News and Research Round Up – Counter Tobacco

Welcome to CounterTobacco.org’s third installment of our new “News and Research Roundup!” Each month we’ll be posting a summary of the latest research, reports, and news stories on counteracting tobacco product sales and marketing at the point of sale (POS). Keeping up with what’s happening in the POS movement all across the country can help you choose policies and strategies that work best for your community. New research can provide support for your work and evidence for the importance of the “War in the Store.” Have a story you don’t want us to miss? E-mail it to us!

New Research

Tobacco product prices before and after a statewide tobacco tax increase, Tobacco Control
- This study shows that tax increases are an effective way to increase prices for both cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. However, as prices increase, so do price promotions from tobacco companies.
- Learn more about raising tobacco prices through non-tax approaches.
Exploring the potential for a mass media campaign to influence support for a ban on tobacco promotion at the point of sale, Health Education Research
Exposure to point-of-sale displays and changes in susceptibility to smoking: findings from a cohort study of school students, Addiction
- This UK study found that children aged 11-16 who noticed POS displays more often and had greater tobacco brand recognition were more susceptible to smoking. Read more about the harmful effects of tobacco product displays and ways to counter them by restricting product placement in the retail setting.

Graphic Warning Labels and Plain Packaging:

The impact of the 2009/2010 enhancement of cigarette health warning labels in Uruguay: longitudinal findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Uruguay Survey,Tobacco Control
- This study demonstrates the effectiveness of increasing health warning labels to a larger size than the FCTC recommended size. Two years after Uruguay increased the size of health warning labels to over 50% of the package size, smokers were found to think more about quitting, think more about the risk of smoking, and avoid looking at the health warning label. Smokers in the study also reported that the health warning labels stopped them from having a cigarette many times. Read more about the status and effects of point of sale health warning labels in the United States.
Special communication: An evaluation of the FDA’s analysis of the costs and benefits of the graphic warning label regulation, Tobacco Control
- Economists find the FDA’s assessment underestimated the benefits and overestimated the costs of graphic warning labels.
Impact of Australia’s introduction of tobacco plain packs on adult smokers’ pack-related perceptions and responses: results from a continuous tracking survey, Smoking and Tobacco
- This study found that 2-3 months after the introduction of plain packaging, more smokers had strong reactions to the health warnings and fewer smokers found the packs attractive.
Comment: Evidence support plain tobacco packaging to improve public health, The Pharmaceutical Journal
Emotional reaction facilitates the brain and behavioral impact of graphic warning labels in smokers, Tobacco Control

E-Cigarettes:

A systematic review of health effects of electronic cigarettes, Preventive Medicine
- No firm conclusions can be drawn from this review due to methodological problems, inconsistent findings, and many articles with authors with conflicts of interest. However, according to this review, electronic cigarettes cannot be considered harmless.
The importance of product definitions in US e-cigarette laws and regulations, Tobacco Control
- Read more about e-cigarettes at the point of sale and current regulations (or lack thereof) of these products.
E-cigarette use and intentions to smoke among 11-year-old never-smokers in Wales, Tobacco Control
- This study found that more 10-11-year-olds had tried e-cigarettes than had tried tobacco, pointing towards e-cigarettes as a new form of childhood experimentation with nicotine.
Trends in Electronic Cigarette Use Among U.S. Adults: Use is Increasing in Both Smokers and Nonsmokers, Nicotine & Tobacco Research
- While use is highest among youth and current smokers, 32.5% of current electronic cigarette users are never- or former smokers.
One of several ‘toy’s for smoking: young adult experiences with electronic cigarettes in New York City, Tobacco Control