : Support for many e-cigarette regulatory policies is strong among smokers, including for policies that the FDA has recently proposed and potential future regulations. States considering indoor e-cigarette restrictions should know that a substantial number of current smokers support such regulations.
Tobacco Control , résumé, 2015