The Role of Novel (Tobacco) Products on Tobacco Control in Italy

Silvano Gallus, Elisa Borroni, Anna Odone, Piet A. van den Brandt, Giuseppe Gorini, Lorenzo Spizzichino, Roberta Pacifici and Alessandra Lugo
Additional contact information
Silvano Gallus: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, 20156 Milan, Italy
Elisa Borroni: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, 20156 Milan, Italy
Anna Odone: Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Piet A. van den Brandt: Department of Epidemiology, CAPHRI-School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University Medical Centre, 6211 LK Maastricht, The Netherlands
Giuseppe Gorini: Oncologic Network, Prevention and Research Institute (ISPRO), 50139 Florence, Italy
Lorenzo Spizzichino: Italian Ministry of Health, Center for Disease Prevention and Control, 00144 Rome, Italy
Roberta Pacifici: National Centre on Addiction and Doping, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
Alessandra Lugo: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, 20156 Milan, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-10

Abstract: In Italy, electronic cigarettes have spread since 2010 and heated tobacco products (HTP) since 2016. We investigated their public health consequences on conventional cigarette smoking, taking advantage of a series of cross-sectional studies annually conducted between 2001 and 2019 in Italy. Every year, the sample, including around 3000 individuals, was representative of the general Italian population aged ?15 years. In Italy, smoking prevalence steadily declined from 29.1% in 2001 to 20.6% in 2013, then increased to 22.0% in 2019. In 2017–2019, current electronic cigarette users were 2.1% and in 2019 current HTP users were 1.1%. Among 498 ever electronic cigarette users, 23.2% started or re-started smoking and 15.7% quit smoking after electronic cigarette use; of 49 ever HTP users, 19.1% started or re-started smoking combusted cigarettes and 14.6% quit smoking after HTP use. The availability of novel products in Italy resulted in a halt of the decreasing trend in smoking prevalence. For the first time, we observed an increase of Italians inhaling nicotine, concurrently with the spread of novel (tobacco) products. More importantly, the use of novel products appears to increase—rather than decrease—the likelihood of smoking conventional cigarettes. Considering this evidence, we see no argument to justify the huge fiscal and regulatory benefits these products continue to have, at least in Italy.

Keywords: smoking prevalence; e-cigarette; heated tobacco products; heat-not-burn tobacco products; harm reduction; Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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