Why do states pass e-cigarette regulations?

E-cigarettes are rapidly emerging products in United States tobacco markets. These products, which do not contain tobacco and allow users to inhale a vapor solution that may contain nicotine, are used as a smoking cessation device and as a substitute for traditional tobacco cigarettes. Although these products offer addicted smokers a potentially less harmful way to continue using nicotine, there is great concern in the public health community regarding the full health implications of e-cigarettes. Moreover, public health advocates argue that e-cigarettes will encourage youth to take up tobacco smoking and/or offset the overall downward trend in tobacco smoking that has occurred in the U.S. over the past several decades, largely due to an aggressive anti-smoking campaign supported by governments of all levels.

Due to concerns regarding the health consequences of e-cigarettes, numerous states have implemented regulations on e-cigarette sales, use, and features.  In this study we seek to determine the importance of various state-level characteristics in the implementation of e-cigarette regulations.  We consider three categories of e-cigarette regulations. The first category, legislative regulation, is concerned with e-cigarettes’ legal status and includes laws defining e-cigarettes separately from tobacco cigarettes, whether a state allows localities to enact e-cigarette laws that are more restrictive than the state law, and whether a product must contain nicotine to be legally defined as an e-cigarette. The second category, youth regulations, includes restrictions over the sales of e-cigarettes to minors and includes a minimum age requirement for purchasing e-cigarettes, restrictions on e-cigarette vending machines, and age verification requirements for internet sales. Lastly, we examine whether states ban the use of e-cigarettes in specific public venues (e.g., hospitals, jails, schools).

We explore the policy, political, and demographic factors that predict whether a state regulates the e-cigarette market, and how the state chooses to regulate. To do so, we combine data from various sources (e.g., survey data, legal analysis of state statues, administrative datasets) over the period 2005 to 2013.  Preliminary results based on regression models that include state and year fixed effects suggest that implementation of any e-cigarette regulation in these three categories is associated with state tobacco production (a proxy for the strength of the tobacco industry within a state) and average education levels. Additionally, state health expenditure is negatively associated with implementation of any regulation.  Somewhat surprisingly, political party of the governor, tobacco smoking venue-specific policies, and cigarette taxes do not predict the passage of e-cigarette regulations. Consistent with the economic literature that explores predictors of cigarette taxes; our findings confirm the importance of state tobacco production.  By shedding light on why states chose to regulate e-cigarettes, our findings offer insight on the potential effectiveness of these regulations for influencing both tobacco cigarette use and e-cigarette use.