News & Updates

In-person interviews with owners or managers of tobacco retailers in Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach, CA–the first two US cities to prohibit the sale of tobacco products–described retailer experiences 22 months after ordinances were implemented January 1, 2021. Experiences of the 22 retailers who were interviewed varied by type of store where they worked. Managers [...]

Adult e-cigarette users from Washington, New Jersey, and New York were surveyed before and after temporary sales restrictions on flavored e-cigarettes in Washington and permanent restrictions in New Jersey and New York. After the restrictions went into effect, most respondents continued to use e-cigarettes with prohibited flavors, and many increased their use of non-flavored e-cigarettes. [...]

A new report from Truth Initiative examines current policies and strategies to move toward the end of commercial tobacco and nicotine use. Policies to achieve this outcome include those that decrease the access, appeal, and addictiveness of products; increase cessation interventions and services; and denormalize all tobacco use. They are a set of strategies aimed [...]

The San Diego City Attorney has filed a suit against two businesses, alleging they continued to sell flavored tobacco products after California law prohibited their distribution. The suit accuses Keg n’ Bottle and Payless Smoke Shop of repeatedly selling the products between May and August of this year. The sale of flavored tobacco products was [...]

A paper in Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention and Policy based on your responses to surveys during our CAB meetings focuses on CAB member preferences for receiving scientific evidence and ways to use it. The paper, co-authored by Ginger McKay and other members of the ASPiRE team at WashU, analyzed the results of the surveys completed [...]

Also in the 30th anniversary issue of Tobacco Control, a special communication by ASPiRE’s Kurt Ribisl and Shelley Golden proposes strategies for making higher tobacco excise taxes even more effective. Designing those taxes to raise prices frequently and substantially for all products, along with minimum price laws and bans on coupons, discounts, and other promotions [...]

ChangeLab Solutions and the CDC have partnered to help tobacco prevention staff and partners frame their communications on tobacco-related health disparities in ways that minimize racial biases and foster support for effective policy solutions. Messaging that focuses on disparities can reinforce biases about the communities that are most harmed by commercial tobacco, leading policymakers to [...]

Cigar packaging features such as small pack sizes, innovative materials, flavor names, bright colors, and cost-saving promotions are prevalent among the top-selling products, concludes a study of packaging of top-selling cigars in the U.S. Stronger packaging-focused policies at the federal and local levels may help reduce appeal and potentially curb cigar use, conclude the authors [...]

The Los Angeles Times recently published a revealing story about how the tobacco industry has used the deaths of George Floyd and Eric Garner at the hands of police to alarm Black smokers about proposals to prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes. Paid lobbyists for Big Tobacco have suggested to legislators that banning menthol would [...]

In the 30th anniversary issue of Tobacco Control, ASPiRE’s Amanda Kong and Lisa Henriksen note that an increasing number of countries have set goals for dramatic reductions in smoking. But to achieve those goals and promote health equity, policies are needed to reduce retail sales and visibility of tobacco products. Focusing on retailer reduction strategies [...]