Are California's Local Flavored Tobacco Sales Restrictions Effective in Reducing the Retail Availability of Flavored Tobacco Products? A Multicomponent Evaluation.

Introduction: Flavored tobacco appeals to new users. This paper describes evaluation results of California's early ordinances restricting flavored tobacco sales.

Methods: A multicomponent evaluation of proximal policy outcomes involved the following: (a) tracking the reach of local ordinances; (b) a retail observation survey; and (c) a statewide opinion poll of tobacco retailers.

Vaping identity in adolescent e-cigarette users: A comparison of norms, attitudes, and behaviors.

Introduction: Using the tenets underlying social identity theory and the theory of planned behavior, the current study compared the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of e-cigarette users that reported vaping as self-defining ("vapers") compared to users that denied vaping was central to their identity ("non-vapers").

Method: Secondary analyses of data from the 2017-2018 California Student Tobacco Survey were utilized. A weighted, multivariable regression model (N = 82,217) compared the demographic characteristics, beliefs, and behaviors of vapers and non-vapers.

Retail Tobacco Marketing in Rural Versus Nonrural Counties: Product Availability, Discounts, and Prices.

. To assess tobacco product availability, advertised discounts, and prices in rural and nonrural stores, comparing results for two definitions of rural. This geospatial study linked data from marketing surveillance in a representative sample of licensed tobacco retailers in California ( = 1,276) and categorized rural/nonrural stores at the county and tract levels.

Assessment of Underage Sales Violations in Tobacco Stores and Vape Shops.

This study assesses whether the US Food and Drug Administration regulation to limit the sale of flavored tobacco products to age-restricted locations is adequate based on a 1-year review of violations rates in age-restricted shops.

Differences in Prenatal Tobacco Exposure Patterns among 13 Race/Ethnic Groups in California.

Prenatal tobacco exposure is a significant, preventable cause of childhood morbidity, yet little is known about exposure risks for many race/ethnic subpopulations. We studied active smoking and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure in a population-based cohort of 13 racially/ethnically diverse pregnant women: white, African American, Hispanic, Native American, including nine Asian/Pacific Islander subgroups: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Laotian, Samoan, and Asian Indians (N = 3329). Using the major nicotine metabolite, cotinine, as an objective biomarker, we analyzed mid-pregnancy serum from prenatal screening banked in 1999⁻2002 from Southern California in an effort to understand differences in tobacco exposure patterns by race/ethnicity, as well as provide a baseline for future work to assess secular changes and longer-term health outcomes.

Evaluation of California's 'Tobacco 21' law.

Introduction: California's law raising the minimum tobacco sales age to 21 went into effect on 9 June 2016. This law, known as 'Tobacco 21' or 'T21', also expanded the definition of tobacco to include electronic smoking devices. This paper describes the T21 evaluation plan and initial evaluation results.

Neighborhood Variation in the Price of Cheap Tobacco Products in California: Results From Healthy Stores for a Healthy Community.

Background: Retail marketing surveillance research highlights concerns about lower priced cigarettes in neighborhoods with a higher proportion of racial/ethnic minorities but focuses almost exclusively on premium brands. To remedy this gap in the literature, the current study examines neighborhood variation in prices for the cheapest cigarettes and a popular brand of cigarillos in a large statewide sample of licensed tobacco retailers in a low-tax state.

Methods: All 61 local health departments in California trained data collectors to conduct observations in a census of eligible licensed tobacco retailers in randomly selected zip codes (n = 7393 stores, completion rate=91%).

Advancing smoke-free policy adoption on the Navajo Nation.

Background: Comprehensive smoke-free laws are effective at protecting non-smokers and reducing tobacco use, yet they are not widely adopted by tribal governments.

Methods: A series of smoke-free policy initiatives on the Navajo Nation, beginning in 2008, were reviewed to identify key issues, successes and setbacks.

Results: It has been essential that proposed policies acknowledge the Navajo people's spiritual use of nát'oh, a sacred plant used for gift-giving, medicinal purposes and traditional ceremonies, while simultaneously discouraging a secular use of commercial tobacco.

Beyond excise taxes: a systematic review of literature on non-tax policy approaches to raising tobacco product prices.

Objective: Raising the price of tobacco products is considered one of the most effective ways to reduce tobacco use. In addition to excise taxes, governments are exploring other policies to raise tobacco prices and minimise price dispersion, both within and across price tiers. We conducted a systematic review to determine how these policies are described, recommended and evaluated in the literature.

The Tobacco Control Network's Policy Readiness and Stage of Change Assessment: What the Results Suggest for Moving Tobacco Control Efforts Forward at the State and Territorial Levels.

Context: The Tobacco Control Network (TCN) is comprised of the tobacco control programs in the health departments of states, territories, and the District of Columbia. During the assessment period, the TCN was managed by the Tobacco Technical Assistance Consortium at Emory University.

Objective: To assess the readiness of state and territory tobacco control programs to work on evidence-based, promising policy and system change strategies aimed at preventing and reducing tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure.

The use of training and technical assistance to drive and improve performance of California's Tobacco Control Program.

The California Department of Public Health, California Tobacco Control Program uses a social norm-change strategy to reduce the uptake and continued use of tobacco products. The statewide media campaign frames the message, community-level projects implement advocacy campaigns, and statewide-funded projects build the capacity of community-level projects. The California Tobacco Control Program's technical assistance (TA) system has evolved over time because of changing needs, evaluation findings, and budget considerations.

An evaluation of the California community intervention.

Aim: We conducted this study to determine key community-level factors associated with higher tobacco control programme performance.

Methods: A combination of surveys, administrative and fiscal data were collected to measure local county-level health department performance over a 7-year period. Longitudinal analyses were performed using generalised estimating equations to examine whether counties that exerted higher effort were successful in creating more tobacco retail licensing (TRL) and secondhand smoke policies.

The quarter that changed the world.

Background: The California Department of Public Health (CDPH), California Tobacco Control Program (CTCP) is one of the longest-running comprehensive tobacco control programmes in the USA, resulting from a 1988 ballot initiative that added a 25-cent tax on each pack of cigarettes and a proportional tax increase on other tobacco products. This programme used a social norm change approach to reduce tobacco use.

Methods: The operation, structure, evolution, programme dissemination and results are reviewed.

Tobacco marketing in California and implications for the future.

Background: Tobacco marketing influences tobacco use initiation, maintenance of use, and it undermines comprehensive tobacco control programmes. Policies to ban the impact of tobacco marketing are most likely to be more effective if they are comprehensive, as partial bans shift marketing to non-banned forms of media. A comprehensive approach to reducing tobacco marketing includes documentation through monitoring, media and policy interventions and aggressive enforcement of existing laws.

Cigarette smoking among lesbians, gays, and bisexuals: how serious a problem? (United States).

Introduction: Population-based health surveys seldom assess sexual orientation, which results in the absence of a reliable measure of smoking among lesbians, gays, and bisexuals (LGB), a population perceived to have higher risks of tobacco-related diseases. This is the first study to compare the cigarette smoking rate of LGB with that of heterosexual individuals using a population-based sample with both male and female adults, and to identify which sub segments of LGB population are particularly burdened by tobacco use.

Methods: California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), a population-based telephone survey was used to assess smoking prevalence and its correlates among respondents.