Dozens of countries have issued regulations simply prohibiting the import and sale of e-cigarettes. These policies are under attack in Brazil and Thailand (again). Industry advocates argue that a better policy would be to legalize and regulate these products.
The actual evidence tells a very different story. While policies prohibiting the import and sale of e-cigarettes do not prevent all use, they dramatically reduce it.
For example, in Brazil and Thailand, youth use is about one-tenth of what they were in the US, which has taken a much more laze faire approach. Adult use is also dramatically lower in Brazil and Turkey than the US.
| Youth | Adults | |
| Brazil (2019) | 2.8% (age 13-17) | 0.6% (age 15+) |
| Turkey (2016) | 1.1% (age 15+) | |
| Thailand (2019) | 3.7% (seventh grade) | |
| US (2019) | 27.5% (middle school) 10.5% (high school) | 4.5% (age 18+) |
| Sources: Brazil 2019 National School Health Survey; Patanavich et al. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2021;22(7):2199-2207; Cullen et al. JAMA. 2019;322(21):2095; Cornelius et al. MMWR 2020;69:1736; McCabe et al. J Adolesc Health. 2020;67:531; Obisesan et al. JAMA Intern Med. 2020;180:1394; | ||
In addition, unlike the US and other countries with permissive e-cigarette policies, Thai youth e-cigarette use did not change significantly between 2015 and (3.7% in 2019 vs. 3.3% in 2015).
The expanding e-cigarette epidemic has led other countries, most recently Panama, to implement bans on import and sales of e-cigarettes to protect their populations.
The current regulations in Brazil and Thailand have been a success at protecting public health. The governments there should resist pressure from the multinational tobacco companies and keep things the way they are.
Stanton Glantz blog 