December 2018 News and Research Roundup

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

Neighborhood differences in alternative tobacco product availability and advertising in New York City: Implications for health disparities, Nicotine & Tobacco Research
- Cheap cigarillos are more available in Black, Hispanic, & low-income areas than e-cigs
  
  This study assessed the availability and marketing of both combusted and non-combusted tobacco products in 2017 across New York City. While cigarettes were sold in almost all retailers, cigars and cigarillos, which are as harmful as cigarettes, were more likely to sold in neighborhoods with the highest proportion of Black, Hispanic, and low-income residents, and stores in these neighborhoods were also more likely to sell cigars for less than $1. Potentially less harmful products like smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes were more likely to be sold in neighborhoods with more White and higher-income residents. Similarly, cigars were more likely to be advertised in Black neighborhoods while e-cigarette advertisements were much less common in Black or Hispanic neighborhoods. The researchers suggest the lower availability and advertising of e-cigarettes and other non-combusted products could contribute to the lower rates of lower-income and non-White smokers switching to these products.
- News story: As cigarette smoking declines, black and white Americans could face two different tobacco problems, Philly.com
- Learn more about disparities in the retail environment and about store assessments.
Tobacco outlet density and adolescents’ cigarette smoking: a meta-analysis, Tobacco Control
- This meta-analysis including 11 different studies found that for every one unit increase in tobacco retailer density around homes, the likelihood of adolescents’ smoking within the past 30 days increases by 8%. However, a significant effect size was not found for tobacco retailer density around schools.
- Learn more about strategies to reduce retailer density.
Graphic warnings have a greater impact than text-only warnings

Using Graphic Warning Labels to Counter Effects of Social Cues and Brand Imagery in Cigarette Advertising, Health Education Research
- This study compared middle-school youth and adult responses to text-only and graphic warning labels on cigarette advertisements. Consistent with other studies, graphic health warnings had a greater impact. Both youth and adults paid more attention to the graphic warnings, paid less attention to the ad when a graphic warning was present, and felt more negative emotions when viewing an ad with a graphic warning compared to a text-only warning. In addition, the graphic warning labels also made the advertised cigarette brands less appealing to youth.
- Graphic warnings snuff out cigarettes’ appeal to kids, Medical Xpress
- Learn more about point-of-sale health warnings.
Disentangling Within – and Between-Person Effects of Shared Risk Factors on E-cigarette and Cigarette Use Trajectories From Late Adolescence to Young Adulthood, Nicotine & Tobacco Research
- Modeling based on three web-based surveys of youth ages 16-20 conducted between 2015-2017 showed that youth who frequently use e-cigarettes are more likely to later frequently use combustible cigarettes and youth who frequently use combustible cigarettes are likely to later frequently use e-cigarettes. Risk factors such as alcohol use, marijuana use, and mental health symptoms that affect the likelihood of youth use of both types of products were not found to influence the progression from one product to another within the same individuals.
A Descriptive Longitudinal Study of Changes in Vape Shop Characteristics and Store Policies in Anticipation of the 2016 FDA Regulations of Tobacco Products, Including E-Cigarettes, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- This study conducted with vape shops in the Los Angeles, CA area in 2014 and 2016 found that vape shop employees believe that e-cigarettes are relatively safe, though this perception decreased over time. While they were familiar with local-level regulations, they were less familiar with current or impending federal regulations, and this awareness also decreased over time. This suggests a need for greater retailer education around federal policies.
- Learn more about e-cigarettes at the point of sale.