title: Population use, sales, and design: a multidimensional assessment of "light" cigarettes in the United States, 2009.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We compared multiple measures of surveillance of "light" cigarette use, including population use, sales, and design features. Measures were obtained before the 2010 descriptors ban to establish a baseline for future evaluation of the effect of the ban.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined light cigarette use, sales, and design using 3 data sets from 2009. We assessed population use using National Survey on Drug Use and Health data. Sales data were drawn from AC Nielsen. We gathered design features, including nicotine concentration, filter ventilation, and weight, from tobacco industry disclosures mandated by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In 2009, 52.7% of smokers self-reported light cigarette use, which accounted for 56.0% of cigarettes sold in the United States. Self-reported light smokers were more likely to be female, White, older, and nondaily smokers. Of design features analyzed, only average filter ventilation differed significantly between light and "full-flavored" cigarettes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Assessment of the impact of the descriptors ban and any future policies surrounding light cigarettes should use multiple surveillance strategies, including measures of population use, sales, and cigarette design.
authors: Center for Global Tobacco Control, Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. Ilan.Behm@gmail.com
authors: Ilan
authors: I
authors: Behm
authors: Natasha A
authors: NA
authors: Sokol
authors: Ryan David
authors: RD
authors: Kennedy
authors: Vaughan W
authors: VW
authors: Rees
authors: Gregory N
authors: GN
authors: Connolly
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D062789:Tobacco Products / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult