Publications by authors named "Abigail S Friedman"

Importance: More than one-quarter of US residents live in states or localities that restrict sales of flavored electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), often as a means to reduce youth vaping. Yet, how these policies affect young adult vaping and smoking remains unclear.

Objective: To estimate the effects of ENDS flavor restrictions on ENDS use and cigarette smoking among young adults (age 18-29 years) in the US.

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Introduction: The use of cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) has likely changed since 2019 with the rise of pods and disposables, the lung injuries outbreak, flavour bans, Tobacco 21 and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Using the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study, we applied a multistate transition model to 28 061 adults in waves 4-5 (2017-2019) and 24 584 adults in waves 5-6 (2019-2021), estimating transition rates for initiation, cessation and switching products for each period overall and by age group.

Results: Cigarette initiation among adults who never used either product decreased from 2017-2019 to 2019-2021, but ENDS initiation did not significantly change.

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Article Synopsis
  • Secondhand smoke and e-cigarette aerosol exposure pose health risks, prompting many states to implement indoor smoking and vaping restrictions (ISR and IVR).
  • Data from 1990 to 2021 showed significant increases in comprehensive ISR for bars, restaurants, and workplaces but highlighted that less than half of the population in many states is fully protected.
  • While coverage has improved, the existing gaps in these policies may lead to ongoing health disparities related to tobacco use.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study analyzes the impact of Tobacco-21 (T21) policies on cigarette, cigar, and electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) use among 18- to 20-year-olds.
  • Increased coverage of T21 laws shows a significant decrease in tobacco use among this age group, particularly when policies do not include possession, use, or purchase (PUP) penalties.
  • The findings suggest that state policymakers should consider enacting T21 laws that omit PUP penalties to more effectively reduce underage tobacco and nicotine use.
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Introduction: Sales data analyses are increasingly used to guide tobacco regulatory science. However, such data do not cover specialist retailers like vape shops or tobacconists. Understanding the extent of the cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) markets covered by sales data is critical to establishing such analyses' generalizability and potential biases.

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Introduction: The use of cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) has likely changed since 2019 with the rise of pods and disposables, the outbreak of lung injuries related to vaping THC, flavor bans, and the COVID pandemic. We analyzed patterns of initiation, cessation, and transitions between cigarettes, ENDS, and dual use before and after 2019.

Methods: Using the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, we applied a multistate transition model to 28,061 adults in Waves 4-5 (2017-19) and 24,751 adults in Waves 5-6 (2019-21), estimating transition rates for initiation, cessation, and switching products for each period overall and by age group.

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Introduction: Sales data analyses are increasingly used to guide tobacco regulatory science. However, such data do not cover specialist retailers like vape shops or tobacconists. Understanding the extent of the cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) markets covered by sales data is critical to establishing such analyses' generalizability and potential biases.

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Objectives: Many annual, nationally representative US surveys that assess cannabis use do not collect information on product characteristics despite varying health risks and benefits. Capitalizing on a rich dataset of primarily medical users, the purpose of this study was to describe the degree of potential misclassification in clinically relevant cannabis use measures when primary mode of use is recorded but not product type.

Methods: Analyses consider user-level data from the Releaf App™ database on product types, consumption modes, and potencies in a non-nationally representative sample of 26,322 cannabis administration sessions occurring in 2018, across 3,258 users.

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Introduction: It is unknown how recent changes in the tobacco product marketplace have impacted transitions in cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) use.

Methods: A multistate transition model was applied to 24 242 adults and 12 067 youth in waves 2-4 (2015-2017) and 28 061 adults and 12 538 youth in waves 4 and 5 (2017-2019) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study. Transition rates for initiation, cessation and product transitions were estimated in multivariable models, accounting for gender, age group, race/ethnicity and daily versus non-daily product use.

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Over the past decade, rising youth use of e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) has contributed to aggressive regulation by state and local governments. Between 2010 and mid-2019, ten states and two large counties adopted ENDS taxes. We use two large national surveys (Monitoring the Future and the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System) to estimate the impact of ENDS taxes on youth tobacco use.

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To estimate whether state Medicaid expansions' relationships to breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening differ by race/ethnicity. Analyses conducted in 2021 used 2011-2016 and 2018-2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data on adults aged 40 to 64 years with household incomes below 400% of the federal poverty guideline (FPG; n = 537 250). Triple-difference analyses compared cancer screening in Medicaid expansion versus nonexpansion states, before versus after expansion, among people with incomes above versus below the eligibility cutoff (138% FPG).

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Background And Aims: Although over half of United States states have passed taxes on electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), recent evidence links ENDS tax rates to increases in smoking, suggesting potentially substantive health costs. Overall health implications will depend on how these taxes affect transitions from experimentation to regular smoking and vaping. Current analyses have not assessed ENDS tax rates' effects in young adulthood (ages 18-25).

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Background: The United States' 2019 outbreak of e-cigarette or vaping-associated lung injuries (EVALI) was linked to an additive most common in informally-sourced vaporizable marijuana concentrates. This study estimates how states' recreational and medical marijuana policies related to their 2019 EVALI incidence and residents' likelihood of vaping as their primary mode of marijuana use.

Methods: Multivariable negative binomial regressions estimated associations between states' total 2019 EVALI cases and marijuana policies: recreational legalization, medical legalization only, and whether medical-only policies allowed home cultivation, prohibited combustible use, or had operational dispensaries.

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Aggressive deportation policy enforcement in the US may make undocumented immigrants and those close to them reluctant to seek medical care. With 68 percent of undocumented immigrants coming from Mexico or Central America, US deportation policies particularly affect Hispanic residents. To examine how deportation enforcement relates to health care use in the Hispanic population in general, we matched survey data from the 2011-16 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to measures of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity.

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This difference-in-differences analysis compared San Francisco, California, with 7 other districts in California, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania to explore the association of a policy completely banning flavored tobacco with tobacco use.

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Background And Aims: In the United States, some states and localities have added vaping restrictions to established smoke-free indoor air laws in order to reduce electronic cigarette use. Yet, if smokers use e-cigarettes to quit, such restrictions could have the unintended effect of attenuating the original smoke-free air policy's effects on smoking. This study estimated changes in current smoking, past-year smoking cessation, and recent vaping following the introduction of smoke- and vape-free air laws.

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Background And Aims: Responses to the 2019 US outbreak of 'e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury' (EVALI) ranged from temporary restrictions on nicotine e-cigarette sales to critiques of state cannabis policies. However, if either mass-marketed nicotine e-cigarettes or cannabis use per se drove this outbreak, as opposed to an additive in regionally available black-market e-liquids, states' rates of vaping and/or cannabis use should predict their EVALI prevalence. This study tests that relationship.

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Introduction: As of February 18, 2020, states have reported 2,807 cases of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most cases involved cannabinoids. This study identifies current risk factors for adult marijuana vaping by analyzing 2017 and 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data.

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