Impact of Canada's menthol cigarette ban on quitting among menthol smokers: pooled analysis of pre-post evaluation from the ITC Project and the Ontario Menthol Ban Study and projections of impact in the USA.

Introduction: Between 2015 and 2018, Canada banned menthol cigarettes. This study pooled data from two pre-post cohort studies (the Ontario Menthol Ban Study, and the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation (ITC) Canada Survey, conducted in seven provinces) to derive more precise estimates of the impact of Canada's menthol ban on quitting and to apply these estimates to project the impact of a menthol ban in the USA.

Methods: Weighted multivariable logistic analyses compared post-ban quit success of menthol smokers with non-menthol smokers (for daily smokers and for all (daily + non-daily) smokers), controlling for sex, age, ethnicity, education, baseline smoking status, baseline cigarettes per day and study regions.

Taking global leadership in banning menthol and other flavours in tobacco: Canada's experience.

Measures to ban or restrict menthol and other flavours in tobacco products are under consideration or newly implemented in an increasing number of jurisdictions across the world. As one of the world leaders, Canada's experience in successfully developing and implementing such measures can be instructive for other jurisdictions. This paper explores the history of how Canada was able to implement tobacco flavour bans including menthol, examines some of the challenges and presents lessons learnt for other jurisdictions.

Machine learning applications in tobacco research: a scoping review.

Objective: Identify and review the body of tobacco research literature that self-identified as using machine learning (ML) in the analysis.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, EMABSE, PubMed, CINAHL Plus, APA PsycINFO and IEEE Xplore databases were searched up to September 2020. Studies were restricted to peer-reviewed, English-language journal articles, dissertations and conference papers comprising an empirical analysis where ML was identified to be the method used to examine human experience of tobacco.

Return on investment of Canadian tobacco control policies implemented between 2001 and 2016.

Objectives: To determine the return on investment (ROI) associated with tobacco control policies implemented between 2001 and 2016 in Canada.

Methods: Canadian expenditures on tobacco policies were collected from government sources. The economic benefits considered in our analyses (decrease in healthcare costs, productivity costs and monetised life years lost, as well as tax revenues) were based on the changes in smoking prevalence and attributable deaths derived from the SimSmoke simulation model for the period 2001-2016.

Trends in the Prevalence of Current, Daily, and Nondaily Cigarette Smoking and Quit Ratios by Depression Status in the U.S.: 2005-2017.

Introduction: Cigarette smoking remains more common among individuals with depression. This study investigates whether cigarette quit ratios and cigarette use prevalence have changed differentially by depression status during the past decade.

Methods: National Survey on Drug Use and Health data (2005-2017) were analyzed in 2019.

Ban on menthol-flavoured tobacco products predicts cigarette cessation at 1 year: a population cohort study.

Objectives: The province of Ontario, Canada, banned the use of menthol-flavoured tobacco products as of 1 January 2017. The long-term impact of a menthol ban on smoking behaviour has not been previously evaluated.

Methods: Population cohort study with baseline survey conducted September-December 2016 and follow-up January-August 2018 among residents of Ontario, Canada, 16 years old and over who reported current smoking (past 30 days) at baseline survey and completed follow-up (n=913) including 187 reporting smoking menthol cigarettes daily, 420 reported smoking menthol cigarettes occasionally, and 306 were non-menthol cigarette smokers.

Is blue the new green? Repackaging menthol cigarettes in response to a flavour ban in Ontario, Canada.

Background: As of 1 January 2017, the Canadian province of Ontario banned the distribution and sale of menthol tobacco products. There is limited knowledge about how tobacco companies will adapt their packaging in response to a menthol ban.

Methods: We conducted a content analysis of preban traditional menthol (no capsule) and menthol capsule cigarette packs and their postban replacements.

Association of flavoured cigar regulations with wholesale tobacco volumes in Canada: an interrupted time series analysis.

Introduction: This study examines the association of Federal Canadian regulations passed in 2009 addressing flavours (excluding menthol) in small cigars with changes in cigar sales.

Methods: Quarterly wholesale unit data as reported to Health Canada from 2001 through 2016 were analysed using interrupted time series analysis. Changes in sales of cigars with and without flavour descriptors were estimated.

Impacts of Canada's minimum age for tobacco sales (MATS) laws on youth smoking behaviour, 2000-2014.

Background: Recently, the US Institute of Medicine has proposed that raising the minimum age for tobacco purchasing/sales to 21 years would likely lead to reductions in smoking behavior among young people. Surprisingly few studies, however, have assessed the potential impacts of minimum-age tobacco restrictions on youth smoking.

Objective: To estimate the impacts of Canadian minimum age for tobacco sales (MATS) laws on youth smoking behaviour.

Tobacco retail availability and risk of relapse among smokers who make a quit attempt: a population-based cohort study.

Introduction: The availability of tobacco is thought to influence smoking behaviour, but there are few longitudinal studies examining if the location and number of tobacco outlets has a prospective impact on smoking cessation.

Methods: The Ontario Tobacco Survey, a population-representative sample of Ontario adult smokers who were followed every 6 months for up to 3 years, was linked with tobacco outlet location data from the Ontario Ministry of Health. Proximity (distance), threshold (at least one outlet within 500 m) and density (number of outlets within 500 m) with respect to a smokers' home were calculated among urban and suburban current smokers (n=2414).

Health professional advice, use of medications and smoking cessation: A population-based prospective cohort study.

Introduction: The mediating role of cessation medications in the association between health professional advice and quitting behaviors is unclear.

Methods: Data were from the Ontario Tobacco Survey longitudinal study, collected between July 2005 and June 2011 in Ontario, Canada. The analytic sample included 3437 baseline smokers who were seen by health professionals during follow-up.

Tobacco retail outlets and vulnerable populations in Ontario, Canada.

Interest has been increasing in regulating the location and number of tobacco vendors as part of a comprehensive tobacco control program. The objective of this paper is to examine the distribution of tobacco outlets in a large jurisdiction, to assess: (1) whether tobacco outlets are more likely to be located in vulnerable areas; and (2) what proportion of tobacco outlets are located close to schools. Retail locations across the Province of Ontario from Ministry of Health Promotion data were linked to 2006 Census data at the neighbourhood level.

Do components of current 'hardcore smoker' definitions predict quitting behaviour?

Aims: It has been hypothesized that the smoking population is represented by an increasingly 'hardcore' group of smokers who are resistant to quitting. Many definitions of 'hardcore smokers' have been used, but their predictive validity is unknown. To evaluate whether 'hardcore smoker' definition components predict quitting behaviours and which combinations of 'hardcore' components are most predictive.

Taking stock a bibliometric analysis of the focus of tobacco research from the 1980s to the 2000s.

Background: Little is known about the body of tobacco research as a whole.

Purpose: This paper examines the changes in literature focus (1980s to 2000s) and identifies areas in need of increased attention.

Methods: Tobacco articles randomly selected from searches of the MEDLINE and Web of Science databases were coded according to (1) epidemiologic framework component; (2) study focus; and (3) form of tobacco.

"Hardcore" definitions and their application to a population-based sample of smokers.

Introduction: As smoking prevalence declines, some suggest that so-called "hardcore" smokers will come to represent a growing and irreducible proportion of current smokers ("hardening hypothesis"). Different definitions of a "hardcore" smoker have been used in the literature. This paper describes population-based definitions of "hardcore" smokers and compares estimates of the prevalence of "hardcore" smokers derived using these definitions.

A systematic review of longitudinal studies on the association between depression and smoking in adolescents.

Background: It is well-established that smoking and depression are associated in adolescents, but the temporal ordering of the association is subject to debate.

Methods: Longitudinal studies in English language which reported the onset of smoking on depression in non clinical populations (age 13-19) published between January 1990 and July 2008 were selected from PubMed, OVID, and PsychInfo databases. Study characteristics were extracted.

Population health and the hardcore smoker: Geoffrey Rose revisited.

The "hardening hypothesis" suggests that as smoking prevalence decreases, lighter smokers will quit first, leaving more "hardcore" smokers in the population. At a population level, however, the weight of evidence suggests that no hardening is occurring. By understanding the lessons from Geoffrey Rose's model of population-level risk factor change, we argue that the hardening of the smoking population is not inevitable.

Environment modifies the association between depression symptoms and smoking among adolescents.

Previous studies have shown a strong correlation between depression and smoking, but the mechanism underlying the relationship is not well understood. This study examined whether the prevalence of smoking in schools influences the relationship between smoking and depression symptoms at the individual level. Information on demographics, tobacco use, and depression symptoms for 3,382 students in Grades 7-12 from 126 schools in Ontario, Canada, was obtained from the 2003 Ontario Student Drug Use Survey (E.

The Heaviness of Smoking Index as a predictor of smoking cessation in Canada.

Nicotine addiction is believed to be a major impediment for many people in quitting smoking, but measures of nicotine dependence such as the Heaviness of Smoking Index (HSI) have had mixed success in predicting cessation. Using the National Population Health Survey, the relationship between HSI at baseline in cycle 2 (1996-1997) and successful smoking cessation at cycle 3 (1998-1999) and cycle 4 (2000-2001) was examined in 2938 Canadian adult smokers. A logistic regression model was developed for HSI as a predictor of smoking cessation, and then tested for interaction and confounding.

Smoker preference for "elastic cigarettes" in the Canadian cigarette market.

Elastic cigarettes are characterized by yields of constituents that increase proportionally faster than smoke volume as cigarettes are smoked more intensely. Elasticity may function to overcome physical limitations in increasing puff volume during nicotine-seeking behaviour. The purpose of this study was to determine if there are elastic cigarettes in the Canadian cigarette market and to determine smoker preference for elastic cigarettes.