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New FDA flavor guidance has exemptions

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids logo

New FDA guidance on flavors went into effect on Feb. 6, prohibiting sales of cartridge-based e-cigarettes that are not flavored with menthol or tobacco. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids warned that exemptions in the flavor restrictions mean the new rules “will not stop the youth e-cigarette epidemic that is addicting a generation of our kids.” Learn [...]

FTC, TFK track big tobacco spending on ads, promotion

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids logo

The FTC has released 2018 data on marketing expenditures from the major cigarette and smokeless tobacco companies, finding that the tobacco companies spent $9.1 billion on advertising and promotion, or over $1 million per hour. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has tobacco marketing fact sheets with this new data. TFK also has new estimates of [...]

Licensing reduces retail density in Philadelphia

Aerial view of city of Philadelphia, PA

Three years after retailer licensing regulations were implemented in Philadelphia, tobacco retailer density declined by more than 20%, according to a new paper co-authored by ASPiRE CAB member Ryan Coffman of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, concluded that licensing can reduce tobacco marketing, lessen disparities in retail [...]

Retail density associated with smoking prevalence in metro areas

Exterior of 7-Eleven corner store

A group of ASPiRE researchers, led by Shelley Golden, co-PI of ASPiRE’s Density & Disease project, have a new study out in Preventive Medicine Reports showing an association between tobacco retailer density and adult smoking prevalence in metropolitan counties. The authors suggest that jurisdictions interested in new ways to reduce smoking and smoking disparities consider strategies to reduce [...]

States led the way on T21

Tobacco 21 logo

By the time Congress enacted a federal T21 law on December 20, a total of 19 states, the District of Columbia, and two U.S. territories had enacted T21 laws, including 13 in 2019, according to a recent CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, co-authored by ASPiRE CAB Chair Maggie Mahoney. Several state and territorial T21 [...]

Pilot research grants take off

Stanford Medicine logo

We’re excited to announce our award of two pilot grants: Youth Perceptions and Counter-Messages to the E-Cigarette Retail Environment. A team at Stanford, led by Shivani Mathur Gaiha and Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, will investigate how youth and young adults perceive the e-cigarette retail environment and what factors increase the likelihood that youth will use e-cigarettes. Effects [...]

Preemptive strikes

gavel

As of June 30, 2019, 32 states have enacted at least one type of preemptive tobacco law related to smoke-free indoor air, local tobacco retail licensing, and/or youth access, according to a new study co-authored by ASPiRE CAB chair Maggie Mahoney. The study, published in Public Health Management & Practice, includes case studies of preemption [...]

Tobacco 21 goes nationwide, but …

Tobacco 21 logo

Federal rules went into effect on Dec. 20 setting the minimum age at 21 for tobacco purchases nationwide.  However, the Public Law Health Center (PHLC), an ASPiRE CAB organizational member, advised that because state and local authorities won’t have the power to enforce the federal rules, efforts to pass Tobacco 21 at the state and [...]

Mapping tobacco pricing

Law Atlas has created an interactive map with state-level statutes and regulations that affect tobacco pricing. The map covers laws effective as of Sept. 1, 2019, and identifies: The type and amount of cigarette taxes The allocation of cigarette tax revenue Tobacco products that are taxed, including e-cigarettes Preemption of taxation Minimum-price policies Below-cost and [...]