Cigarette Prices and Disparities in Smoking Cessation in the United States.
Lucie KalousováYanmei XieDavid T LevyRafael MezaJames F ThrasherMichael R ElliottAndrea R TitusNancy L FleischerPublished in: Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (2024)
Higher cigarette prices have been one of the most successful tools for lowering smoking prevalence. It remains unclear how effective they have been in recent years in encouraging adults with established smoking patterns to quit. The study's results show that greater local prices were associated with higher odds of cessation, but the association did not persist after sociodemographic adjustment. In a sensitivity analysis, greater local price was associated with cessation among people with less than a high school degree in models controlling for e-cigarette use. We also found evidence that greater local price was associated with cessation after 2009. More comprehensive smoke-free coverage was also associated with greater odds of cessation. The study's results highlight that encouraging cessation among adults with an established smoking pattern remains a challenging policy problem even when cigarette prices rise.