Examining the Comprehensiveness of Amended Flavored Tobacco Product Sales Restrictions

Abstract

Context: Flavored tobacco products contribute significantly to youth tobacco initiation and tobacco use disparities. In the last decade, 362 jurisdictions have enacted policies restricting the sale of flavored tobacco products; however, many policies are not fully comprehensive due to menthol and adult-only retailer exemptions. Although several of these restrictions have been amended since their original passage, to date, little is known about how amendments have affected policy comprehensiveness. Objective: To describe how amendments to flavored tobacco product sales restrictions affect policy comprehensiveness. Design: We identified flavored tobacco product sales restrictions that had been amended at least once using an internal database of US state and local flavored tobacco product sales restrictions. To characterize policy comprehensiveness, we applied a 6-level flavored tobacco policy classification scheme—level 6 being most comprehensive—to amended restrictions. We conducted a descriptive analysis of each initial policy and its most recent amendment to identify changes in retailer, product, and flavor inclusions, as well as overall comprehensiveness. Main Outcome Measure(s): Comprehensiveness of amended flavored tobacco product sales restrictions. Results: As of March 31, 2022, no states and 50 localities had amended their flavored tobacco product sales restriction. Amendments largely increased policy comprehensiveness; most laws prior to amendment were categorized as level 1 (n = 28, 56.0%), while after amendment, the plurality were categorized as level 6 (n = 25, 50.0%). Most commonly, amendments removed menthol exemptions (n ≥ 30, 60.0%) and adult-only retailer exemptions (n = 12, 24.0%). Conclusions: Several local flavored tobacco product sales restrictions have been amended. Nearly all amendments increased policy comprehensiveness, primarily by removing exemptions for menthol products and exemptions for adult-only retailers. While policy advocates remain focused on passing comprehensive policies at initial passage, amendments have served as a tool to strengthen existing sales restrictions. This study along with ongoing flavored tobacco product sales restriction surveillance can inform policy advocacy and evaluation efforts.