College Students' Reported Sources of Nicotine Vapes and Cigarettes After California's Restriction on Flavored...

California prohibited the sales of flavored tobacco products in brick-and-mortar stores effective December 21, 2022. California college students were surveyed about their use and source of nicotine vapes and/or cigarettes in 2024.

A cross-sectional, online survey of California students (N=3,921, aged 18-24 years) clustered in community colleges (n=112) and 4-year universities (n=54) was conducted in April-August 2024 using Qualtrics. Data were analyzed in January-May 2025. Students who reported past 30-day (i.e., current) nicotine vaping and/or cigarette smoking also reported their product flavor and source (i.e., brick-and-mortar store, online, other). Among those who reported current use of nicotine vapes (n=1,255) and cigarettes (n=935), 6 separate generalized linear mixed models estimated product source as a function of product flavor, adjusting for students' sociodemographics and tobacco product use characteristics.

Most students reported visiting a brick-and-mortar store to get their nicotine vapes or cigarettes (75.0% and 74.0%, respectively). Students who used only flavored vapes were less likely to get them from a store (63.4% vs 81.3%, AOR=0.39, 95% CI=0.25, 0.61) and, separately, online (12.1% vs 39.2%, AOR=0.29, 95% CI=0.20, 0.44) than students who used only unflavored vapes. However, students who smoked only menthol cigarettes were more likely to get cigarettes from a store than students who smoked only nonmenthol (74.8% vs 61.3%, AOR=1.96, 95% CI=1.30, 2.94).

More than 15 months after California prohibited the sales of flavored tobacco, brick-and-mortar stores were still the most common source for menthol cigarettes and flavored nicotine vapes among college students who used these products. Better enforcement is needed to eliminate sales of flavored tobacco.