Electronic Nicotine Delivery Devices Function as a Complement for Cigarillos in Sexual and Gender Minority Young...

Cigarillos are the second most used tobacco product among younger populations. The highest prevalence of the use of cigars is among sexual and gender minority (SGM) women. Policy interventions like flavor bans and the availability of alternative tobacco products may have a disparate effect.

The current study utilized an online store analog, The experimental tobacco marketplace, to investigate the effects of cigarillo and electronic nicotine delivery devices (ENDS) flavor bans on tobacco product purchasing. SGM (n = 72) and cisgender heterosexual (CisHet; n = 46) women viewed conditions in which cigarillo flavors were available or unavailable and ENDS flavors available or unavailable and the interaction between the two. Mixed models were conducted on each dependent variable with condition, price, and SGM identity as predictors and nicotine dependence, annual income, and race/ethnicity as covariates. Simple linear regressions were performed to determine the substitution profile for each tobacco product. Condition showed no effect.

We found a main effect of price on cigarillo purchasing and a main effect of SGM identity in which SGM women purchased more ENDS than CisHet women. A complementary association between cigarillos and ENDS in which ENDS purchasing decreased as cigarillo purchasing decreased was found. This association was irrespective of flavor ban conditions and among SGM women only.

These results suggest that flavor availability of cigarillos and ENDS may not influence women who use cigarillos to move to another tobacco product and that women SGM cigarillo users are not likely to substitute their cigarillo smoking behavior with ENDS.

The results of this study suggest that SGM women are not likely to quit using cigarillos if flavors are removed from the market and instead will use unflavored products. Substituting their cigarillo use with ENDS does not appear likely given the complementary relation found between cigarillos and ENDS. The substitution patterns found for cigarettes and ENDS are not found for cigarillos and ENDS among young adult women who use cigarillos, further demonstrating the need for research on the conditions in which people who use cigarillos will decrease consumption or switch to a potentially less harmful product.