News and Research Round Up – Counter Tobacco

Welcome to CounterTobacco.org’s “News and Research Roundup!” Each month, we post 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 help 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

Store Assessments

How to Conduct Store Observations of Tobacco Marketing and Products, Preventing Chronic Disease
- This article details the steps involved in conducting store observations of tobacco marketing and products, highlights issues that may arise in the field, provides information on disseminating the results of store observations, and provides information on potential policy solutions. Learn more about store assessment tools such as STARS.

Restricting Product Availability and Placement

Impact on smoking of England’s 2012 partial tobacco point of sale display ban: a repeated cross-sectional national study,Tobacco Control
- While an immediate decline in smoking rates was not seen following the partial display ban, current smoking rates did decline by 5% over the study period with a sharper decline in the time period after the partial display was implemented. Researchers suggest that the partial display ban removes a cue to smoke by removing the advertising, and therefore helps smokers trying to quit to avoid relapse. A larger effect may be seen with a full display ban.
New York City flavoured tobacco product sales ban evaluation, Tobacco Control
- In 2009, New York City banned the sale of all flavored tobacco (including cigars, cigarillos, little cigars, chew, snuff, snus, tobacco, pipe tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, and dissolvables, excluding menthol). Enforcement began in 2010, and researchers found that three years later, sales of flavored tobacco products declined by 87%, and sales of non-flavored tobacco only increased for cigars (by 5%) and pipe and roll-your-own (by 4%). Additionally, in 2013, teens had a 37% lower likelihood of ever trying flavored tobacco products and a 28% lower likelihood of using any type of tobacco product.
- Learn more about restricting the sale of flavored tobacco products.

Graphic Warning Labels

Young adult smokers’ neural response to graphic cigarette warning labels,Addictive Behaviors Reports
- News story: Graphic Cigarette Warnings May Target Brain’s ‘Quit Centers’,US News & World Report
- Young adult smokers reported greater motivation to quit smoking after viewing graphic warning labels compared to after viewing a label with just text and geometric shapes. Viewing graphic warning labels also elicited stronger neural activity in brain regions involved in cognitive and affective decision-making and memory formation.
Smokers’ reactions to the larger health warning labels on plain cigarette packs in Australia: findings from the ITC Australia project, Tobacco Control
- Following Australia’s 2012 introduction of plain packaging and simultaneous introduction of a new, larger health warning labels that covered 75% of the front of cigarette packages, smokers noticed the larger warnings more and also reported more thoughts about quitting and the risks of smoking. A small minority of smokers showed forms of reactance and learned to avoid focusing on the warning labels.
Testing warning messages on smokers’ cigarette packages: a standardized protocol, Tobacco Control
Learn more about point of sale health warnings.

E-Cigarettes

Recommendations for U.S. Public Policies Regulating Electronic Cigarettes, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management
- The authors recommend regulations proportionate to the risk of electronic cigarettes relative to combustible tobacco products. These include: licensing for e-cigarette retailers, ingredient disclosure, nicotine regulation, product testing, requirements for safe disposal, a ban on flavors near schools, a ban on flavors with high toxicity, restricting flavors with high youth appeal, requiring child-resistant packaging, advertising restrictions, taxation at a rate lower than cigarettes but high enough to discourage youth uptake, warning labels, and disclosure of advertising expenditures.
Child-Resistant Packaging for E-Liquid: A Review of US State Legislation, American Journal of Public Health
- Last month, federal legislation requiring child-resistant packaging for e-liquid was signed into law. This article examines what state action had been taken to increase the safety of e-liquid and compares state safety standards prior to the passage of the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act.
Does exposure to cigarette brands increase the likelihood of adolescent e-cigarette use? A cross-sectional study, BMJ Open
- Higher awareness of cigarette brands was associated with a higher likelihood of previously using e-cigarettes and with a higher intention to try e-cigarettes within the next 6 months.
Learn more about e-cigarettes at the point of sale.

Raising Tobacco Prices through Non-Tax Approaches

Tobacco industry responsibility for butts: A Model Tobacco Waste Act, Tobacco Control
- This special communication report describes how a Model Tobacco Waste Act could be used to address environmental impacts of tobacco product waste, help draw attention to tobacco use and its health consequences, raise the price of tobacco products, and possibly reduce the number of tobacco product retailers. Learn more about tobacco waste mitigation fees as a way to raise the price of tobacco.

Tobacco Free Pharmacies

Tobacco-Free Pharmacy Laws and Trends in Tobacco Retailer Density in California and Massachusetts, American Journal of Public Health
- A study of local laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco in pharmacies showed that overtime, such bans resulted in 1.44 to 3.18 times greater reduction in density than in cities without bans. Learn more about Tobacco Free Pharmacies

Healthy Stores

Integrating Tobacco Control and Obesity Prevention Initiatives at Retail Outlets, Preventing Chronic Disease
- This article describes interdisciplinary strategies to transition retailers away from selling and promoting tobacco products and toward creating retail environments that promote health.