Changes in the Point-of-Sale Among Vape Shops in 6 US Metropolitan Areas Over Time, 2018-2021

INTRODUCTION: E-cigarette retail/marketing surveillance is needed during regulatory changes, like the US increasing minimum legal sales age to 21 (T21) and flavor restrictions (2019 and 2020) and certain state/localities increasing related restrictions. METHODS: We examined regulatory compliance (e.g., minimum-age signage), promotional strategies (e.g., health claims), and products at 2 timepoints among vape shops across 6 US metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs; Atlanta, Boston, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, San Diego, Seattle). In summer 2018, pairs of trained auditors assessed randomly-selected shops (n=~30/MSA). In fall 2021, audits were conducted among 2018 shops (if open and allowed) and additional randomly-selected shops (n=~20/MSA). Data from 179 shops in 2018 and 119 in 2021 (43 from the 2018 sample) were compared. RESULTS: There were decreases (p\u3c.01) in the proportion of shops with (1) minimum-age signs (90.5% vs. 73.9%); (2) their own e-liquid brand (68.2% vs. 44.5%), onsite vaping (73.2% vs. 46.2%), counter seating (65.2% vs. 34.5%), and e-liquid sampling (90.0% vs. 33.6%); and (3) signs with product/price promotions (89.9% vs. 65.5%), health/cessation claims (29.1% vs. 12.6%), and cartoon imagery (27.4% vs. 11.8%). The proportions selling wet/dry vaporizers (26.4% vs. 39.5%), CBD products (23.3% vs. 71.4%), and pipes/glassware/papers (18.4% vs. 52.9%) increased. In 2021, many sold THC (12.6% e-liquids, 62.2% other products) and kratom (40.3%). CONCLUSIONS: With increasing restrictions (e.g., on flavors, sampling, T21), fewer shops sold their own e-liquid brands or accommodated onsite use/sampling, but fewer also posted minimum-age signage. Notably, more offered cannabis-related products. These changes underscore the need for comprehensive surveillance to assess regulatory impact. IMPLICATIONS: The past 6 years marked increasing e-cigarette sales restrictions in the US, yet limited research has examined the implications for tobacco specialty shops selling e-cigarettes. This study found that, from 2018 to 2021, there were significant decreases in the proportion of vape shops with their own e-liquid, onsite vaping, e-liquid sampling, lounge/counter seating, and price promotions, as well as minimum age signs. There were increases in the proportion selling cannabis-derived products and related paraphernalia. Tobacco control research and regulatory agencies must consider how tobacco specialty stores have evolved alongside legislative changes that impact them and consumers

Turning over a new leaf: Vape shop closings, openings and transitions in six U.S. Metropolitan statistical areas.

This study characterizes vape shop closings, openings, and changes in product mix in six U.S. metropolitan statistical areas with different tobacco and marijuana policies. With concern for higher rates of marijuana use among those who vape nicotine, the presence of marijuana-related terms in store names was also assessed. A census of stores that were classified online as vape shops/stores or vaporizer stores were telephoned in April-May 2018 (n = 739) and July-September 2019 (n = 919) to verify whether vape products and other tobacco products (OTP) were sold. We computed the percent of stores that closed, opened, and started/stopped selling OTP. Multilevel models tested whether these events varied by store type and by neighborhood demographics. Within 16 months, 11.5% of 739 stores had closed and 29.8% of 919 stores at follow-up had opened. Closings were more likely among vape-only than vape + OTP stores (AOR = 2.51, 95% CI = 1.47,4.29); vape-only stores were less likely to open (AOR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.34,0.62). Regardless of store type, the odds of a store opening increased as the proportion of non-Hispanic/Latino White residents in the census tract increased (AOR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.18,1.85). Overall, 2.0% of stores (vape-only and vape + OTP) had marijuana-related names at baseline and 3.5% at follow-up. The observed change (1.6% to 5.8%) was greatest in Oklahoma City, where the state legalized medical marijuana between baseline and follow-up. More stores were opening than closing in six U.S. metropolitan statistical areas before statewide sales restrictions on flavored tobacco and COVID-19. Uniform licensing is recommended to define vape shops and track their location and sales practices

A domestic cat whole exome sequencing resource for trait discovery.

Over 94 million domestic cats are susceptible to cancers and other common and rare diseases. Whole exome sequencing (WES) is a proven strategy to study these disease-causing variants. Presented is a 35.7 Mb exome capture design based on the annotated Felis_catus_9.0 genome assembly, covering 201,683 regions of the cat genome. Whole exome sequencing was conducted on 41 cats with known and unknown genetic diseases and traits, of which ten cats had matching whole genome sequence (WGS) data available, used to validate WES performance. At 80 × mean exome depth of coverage, 96.4% of on-target base coverage had a sequencing depth > 20-fold, while over 98% of single nucleotide variants (SNVs) identified by WGS were also identified by WES. Platform-specific SNVs were restricted to sex chromosomes and a small number of olfactory receptor genes. Within the 41 cats, we identified 31 previously known causal variants and discovered new gene candidate variants, including novel missense variance for polycystic kidney disease and atrichia in the Peterbald cat. These results show the utility of WES to identify novel gene candidate alleles for diseases and traits for the first time in a feline model

A domestic cat whole exome sequencing resource for trait discovery

Over 94 million domestic cats are susceptible to cancers and other common and rare diseases. Whole exome sequencing (WES) is a proven strategy to study these disease-causing variants. Presented is a 35.7 Mb exome capture design based on the annotated Felis_catus_9.0 genome assembly, covering 201,683 regions of the cat genome. Whole exome sequencing was conducted on 41 cats with known and unknown genetic diseases and traits, of which ten cats had matching whole genome sequence (WGS) data available, used to validate WES performance. At 80 × mean exome depth of coverage, 96.4% of on-target base coverage had a sequencing depth \u3e 20-fold, while over 98% of single nucleotide variants (SNVs) identified by WGS were also identified by WES. Platform-specific SNVs were restricted to sex chromosomes and a small number of olfactory receptor genes. Within the 41 cats, we identified 31 previously known causal variants and discovered new gene candidate variants, including novel missense variance for polycystic kidney disease and atrichia in the Peterbald cat. These results show the utility of WES to identify novel gene candidate alleles for diseases and traits for the first time in a feline model