NATO implores FDA to place more emphasis on educating social sources and less on restrictive policies for retailers.
Preliminary findings from the long-term Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute of Health has revealed the sources by which underage youth attain cigarettes and other tobacco products.
The PATH study, which began in 2013 and will continue through 2022, is intended to gain a better understanding of tobacco use and behaviors, according to the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO). The final findings of the PATH study will be used by the FDA to propose future tobacco regulations.
According to a report from NATO, the study has revealed that a vast majority of underage youth relies on social sources, including older siblings, friends, parents or strangers, for attaining tobacco products. The PATH study revealed that only 14% of 15 to 17 year olds report buying their own cigarettes from a retail source. The remaining 86% of underage youth tobacco users obtain cigarettes by asking someone else for cigarettes or being offered cigarettes from someone (43%), giving someone else money to buy cigarettes (32%), buying cigarettes from another person or taking cigarettes from someone or from a retail store (7%) or obtaining cigarettes from some other non-retail source (5%).
The study also found that 11% of underage tobacco users purchase e-cigarettes themselves from a retail location. The remaining 89% of 15 to 17 year old tobacco users claim to rely on social sources. 57% report asking someone else for e-cigarettes or being offered e-cigarettes by someone, 17% report giving someone money to buy e-cigarettes, 10% obtain them from other non-retail sources, and 6% buy them from another person or take them from someone or from a retail store.
NATO noted that these initial findings from the PATH study are virtually the same as those found in a study published in August of 2014 in the Journal of School Health titled “Usual Source of Cigarettes and Alcohol Among U.S. High School Students.” This earlier study found that 85.9% of underage youth obtained cigarettes from social sources rather than buying cigarettes in a retail store.
The findings of these two studies have led NATO to urge lawmakers not to adopt restrictive regulations for retailers, because doing so will not reduce youth access to tobacco, because the majority of underage youth relies on social sources to attain tobacco products. According to NATO, lawmakers and health policy advocates would be better served to take action to solve the social sources issue to reduce youth access to tobacco products.
NATO hopes that these preliminary findings from the PATH study will act as a catalyst for the FDA, lawmakers and anti- tobacco advocates to work toward preventing minors from obtaining tobacco products from complicit adults. The findings in the PATH study calls for proactive efforts to educate adults not to be a social source of tobacco products to further prevent youth access to tobacco.