'Grassroots' Anti-vape Effort Pushed People Back to Cigs

'Grassroots' Anti-vape Effort Pushed People Back to Cigs
AP Photo/Diane Bondareff, File

New data from tobacco company Altria reveals that older vapers are returning to their deadly cigarette habit. The switch follows a months long media ambush driven by well-funded “grassroots” anti-vaping efforts. States began regulating retail e-cigarette outlets, often banning vape devices, making the products difficult to access.

Older smokers who had switched to e-cigarettes are turning back to traditional cigarettes because of negative news coverage and regulatory crackdowns on vaping, Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc. said Thursday.

“Over the last several months, we’ve observed an increase in the number of age 50 and older smokers in the cigarette category,” CEO Billy Gifford told investors on Altria’s first-quarter earnings conference call. “We believe these smokers had previously switched to e-vapor products, but recently returned to cigarettes due to negative publicity and regulatory and legislative developments in the e-vapor category.”

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