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

Smoking Prevalence and Smoking Attributable Deaths

• Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults – United States, 2005-2015, CDC MMWR
  • The current smoking rate for adults over age 18 in the US has dropped to 15.1%. However, disparities still exist, with higher smoking rates among populations with lower levels of education, those living below the poverty line, LGBTQ individuals, men, those living in the South and Midwest, as well as among American Indians/Alaska Natives, those living with a disability or severe psychological distress, and those who are insured by Medicaid or are uninsured.

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  State-Level Cancer Mortality Attributable to Cigarette Smoking in the United States, JAMA Internal Medicine

  • Smoking attributable deaths were high across the country, accounting for 28.6% of all cancer deaths. However, the proportion of deaths attributable to smoking varied across states and was highest in South. In Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Louisiana, smoking accounted for 40% of cancer deaths among men.
• Invited Commentary: The Case for a Concerted Push to Reduce Place-Based Disparities in Smoking-Related Cancers, JAMA Internal Medicine
  • The authors argue that the disparity in state smoking-attributable deaths is due to a disparity in strength of tobacco control policies and funding for state tobacco control programs. They suggest that one solution for states that are stalled on increasing cigarette excise taxes and passing smoke-free air laws is to increase local-level policy innovation. Other strategies include monitoring tobacco industry interference, researching how to frame tobacco control messaging for evidence based policies, and translating, disseminating and implementing sustainable policies. In addition to between states disparities, disparities between racial/ethnic groups and income groups also need to be addressed.
  • News Story: A New Death Toll for Smoking, New York Times

Flavored Tobacco Products

• Editorial: Flavoured tobacco products in the USA: synthesis of recent multidiscipline studies with implications for advancing tobacco regulatory science, Tobacco Control 
  • This piece highlights the prevalence of flavored tobacco use across the US and the association of flavored tobacco use with polytobacco use, fewer quit attempts,  and youth appeal. It also highlights the potential health effects of flavored tobacco products.
• Flavoured non-cigarette tobacco product use among US adults: 2013-2014, Tobacco Control
  • The 2013-2014 National Adult Tobacco Survey showed that flavored non-cigarette tobacco product (NCTP) use is highest among younger adults (18-24 year olds). Overall, 14.4% of adults used a NCTP, and of current NCTP users, the following proportion reported use of a flavored product within the past 30 days:
    • 82.3% of hookah users
    • 68.2% of e-cigarette users
    • 50.6% of smokeless tobacco users
    • 36.2% of cigar users
  • Never smokers and younger adults were more likely to use fruit flavored e-cigarettes and cigars, while menthol flavors were used more by older adults, current smokers, and former smokers. Flavored cigar use was higher among young adults and among African Americans, which may reflect that neighborhoods with a higher proportion of young people and African American residents have more marketing and promotions for these products.
• Tobacco industry use of flavourings to promote smokeless tobacco products, Tobacco Control
  • An analysis of internal tobacco industry documents as well as brand websites, national newspaper articles, and trade press revealed that tobacco companies associate flavored smokeless tobacco with young and new tobacco users. Internal tobacco industry studies showed that candy-like, sweeter, and milder flavors such as fruit and mint could increase the appeal of tobacco to new users by masking the harsh taste and mouthfeel of tobacco. They found that the anesthetic and sensory qualities of mint and menthol flavors may also encourage current users to continue use, and the sugar in flavored products could also reduce the pH of the tobacco and make the nicotine delivery faster.
• Flavored Electronic Cigarette Use and Smoking Among Youth, Pediatrics
  • An analysis of data from the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey shows that youth who have never smoked cigarettes but report using flavored e-cigarettes within the past 30 days were 5 times as likely to report intentions to start smoking compared to those who did not use e-cigarettes. Youth who used flavored e-cigarettes were nearly twice as likely as youth who used non-flavored e-cigarettes to have intentions to initiate cigarette use. Youth who currently both smoke cigarettes and use flavored e-cigarettes were 60% less likely to intend to quit within the next year than youth who did not use flavored e-cigarettes. Using non-flavored e-cigarettes, however, was not associated with decreased odds of quit intentions. Both never smokers and current smokers who used e-cigarettes perceived tobacco as less dangerous than those who had not used flavored e-cigarettes.
  • News story: Kids who use flavored e-cigs more likely to want to try cigarettes, Reuters
• Flavoured tobacco products and the public’s health: lessons from the TPSAC menthol report, Tobacco Control 
• Learn more about flavored tobacco products.

E-Cigarettes

• Association Between Electronic Cigarette Marketing Near Schools and E-cigarette Use Among Youth, Journal of Adolescent Health
  • A study of youth tobacco use and e-cigarette availability and marketing around 41 schools in New Jersey found that rates of both ever and past-month e-cigarette use were higher among students in schools located in an area with greater e-cigarette retailer density. Similarly, rates of past-month e-cigarette use were higher among students in schools that had higher amounts of e-cigarette advertising within a half mile. This provides evidence that the point of sale environment around schools may influence e-cigarette use among youth.
• QuickStats: Cigarette Smoking Status Among Current Adult E-cigarette Users, by Age Group – National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2015, CDC MMWR
  • In 2015, 3.5% of U.S. adults currently used e-cigarette. Of e-cigarette users,
    • 58.8% were current cigarette smokers.
    • 29.8% were former cigarette smokers
    • 11.4% had never been cigarette smokers.
  • In addition, 40% of younger users (18-24 year olds) were never cigarette smokers, compared to 1.3% older users (≥45 year olds).
• Changing Perceptions of harm of E-Cigarettes Among U.S. Adults, 2012-2015, American Journal of Preventive Medicine
  • An increasing number of Americans believe e-cigarettes are as harmful as combustible cigarettes, which the authors suggest highlights the need to for public health messaging that accurately portrays both the potential for reduced harm and absolute harm of e-cigarette use.
• Phillip Morris research on precursors to the modern e-cigarette since 1990, Tobacco Control 
• Learn more about e-cigarettes at the point of sale.

Graphic Health Warnings

• Public health benefits from pictorial health warnings on US cigarette packs: a SimSmoke simulation, Tobacco Control
  • Based on the SimSmoke model, the addition of pictorial health warnings to cigarette packs in the US would reduce smoking prevalence by an additional 5% in the short term and 10% over the long term. Over the next 50 years, pictorial health warnings would prevent 652,800 smoking attributable deaths, 46,6000 low-birth weight cases, 73,600 preterm births, and 1000 cases of sudden infant death syndrome.
  • News Story: Graphic Cigarette Pack Labels May Cut US Smoking Deaths, HealthDay News
  • Learn more about POS Health Warnings.

New Reports

• Federal Trade Commission Cigarette Report for 2014
• Federal Trade Commission Smokeless Tobacco Report for 2014
• Confronting Americas Smoking Pandemic, Part 4: 2000-2016, Cancer Network

Industry News

• BAT offers to buy U.S. tobacco firm Reynolds in $47 billion deal, Reuters
• Organic cigarette? Suit against Natural American Spirit involved 69 plaintiffs from 12 states, Winston-Salem Journal
• Big tobacco’s new ambitions, Economist
• Altria & PMI Move Closer to Bringing Heat-Not-Burn to U.S., Convenience Store News
• Manufacturers raise cigarette list prices by 8 cents per pack, Winston-Salem Journal
• Richmond-based Swedish Match expands distribution of tobacco-free nicotine pouch, Richmond Times-Dispatch

POS Policy in the Media

Licensing

• Youth Smoking Shows Decline Since Legislation Enacted, Hudson Valley News
• Philly effort to restrict tobacco sellers moves forward, Philadelphia Inquirer
• San Marcos’ tobacco licensing requirements official; goes into effect Jan. 1, Coast News
• eCigarette Sellers Required to Register for Cigarette and Tobacco Products Retailer Licenses, Highland News
• Edgewater Unanimously Passes Ordinance to Keep Tobacco Out of the Hands of Youth, Edgewater Echo

Youth Advocacy and Youth Tobacco Use

• More RI teens seeking alternatives to cigarettes, WRPI
• Reality Check goes to Orenda Springs to Practice Leadership, Activism Skills in the Movement Against Tobacco Industry, Oswego County Today
• 3 in 4 Teens Think E-Cigarettes Safer Than Tobacco: Survey, HealthDay

Tobacco 21

• Rockport raises age for tobacco sales, Gloucester Times
• Roeland Park becomes latest NEJC city to sign on to Tobacco 21 initiative, raising age to purchase cigarettes, vaping products, Shawnee Mission Post
• Medford raises tobacco purchasing age from 18 to 21, Wicked Local Medford
• Adams Increases Age for Tobacco Sales to 21, iBerkshires
• North Hempstead approves boost of smoking age to 21, Island Now 
• AMA suggests raising age to buy tobacco products, Register-Herald 

Other

• Pasadena Health Dept. Starts CDC-Funded Anti-Menthol, Anti-Tobacco Products Campaign, Pasadena Independent
• How the Tobacco Industry ‘Uses Third-Parties to Lobby Against Plain Packaging Laws,’ Newsweek
• CVS’ Marketing Chief Says Phasing Out Tobacco ‘Helped Prove the Company’s Purpose,’ Ad Week
• Tobacco take down: Yolo Supervisors formalize antitobacco ban, Daily Democrat
• FDA unveils tobacco ingredients guidelines, The Hill

Find more stories in last month’s News and Research Roundup.

Know of a story that we missed? Email us, and we’ll be sure to include it in next month’s roundup!