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

Public Support for Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act Point-of-Sale Provisions: Results of a National Study, American Journal of Public Health
- This study assessed support among both smokers and non-smokers for current and potential point of sale tobacco control policies under the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Support varied widely by provision: the highest support (80%) was for provisions that restricted youth access while the lowest support (23%) was for provisions requiring plain packaging. Overall, public support was lower than support for other areas of tobacco control. The researchers suggest using social norm campaigns that target point of sale policies and promote positive attitudes. They also suggest the need to build on existing support to promote and maintain evidence-based policy changes.
- Learn more about how public opinion surveys can help determine POS tobacco control strategy.
The tobacco endgame: a qualitative review and synthesis, Tobacco Control
- This paper synthesizes a range of “tobacco endgame” strategies, including point of sale policies such as a ban on menthol, density restrictions imposed through tobacco retailer licensing, product display bans, advertising bans, minimum price policies, and others.
“Smoking is bad, it’s not cool…yet I’m still doing it”: Cues for tobacco consumption in a ‘dark’ market, Journal of Business Research
- This paper explores stimuli, including the sight of tobacco retail outlets and associated signage that encourage smoking and failed quit attempts in Australia, where a ban on advertising, point of sale displays, and a requirement for plain packaging has already been instituted.
- Learn more about how tobacco retailer licensing strategies can help limit the number, density, and location of tobacco retail outlets.
Perspective: Differential Taxes for Differential Risks – Toward Reduced harm from Nicotine-Yielding Products, New England Journal of Medicine
- This article argues for taxing nicotine products at different rates according to their relative harm in order to encourage users to switch from more harmful products like cigarettes and cigars to less harmful products like e-cigarettes and snus.
- Learn more about e-cigarettes at the point of sale.