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Introduction:: Favorable views of cigarette use may be a potentiating factor that influences the progression of nicotine dependence among adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction: Evidence-based cessation methods including nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), non-NRT medications, quitlines, and behavioral treatments are underutilized by smokers attempting to quit. Although a number of studies have demonstrated a relationship between state-level tobacco policies (eg, taxation, appropriations) and cessation, whether such state-level factors influence likelihood of using an evidence-based treatment is unclear. Accordingly, the aims of the present study were: (1) to describe evidence-based cessation method utilization by state and (2) to examine the effect of state-level factors on cessation method utilization above and beyond individual-level predictors.Methods: Data were utilized from the 2010-2011 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS). Participants included 9232 smokers who reported a past-year quit attempt. Data on 11 state-level predictors were collated from national datasets. Analyses were based on: (1) descriptive characterization of quit method usage, (2) logistic regression models to determine state-level factors as predictors of quit method utilization, controlling for individual-level predictors, (3) cluster analyses grouping states with similar state-level factors, and (4) examination of cluster as a predictor of cessation method.Results: Tobacco control appropriations significantly predicted NRT, quitline, and behavioral treatment utilization. Additional state-level factors that demonstrated significant relationships included Medicaid coverage of non-NRT medications and behavioral treatment, tobacco tax rate, smoking prevalence, and percentage of population uninsured. State clustering significantly predicted quit method across all four methods.Conclusions: State-level factors influence the likelihood of residents utilizing evidence-based quit methods. Results are discussed in terms of implications for tobacco policy at the state level.Implications: Results from the present study highlight state tobacco control appropriations as a robust predictor of evidence-based cessation method utilization. Other significant state-level predictors of evidence-based cessation method utilization included Medicaid coverage of non-NRT medications and behavioral treatment, tobacco tax rate, smoking prevalence, and percentage of population uninsured. Moreover, state-level predictors clustered together to significantly predict evidence-based cessation method utilization. Thus, increasing tobacco control appropriations, extending health insurance coverage, maximizing revenue from tobacco taxation and tobacco settlements, and ultimately decreasing smoking prevalence are important targets for individual states to promote utilization of evidence-based cessation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Snus uptake is nominal among US smokers. This longitudinal study examines (1) perceptions of snus among US smokers given free snus for 6 weeks and (2) a method for assessment of an alternative tobacco product at the population level.Methods: Adult smokers (n = 543; 69.2% female; Mage = 49.3 years), uninterested in quitting, received free snus for ad libitum use. Based on their snus use during a 6-week sampling period, participants included: (1) never users (18.4%, n = 100); (2) experimenters; that is, used ≥ once, but not during the last week of sampling (33.1%; n = 180); and (3) persistent users; that is, used ≥ once during the final week, and ≥ once during any other week of the sampling period. (48.4%; n = 263).Results: Following the sampling period, those who became persistent users were more likely than experimenters to report that switching to alternative tobacco products would lower their risk for health problems (66.5% vs. 50.0%; p = .006). Persistent users also reported greater negative affect relief and craving reduction (ps < .001) than experimenters. Finally, persistent users were more likely than experimenters to describe snus in favorable terms with respect to ease of use, satisfaction, and liking (ps < .05).Conclusions: Subjective experiences with snus, rather than nicotine dependence, explained experimentation versus persistent use. Even among smokers who became persistent snus users, snus was perceived as a poor substitute for cigarettes. This study design (randomized, yet naturalistic) could be extended to other novel tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to help understand the role new products may have in the tobacco landscape.Implications: This is the first large scale, US-based naturalistic assessment of smokers' reactions to snus during an extended sampling period. This study is directly in line with FDA goals to better understand predictors of initiation, uptake, and use of other tobacco products such as snus, and serves as model for assessment methods of alternative tobacco products at the population level. Most smokers tried the provided sample of snus (approximately 82%). Subjective experiences with snus, rather than nicotine dependence, explained experimentation versus persistent use. Even among smokers who became persistent snus users, snus was perceived as a poor substitute for cigarettes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To refine public health policy amidst a changing landscape of tobacco products in the United States, it is first necessary to describe fully the nature of smokers' alternative product use. Little research addresses smokers' snus use, and most studies are limited by small samples, cross-sectional designs, and crude outcome measurement. This study sample includes 626 adult US smokers who denied intention to quit in the next month and were randomized to receive free snus during a 6-week sampling period, after which no snus was provided. Participants were then followed for one year. Outcome data were collected via phone. Participants (mean age: 48.7years) were predominately female, White non-Hispanic. Eighty-four percent reported trial of snus. Eleven percent reported purchase (i.e., adoption). Current use declined from 47.1% at the end of the sampling period to 6.5% at the end of follow-up. Frequency and quantity of snus use among current users was low. Among snus users, 79.3% said it functioned as an alternative to smoking and 58.4% said it provided a means of coping with smoking restrictions; options not mutually exclusive. In logistic regressions, men were more likely to report trial (odds ratio [OR]=2.33, p<0.01) and adoption (OR=1.84, p<0.05) than women. Baseline expectations about the nature of snus use also predicted snus outcomes (OR=1.28-1.78, p<0.05). Smokers showed willingness to try snus, but product interest waned over time. Snus as currently marketed is unlikely to play a prominent role in US tobacco control efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]