Regulations Restricting Tobacco Outlets May Reduce Teen Smoking

Newswise — New research suggests that decreasing the number of retail outlets licensed to sell tobacco products may reduce the number of adolescents and young adults who smoke.

The study, conducted by researchers from RTI International, Stanford University, the University of Michigan and the Harvard School of Public Health is published in the April issue of American Journal of Public Health.

The research team studied more than 2,000 11- to 23-year-old Chicago residents and found that adolescents and young adults living in areas with the highest concentration of retail tobacco outlets were 13 percent more likely to smoke than those who lived in areas with the lowest concentration of retail tobacco outlets. The effects were the same for young adults, who could legally purchase cigarettes, as they were for underage smokers.

"Areas with a higher density of retail tobacco outlets encourage tobacco use by providing more opportunities to purchase cigarettes and by increasing levels of exposure to point-of-sale advertising," said RTI's Scott Novak, Ph.D., lead author on the study. "Legislation has limited advertising of tobacco, making the retail arena one of the few remaining channels that cigarette manufacturers can use to target both minors and adults. Restricting the number of retail outlets in a given area needs to be the next step in efforts to reduce smoking among adolescents and young adults."

The study found that retail outlets were more heavily concentrated in economically disadvantaged areas and areas where a large proportion of the residents were under 18 years of age.

"This study is unique because of the great efforts that we took to study the development of a large sample of youth, growing up in the many types of neighborhoods you would find in most major U.S. cities," said Stephen Buka, Sc.D., associate professor of society, human development and health at the Harvard School of Public Health who directed the multidisciplinary research team. "Of the many personal, school and family characteristics that contribute to adolescents' use of cigarettes, these new findings demonstrate the considerable risks associated with the neighborhoods in which youths live. These results have major implications for how we target public health and preventive efforts."

"Retail outlets remain one of the most common sources for youths to obtain tobacco," Novak added. "Because retail outlets seem to concentrate in areas where there are a high proportion of adolescents, people are being exposed to high-risk environments at a time in their lives when the risks of initiation of tobacco use are the greatest."

Other authors include Sean Reardon, Ed.D, from Stanford University and Stephen Raudenbush, Ed.D, from the University of Michigan. The research was funded through grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Institute of Justice, the National Institute of Mental Health and the Tobacco Etiology Research Network of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Major support was provided by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

The abstract for the study can be viewed at the American Journal of Public Health's Web site.

Editor's note: At the time of the study Stephen Raudenbush was with the University of Michigan; he is now at the University of Chicago; Stephen Buka is now at Brown University.

About RTI International RTI International, the nation's second largest independent nonprofit research organization, is dedicated to conducting research and development that improves the human condition by turning knowledge into practice. With a staff of more than 2,500 people, RTI offers innovative research and technical services to governments and businesses worldwide in the areas of health and pharmaceuticals, education and training, surveys and statistics, advanced technology, governance, economic and social development, energy, and the environment. RTI maintains nine offices in the United States, five international offices, and one international subsidiary, as well as project offices around the world. For more information, please visit us at http://www.rti.org.