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Background: Although weight-related reasons for smoking and vaping have been examined in adults, research in adolescents is lacking. Thus, we examined the prevalence and correlates of using flavored e-liquids for appetite control or weight loss in high school adolescents., Methods: The analytic sample included 529 students who completed a school-based survey in Connecticut in Spring 2017 (50.6% female, 79.5% White, mean age 16.27 [SD = 1.18], range 13-19 years). Inclusion criteria were past-30-day vaping, using ≥ 1 flavored e-liquid (past month), and having non-missing data on flavored e-liquid use for appetite control and weight loss. Participants reported on sex, age, race, past-30-day vaping and smoking frequency, nicotine e-liquid use, flavored e-liquid use (e.g., tobacco, mint, fruit, candy), and flavored e-liquid use for appetite control and/or weight loss., Results: Adolescent e-cigarette users (past 30-days) reported vaping flavored e-liquids for appetite control (13.8%) and weight loss (9.3%). Using flavored e-liquids for appetite control or weight loss, respectively, was associated with more frequent vaping (OR = 1.21; 1.21) and using more flavored e-liquids (OR = 1.33; 1.28, p-values < 0.01). Vaping candy-flavored e-liquids (OR = 1.16, p = 0.02) uniquely was associated with vaping for appetite control., Conclusions: A subset of adolescents reported using flavored e-liquids for weight-related reasons. These adolescents reported vaping more frequently than their counterparts, raising concerns about increased nicotine exposure. Research is needed to understand where adolescents learn about weight-motivated vaping (e.g., friends, social media) and whether weight-related motives promote e-cigarette initiation among e-cigarette naïve individuals or continued/escalating use among current users., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Use of menthol cigarettes remains highly prevalent among African American smokers and has increased among White and Hispanic/Latino smokers. Research is needed to examine if behavioral factors, such as marijuana use, are differentially associated with menthol cigarette use among racially/ethnically diverse samples of marijuana users., Methods: Using data from the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, this study examined the association between past month marijuana (blunt versus non-blunt) and cigarette (non-menthol cigarette versus menthol cigarette versus no cigarette) use, as well as racial/ethnic differences in this relationship., Results: Among all marijuana users (N = 5,137), 34.1% smoked blunts, 28.7% smoked non-menthol cigarettes and 18.0% smoked menthol cigarettes, with the highest rates of blunt (63.8%) and menthol cigarette (38.9%) use found among African American adults. Multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed a significant association between blunt use and non-menthol cigarette use (versus non-use) and menthol cigarette use (versus non-menthol cigarette and no cigarette use) among the full sample. When stratified by race/ethnicity, this finding was consistent for non-Hispanic White (n = 3,492) and partially consistent for Hispanic/Latino (n = 839) adults. However, among African American adults (n = 806), blunt use was not significantly associated with non-menthol cigarette use or menthol cigarette use., Discussion: Blunt use is associated with increased odds of non-menthol and menthol cigarette use, but only among Hispanic/Latino and White adults. Examining racial/ethnic differences in the association between marijuana and tobacco use is important to understanding disparities and informing prevention and treatment interventions and drug policies., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Vaping has become increasingly popular among youth and young adults in the last decade. At present, very little research has examined how vaping is associated with attitudes concerning the disapproval and perceived risk of using other substances. This paper examines the association between flavor-only vaping and attitudes concerning nicotine and marijuana use in a sample of high school students with no history of nicotine or marijuana use., Methods: We employed negative binomial regression and logistic regression techniques to examine the associations between flavor-only vaping activity and attitudes concerning the risk and disapproval of nicotine and marijuana use utilizing data from the 2017 cohort of Monitoring the Future (MTF)., Results: The results suggest that, net of covariates, flavor-only vaping is not significantly associated with attitudes concerning traditional forms of nicotine use. However, flavor-only vaping does appear to be positively and significantly associated with the failure to disapprove and/or perceive the risk of vaping nicotine and regular marijuana use., Conclusions: Flavor-only vaping is positively and significantly associated with the failure to disapprove and/or perceive the risk of vaping nicotine and regular marijuana use., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Electronic cigarettes (EC) may aid some smokers in reducing combustible tobacco use. Smokers with psychiatric co-morbidities tend to have higher nicotine dependence and worse outcomes, so may particularly benefit from alternative cessation aids. EC characteristics, like nicotine level and flavor, may influence EC's appeal to smokers. Nicotine level may impact EC's efficacy in reducing combustible cigarette use., Methods: Non-treatment-seeking cigarette smokers with medical/psychiatric co-morbidities rated 'liking' of ECs varying in nicotine level (12 mg, 24 mg) and flavor (menthol, 'slim'-tobacco, 'burley'-tobacco), during an open-label Choice Procedure. Smokers (N = 43) chose ECs for a 4-week take-home-trial, and used EC and/or combustible cigarettes as they wished. Analyses examined ratings and choice by nicotine level and flavor, and the relationship between consistent take-home choice of 12 mg versus 24 mg baseline demographic/smoking characteristics, and outcomes (cigarettes/day, nicotine intake, motivation to quit smoking) during take-home-trial and one-month follow-up., Results: Smokers who chose menthol-flavor, tobacco-flavor and/or 24 mg nicotine e-liquids for the first take-home week rated these conditions as more 'liked' than alternative options, at baseline. Groups who chose 12 mg versus 24 mg throughout the take-home trial did not significantly differ on baseline characteristics, or smoking-related outcomes within the take-home trial, however, motivation to quit smoking increased more from baseline to one-month follow-up in choosers of higher nicotine (24 mg) ECs., Conclusions: Associations between subjective ratings and subsequent choice support feasibility of open-label choice-procedures in EC trials. Access to 12 mg or 24 mg nicotine ECs was associated with reduced smoking, and 24 mg ECs with increased motivation to quit smoking in smokers with medical/psychiatric co-morbidities., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)