Recommendations to advance equity in tobacco control.

Reducing racial and socioeconomic inequities in smoking has been declared a priority for tobacco control in the USA for several decades. Yet despite the rhetoric, these inequities persist and some have actually worsened over time. Although tobacco companies have targeted racially and ethnically diverse and lower-income tobacco users, which substantially contributes to these disparities, less attention has been given to the role of individuals and organisations within the tobacco control movement who have allowed progress in eliminating disparities to stagnate.

Flavored Tobacco Product Use Among Young Adults by Race and Ethnicity: Evidence From the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study.

Purpose: Describe racial/ethnic patterns of flavored tobacco use to illuminate equity implications of flavored tobacco policies.

Methods: Using data on US young adults (ages 18-34; n = 8,114) in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study Wave 5 (2018-2019) and survey-weighted logistic regression, we estimated any flavors (regular brand) and mint/menthol (vs. other flavors) use by race/ethnicity among cigarette, e-cigarette, cigar, blunt, hookah, smokeless tobacco, and any tobacco product users.

A qualitative assessment of the perceptions and attitudes towards commercial tobacco policies and education among tribal communities in California.

: California has the largest American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) population in the United States and faces several commercial tobacco related disparities. This study assessed current interest, readiness, and knowledge regarding commercial tobacco control policies in California Tribal communities.: A community readiness assessment was conducted in California Tribal communities to understand commercial tobacco policies that included: Tobacco 21 (California State, and now federal, law restricting commercial tobacco sales to age 21 and over), tobacco tax, smoke-free worksites on Tribal lands, smoke-free households, and smoke-free indoor and outdoor areas in multi-unit housing.

The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council: Advocating for a menthol cigarette ban in San Francisco, California.

The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC) is an advocacy group that works to inform the direction of tobacco control policy and priorities in the USA. This article narrates the AATCLC's work advocating for a comprehensive, flavoured tobacco product sales ban in San Francisco, California. Recommendations for tobacco control advocates and lessons learned from their work are provided.

Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Subsequent Academic Performance Among U.S. Youth.

Introduction: Previous research shows the associations between secondhand smoke exposure and health consequences among youth, but less is known about its effect on academic performance. This study examines a dose-response relationship between secondhand smoke exposure and subsequent academic performance among U.S.

Tanning Capacity and Nicotine Dependence Among African Americans.

Purpose: Recent findings suggest a link between facultative melanin and nicotine dependence among African Americans. We hypothesized that tanning capacity is associated with the time to first cigarette (TTFC) of the day.

Methods: Using a criterion based sample of 150 adult African American current smokers, reflectometer measures of constitutive and facultative melanin, tanning capacity, smoking status and history, saliva cotinine, sociodemographic characteristics, and stress and discrimination scales were recorded.

Effects of Cigarette Prices on Intention to Quit, Quit Attempts, and Successful Cessation Among African American Smokers.

Introduction: This study examined the effects of cigarette price on intention to quit, quit attempts, and successful cessation among African American smokers in the United States and explored whether price effects differed by income level and menthol use status. Price effects were further compared to White counterparts.

Methods: We used pooled cross-sectional data from 2006 to 2007 and 2010 to 2011 Tobacco Use Supplements to the Current Population Survey to analyze 4213 African American recent active smokers.

Responsiveness to cigarette prices by different racial/ethnic groups of US adults.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of cigarette prices on adult smoking for four US racial/ethnic groups: whites, African-Americans, Asians and Hispanics.

Methods: We analysed pooled cross-sectional data from the 2006/2007 and 2010/2011 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (n=339 921 adults aged 18+) and cigarette price data from the Tax Burden on Tobacco. Using a two-part econometric model of cigarette demand that controlled for sociodemographic characteristics, state-level antismoking sentiment, local-level smoke-free air laws and monthly indicator, we estimated for each racial/ethnic group the price elasticities of smoking participation, smoking intensity and total demand for cigarettes.

The Association of Menthol Cigarette Use With Quit Attempts, Successful Cessation, and Intention to Quit Across Racial/Ethnic Groups in the United States.

Introduction: Few studies have examined the relationship between menthol use and smoking cessation across various racial/ethnic groups; the findings were mixed. This study explored the association of menthol cigarette use with quit attempts, smoking cessation, and intention-to-quit among US adults and by race/ethnicity.

Methods: Using the 2006/2007 and 2010/2011 Tobacco Use Supplements to the Current Population Survey data, this study analyzed 54 448 recent active smokers, defined as current smokers or former smokers who quit less than 12 months ago.

"Tired of watching customers walk out the door because of the smoke": a content analysis of media coverage of voluntarily smokefree restaurants and bars.

Background: News media are key sources of information regarding tobacco issues, and help set the tobacco control policy agenda. We examined US news coverage of voluntarily smokefree restaurants and bars in locales without mandatory policies to understand how such initiatives are perceived.

Methods: We searched three online media databases (Access World News, Lexis Nexis, and Proquest) for all news items, including opinion pieces, published from 1995 to 2011.

Smoking cessation among transit workers: beliefs and perceptions among an at-risk occupational group.

Background: Transit workers, in comparison to the general population, have higher rates of smoking. Although smoking cessation programs are often available through workers' HMOs, these programs are frequently underutilized. Quitting practices, including participation in cessation programs, are often associated with beliefs about smoking behaviors and the ability to quit.

Evaluating the implementation process of a citywide smoke-free multiunit housing ordinance: insights from community stakeholders.

We evaluated the implementation process of Richmond, California's citywide smoke-free multiunit housing ordinance. We conducted semistructured focus groups with multiunit housing tenants, owners, and managers. Residents understood the harms of secondhand smoke but lacked accurate information about the ordinance and questioned its enforceability.

"A breath of fresh air worth spreading": media coverage of retailer abandonment of tobacco sales.

Objectives: Media play an important role in the diffusion of innovations by spreading knowledge of their relative advantages. We examined media coverage of retailers abandoning tobacco sales to explore whether this innovation might be further diffused by media accounts.

Methods: We searched online media databases (Lexis Nexis, Proquest, and Access World News) for articles published from 1995 to 2011, coding retrieved items through a collaborative process.

Older smokers could be the strongest supporters for U.S. government regulation of tobacco: a focus group study.

Background: Targeting of marginalized groups with aggressive tobacco marketing has been identified as exacerbating health disparities. However, interpretation of such targeting by groups varies, from surprise and outrage to regarding such marketing as evidence of social legitimacy. We sought to learn how an often-overlooked marginalized group, older adults, would respond to industry documents offering evidence of tobacco company target marketing.

Being part of something: transformative outcomes of a community-based participatory study.

Objectives: Calls for public health practices, including research, to better integrate social theories of power, agency, and social change suggest that increased reflexivity about both the process and outcomes of community engagement is warranted. Yet few community-based participatory research (CBPR) projects specifically report nonresearch outcomes of such projects. The authors analyzed "secondary outcomes" of Protecting the 'Hood Against Tobacco (PHAT), a CBPR project conducted in San Francisco, California.

Quid pro quo: tobacco companies and the black press.

Objectives: We explored the relationship between tobacco companies and the Black press, which plays an important role in conveying information and opinions to Black communities.

Methods: In this archival case study, we analyzed data from internal tobacco industry documents and archives of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the trade association of the Black press.

Results: In exchange for advertising dollars and other support, the tobacco industry expected and received support from Black newspapers for tobacco industry policy positions.

Tobacco documents research methodology.

Tobacco documents research has developed into a thriving academic enterprise since its inception in 1995. The technology supporting tobacco documents archiving, searching and retrieval has improved greatly since that time, and consequently tobacco documents researchers have considerably more access to resources than was the case when researchers had to travel to physical archives and/or electronically search poorly and incompletely indexed documents. The authors of the papers presented in this supplement all followed the same basic research methodology.

Menthol sensory qualities and smoking topography: a review of tobacco industry documents.

Objective: To determine what the tobacco industry knew about the potential effects of menthol on smoking topography-how a person smokes a cigarette.

Methods: A snowball strategy was used to systematically search the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library (http://legacy.library.

Menthol's potential effects on nicotine dependence: a tobacco industry perspective.

Objective: To examine what the tobacco industry knows about the potential effects menthol may have on nicotine dependence.

Methods: A snowball strategy was used to systematically search the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library (http://legacy.library.

Tobacco industry knowledge of the role of menthol in chemosensory perception of tobacco smoke.

Sensory perception is a key determinant of smoking behavior and, therefore, reinforcement and addiction. The tobacco industry has conducted extensive research on the chemosensory and physiological effects of menthol in tobacco smoke and has actively promoted menthol's sensory characteristics. Based upon previously published examinations of internal tobacco industry documents, this commentary summarizes what is currently known about the tobacco industry's use of menthol to modify sensory characteristics in cigarettes and the implications of these activities for smoking behavior.

Combining community participatory research with a randomized clinical trial: the Protecting the Hood Against Tobacco (PHAT) smoking cessation study.

Background: This article describes the process and results of a smoking cessation intervention randomized clinical trial (RCT) that was conducted as a community-based participatory research project. This RCT tested whether outcomes are improved by adding social justice and tobacco industry targeting messages to a smoking cessation program conducted among African American adults within a low-income community in San Francisco, California. This study provides lessons for future similar research projects that focus on urban low-income populations.