Smoke or Vapor: Regulation of Tobacco and Vaping 

Summary

Given the well-known health harms of smoking, tobacco is regulated and taxed nearly everywhere in the world. With the introduction of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), commonly known as e-cigarettes, new questions have arisen about the risks to health from their use and whether they should be regulated as strictly as tobacco. In some quarters, the possibility that e-cigarettes and vaping could deliver an attractive, smoking-like sensory experience while avoiding the health harms that accompany combusting and inhaling tobacco has been greeted with enthusiasm, since the new products could help some smokers transition to a less risky product. In other quarters, and in much of the American public health community, e-cigarettes were greeted with skepticism and hostility, since they could potentially renormalize smoking, set back the great gains in tobacco control of the past several decades, and hook a new generation of young people on nicotine and smoking. This chapter covers the regulatory history of tobacco and e-cigarettes, summarizes upcoming regulatory actions and challenges, discusses the key issues involved in the regulation of these activities, and includes suggestions for better regulation.

This publication may be cited as:

Prieger, J. E. (2020). Smoke or vapor: Regulation of tobacco and vaping. In A. Hoffer & T. Nesbit (eds.), Regulation and Economic Opportunity: Blueprints for Reform. Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University.

The chapter is available on the Center for Growth and Opportunity's website, as is the entire book.

The data underlying all the figures in the chapter is available here.

Corrigendum

Figure 2 in the publication, Growth of State and Federal Excise Taxation on Cigarettes, has an incorrect legend. The corrected figure is available below and the source data are here.