Where Do Vapers Buy Their Vaping Supplies? Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) 4 Country Smoking and Vaping Survey
by
David C. Braak 1, K. Michael Cummings 2,3,*
, Georges J. Nahhas 2,3, Bryan W. Heckman 2,3, Ron Borland 4,5, Geoffrey T. Fong 6,7,8, David Hammond 9, Christian Boudreau 10, Ann McNeill 11, David T. Levy 12 and Ce Shang 13
David C. Braak 1, K. Michael Cummings 2,3,*, Georges J. Nahhas 2,3, Bryan W. Heckman 2,3, Ron Borland 4,5, Geoffrey T. Fong 6,7,8, David Hammond 9, Christian Boudreau 10, Ann McNeill 11, David T. Levy 12 and Ce Shang 13
1
Colleges of Graduate Studies and Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
2
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
3
Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
4
Nigel Gray Fellowship Group, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne 3004, Australia
5
School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, Melbourne 3220, Australia
6
Department of Psychology and School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
7
Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
8
Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, ON M5G 0A3, Canada
9
School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
10
Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
11
Department of Addictions, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
12
Department of Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USA
13
Oklahoma Tobacco Research Center, Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(3), 338; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16030338
Received: 19 December 2018 / Revised: 18 January 2019 / Accepted: 19 January 2019 / Published: 26 January 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electronic Cigarettes: Good and Bad Impacts)
Aim: This study examines where vapers purchase their vaping refills in countries having different regulations over such devices, Canada (CA), the United States (US), England (EN), and Australia (AU). Methods: Data were available from 1899 current adult daily and weekly vapers who participated in the 2016 (Wave 1) International Tobacco Control Four Country Smoking and Vaping. The outcome was purchase location of vaping supplies (online, vape shop, other). Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were reported for between country comparisons. Results: Overall, 41.4% of current vapers bought their vaping products from vape shops, 27.5% bought them online, and 31.1% from other retail locations. The vast majority of vapers (91.1%) reported using nicotine-containing e-liquids. In AU, vapers were more likely to buy online vs other locations compared to CA (OR = 6.4, 2.3–17.9), the US (OR = 4.1, 1.54–10.7), and EN (OR = 7.9, 2.9–21.8). In the US, they were more likely to buy from vape shops (OR = 3.3, 1.8–6.2) or online (OR = 1.9, 1.0–3.8) vs other retail locations when compared to those in EN. In CA, vapers were more likely to purchase at vape shops than at other retail locations when compared to vapers in EN (5.9, 3.2–10.9) and the US (1.87, 1.0–3.1). Conclusions: The regulatory environment and enforcement of such regulations appear to influence the location where vapers buy their vaping products. In AU, banning the retail sale of nicotine vaping products has led vapers to rely mainly on online purchasing sources, whereas the lack of enforcement of the same regulation in CA has allowed specialty vape shops to flourish.
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Keywords:
electronic cigarettes; vaping; vaping policies
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Braak, D.C.; Cummings, K.M.; Nahhas, G.J.; Heckman, B.W.; Borland, R.; Fong, G.T.; Hammond, D.; Boudreau, C.; McNeill, A.; Levy, D.T.; Shang, C. Where Do Vapers Buy Their Vaping Supplies? Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) 4 Country Smoking and Vaping Survey. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 338.
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