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6 <br />supported a menthol cigarette ban,23 with a <br />2012 survey in two metropolitan areas indicating <br />similar support (60%).24 More recently, a 2014- <br />15 survey found that 33% of U.S. adults support <br />a menthol ban, whereas 62% did not support one. <br />One possible explanation for this divergence is <br />that the latter survey did not remind participants <br />about the 2009 flavored cigarette ban or indicate <br />that a scientific panel told the FDA that removing <br />menthol cigarettes would reduce the number of <br />people who start smoking.22 Support for a <br />menthol cigarette ban also appears to be higher <br />among never and former smokers, non-whites <br />(including African Americans), the less educated, <br />females, and older adults.22-25 <br /> <br />Public support data on little cigars and cigarillos <br />are limited to a single study from 2014-15, which <br />found 56% of U.S. adults supported banning <br />candy and fruit flavors. Nearly 40% did not <br />support this policy, with 4% indicating they did <br />not know.22 Data regarding flavor bans or <br />restrictions of other tobacco products were not <br />identified as part of our literature search. <br /> <br />PUBLIC HEALTH IMPACT <br />A comprehensive flavor ban or restriction may <br />impact two key groups: 1) youth and young <br />adults and 2) adults who smoke and vape. For <br />youth and young adults, it has been argued that <br />these policies will reduce smoking and vaping via <br />reduced attractiveness and less palatable <br />products. Others have stated that these policies <br />or particular provisions may encourage adults <br />who vape to switch to cigarettes, which would <br />be an unintended consequence to the extent <br />one can argue e-cigarettes may be less harmful <br />than cigarettes. Policies that include exemptions <br />to particular flavors, such as menthol/mint, or to <br />particular products, such as cigars, risk losing <br />their effectiveness (e.g., youth e-cigarette users <br />may switch to menthol flavor only) or risk <br />funneling current users to exempted products <br />(e.g., adult e-cigarette users may switch to <br />cigars). The literature modeling or evaluating <br />comprehensive flavor bans or restrictions is <br />limited; however, there are additional modeling <br />studies suggestive of what might occur for <br />product-specific bans or restrictions on e- <br />cigarettes, menthol cigarettes, and cigars. <br />Comprehensive Flavored Tobacco <br />Product Ban or Restriction <br /> <br />In 2010, New York City restricted sales of <br />flavored cigars, cigarillos, little cigars, chew, <br />snuff, snus, tobacco, pipe tobacco, roll-your-own <br />tobacco, and dissolvables, excluding menthol. <br />Evaluation data suggest sales of all flavored <br />tobacco products declined by 87%, with sales of <br />flavored cigars decreasing by 86% and flavored <br />pipe and roll-your-own cigarettes decreasing by <br />91%. As compared to 2010, teens in New York <br />City during 2013 had 37% lower odds of ever <br />trying flavored tobacco products and 28% lower <br />odds of using any type of tobacco product. Sales <br />of non-flavored tobacco products did not <br />significantly increase, but product-specific sales <br />of non-flavored cigars and pipe and roll-your- <br />own increased by 5% and 4%, respectively. <br />These increases in non-flavored product-specific <br />sales may have been due to the restriction; <br />however, they also came during a period of <br />increasing national cigar sales. It should be <br />noted that the New York City restriction did not <br />cover e-cigarettes and therefore they were not <br />included as part of the study’s results.26 Another <br />study of discarded cigar packages in New York <br />City following the comprehensive restriction, <br />found 19% of the discarded packages were <br />products with characterizing flavors and 9% <br />were products with concept flavors. Concept <br />flavoring in cigars along with the availability of <br />flavored products from neighboring jurisdictions <br />remain a challenge for New York City.27 <br /> <br />In 2013, Providence, Rhode Island restricted the <br />sale of all non-cigarette tobacco products with <br />characterizing flavors and included an <br />exemption for menthol. An assessment of the <br />impact of the policy found a 51% decrease in <br />flavored cigar sales after policy implementation <br />compared to a 10% sales increase in other areas <br />within the state that had no such policy.