LAUSR

BACKGROUND AND AIMS To reduce electronic cigarette use, some U.S. states and localities have added vaping restrictions to established smoke-free indoor air laws. Yet, if smokers use e-cigarettes to quit, such restrictions could have the unintended effect of attenuating the original smoke-free air policy's effects on smoking. This study estimated changes in current smoking, past-year smoking cessation, and recent vaping following the introduction of smoke- and vape-free air laws. DESIGN Observational study of nationally representative data from the 2014-2018 National Health Interview Survey. SETTING United States. PARTICIPANTS/CASES 87,334 18 to 54 year-olds. MEASUREMENTS Multivariable linear regressions estimated the association between increased exposure to smoke- and vape-free worksite and restaurant laws and self-reported current smoking and recent vaping among emerging adults (ages 18 to 25), as well as past-12-month smoking cessation among prime age adults (ages 26 to 54). All regressions adjusted for respondent sociodemographics and other tobacco control policies, along with state and year fixed effects. FINDINGS Smoke-free worksite laws were associated with significant reductions in the likelihood of current smoking ( β ̂ =-0.050, 95%CI: -0.098, -0.002, p=0.038) and recent vaping ( β ̂ =-0.040, 95%CI: -0.072, -0.007, p=0.013), as well as increases in the likelihood of smoking cessation ( β ̂ =0.026, 95%CI: 0.000, 0.052, p=0.046). Adding vaping restrictions to smoke-free worksite laws did not yield further reductions in recent vaping ( β ̂ =0.008, 95%CI: -0.021,0.036, p=0.568) and counteracted over half of the estimated association with current smoking relative to smoke-free policies alone ( β ̂ =0.030, 95%CI: -0.028,0.088, p=0.301). CONCLUSIONS United States smoke-free worksite laws appear be associated with reductions in both current smoking and recent vaping as well as increases in smoking cessation. However, adding vaping restrictions to smoke-free worksite laws does not appear to be associated with a reduction in recent vaping among emerging adults and may attenuate the policy's impact on current smoking in this age group, though the latter result was not statistically significant.