Draining the tobacco swamps: Shaping the built environment to reduce tobacco retailer proximity to residents in 30 big US cities

Draining the tobacco swamps: Shaping the built environment to reduce tobacco retailer proximity to residents in 30 big US cities

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 retail reduction policies and compared probable changes in resident-to-retailer proximity and retailer density for each city. They found that tobacco retailer density and resident-to-retailer proximity are highly correlated and that for maximum impact, policy changes should be tailored to the local context and the existing built environment for tobacco. Co-author Veronica Chaitan gave a preview of the paper at the CAB meeting in Minneapolis. Read the paper.