In Georgia, the 2013 National Tobacco Control Strategy, five-year Action Plan, and 2017 law amendments laid the groundwork for a comprehensive tobacco control package implemented in May 2018. This study examined adolescent past-month tobacco and nicotine use before and after the policy changes.
Methods: The observational study was based on data from 2014, 2017, and 2023 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS).
Results: The proportion of teenagers not using tobacco increased from 84.7% (2014) to 86.8% (2023). While cigarette-only use declined significantly (5.1% to 1.2%), e-cigarette use peaked in 2017 (6.4%) before declining (5.2% in 2023). Poly-use decreased (5.5% to 3.5%), and pro-tobacco exposure significantly decreased (1.26 to 0.50).
Conclusion: Legislative measures of 2018 appear to have a positive public health impact in terms of denormalizing and reducing the use of tobacco products assessed with GYTS, though e-cigarette use remains a concern.
