Each month, the Geographic Health Equity Alliance (GHEA) aggregates the latest news and research related to place-based tobacco control and geographic health disparities. Below you will find the latest posts, updated regularly throughout the month.
(Last updated: February 23, 2021)
Place-Based Tobacco Control News and Research
Brought to you by our partners at Counter Tobacco
- Massachusetts counties with greater implementation of flavored tobacco product restrictions see a greater decrease in the level of cigarette use among users, with the largest reductions among 14 to 18 year-olds.
- Study finds college students in Texas with greater exposure to advertisements for little cigars and cigarillos (LCCs) in retail stores were more likely to currently use LCCs and more likely to currently use cigarettes.
Visit Countertobacco.org for their full monthly news and research roundups.
General Tobacco Control News and Research
- A study estimating the return on investment of the Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida (BTFF) tobacco control program from 1999 to 2015 finds that BTFF resulted in fewer years of life lost, substantial healthcare cost savings and substantial savings in terms of mortality costs.
- A new CDC analysis of state Medicaid coverage of cessation treatment finds that receipt of cessation medications and counseling among Medicaid fee-for-service (FFS) enrollees was low and varied widely across states. The results suggest opportunities for additional promotion of the full range of Medicaid cessation benefits.
- 23 state Attorneys General wrote to urge the FDA to act in the best interest of the public and prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes.
- According to new Truth Initiative data, 60% of 15- to 24-year-old current e-cigarette users surveyed want to quit vaping in 2021. Motivating factors for wanting to quit included concerns about health, cost, desire to be free from addiction, social factors, distrust of the tobacco industry and concerns about COVID-19.
- A study assessing whether the 2019 EVALI outbreak impacted online shopping queries for vaping products finds that during the outbreak, vape and JUUL shopping queries decreased but IQOS shopping increased, with the most notable increase after they were discussed as a potentially safe alternative to vaping.
- A study examining the awareness, use and risk perceptions of heated tobacco products (HTP) in the U.S. following FDA authorization of IQOS, found that only a small fraction of the U.S. population in 2020 tried any HTP.
- A study on smoking and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) finds that cigarette smoking has a negative association with the quality of life and symptom burden of patients with CRS, and clinicians should encourage smoking cessation alongside general CRS medical management.
- An analysis of on-pack messages for e-liquid concludes that on-pack relative-risk messages about ENDS could make transition more attractive to smokers while increased-risk messages could deter ENDS uptake among susceptible non-smokers, occasional and former smokers.