News & Updates

We’re excited to announce our award of one ASPiRE pilot grant for 2022: What do you think? Experts weigh in on the feasibility and impact of various retail tobacco policies New policies for tobacco control might be easy to propose, but harder to get approved and implemented. Todd Combs (Center for Public Health Systems Science at the [...]

In an effort led by Sarah Mills, ASPiRE has filed a public comment with the Food and Drug Administration describing the public-health benefits of a comprehensive ban on the sale of menthol-flavored cigarettes, proposed by the FDA in April. The filing cited numerous studies that provide evidence that menthol is associated with the initiation of [...]

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, led by Virginia McKay and co-authored by other members of the ASPiRE team at WashU, analyzed the results of the [...]

An ASPiRE team led by Todd Combs combined geospatial data on residential and tobacco retailer density in our CAB cities and found that a large majority of urban residents live in tobacco swamps – neighborhoods where there is a glut of tobacco retailers. Their study, published in Health & Place, simulated the effects of tobacco [...]

The ASPiRE Center is awarding pilot grants of $10,000 each for the 2022-2023 grant cycle to fund developmental or early stage work, with the purpose of advancing D&I science and building capacity for D&I research in evidence-based tobacco retail policy. More information and downloadable application materials are available here. [...]

This study, co-authored by ASPiRE’s Amanda Kong, Paul Delamater, Kurt Ribisl, Chris Baggett, and Shelley Golden, investigates census tract racial, ethnic, and sociodemographic characteristics to determine their association with tobacco retailer density. Results indicated that a higher percentage of Black and Latino residents was associated with a higher tobacco retailer density in both the tract [...]

This study examined three successful tobacco retail policy initiatives to restrict menthol tobacco availability in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth, Minnesota, using key informant interviews with community leaders and members. Theme analysis indicated that strong city council support, leadership from impacted communities, awareness-building campaigns, and education about tobacco industry counter-tactics facilitated these initiatives. Challenges included [...]

Researchers from the University of California–Berkeley investigated associations between California’s 2016 T21 law and adolescent use of tobacco products, including differences across racial and ethnic groups. Comparing 2010–2011 and 2017–2018 health survey data, the study found that the T21 policy was associated with a reduced prevalence of lifetime smokeless tobacco and e-cigarette use, and past-month [...]

Retail advertising is the primary way young adults are exposed to tobacco marketing in their daily lives. A new study co-authored by ASPiRE’s Kurt Ribisl found that young adults from vulnerable communities are at increased risk of seeing any tobacco marketing, and especially the marketing of flavored tobacco. The paper concludes that policies curtailing tobacco [...]

Researchers from the ASPiRE team at the University of North Carolina, led by ASPiRE’s Shelley Golden, developed a protocol to identify U.S. tobacco retailers between 2000 and 2017. Using industry codes and retailer names from a national database, they calculated annual counts of tobacco retailers, together with retailer openings and closings. They found a net increase [...]