The Effects of Tobacco Control Policies on Smoking Rates

Abstract

This article reviews studies of the effect of tobacco control policies on smoking rates with the aim of providing guidance on the importance of different policies. Based on past studies, we estimate the magnitude of effects of major tobacco control policies, how their effects depend on the manner in which the policies are implemented, the relationship between the different policies, and the barriers to implementation. The most successful campaigns have implemented a combination of tobacco control policies. Of those policies, substantial evidence indicates that higher taxes and clean air laws can have a large impact on smoking rates. Evidence also indicates that media campaigns when implemented with other policies are important. Research on greater access to treatment and telephone support hotlines indicates a strong potential to increase quit rates and may be important in affecting heavier smokers. Direct evidence on the effects of advertising bans and health warnings is mixed, but these policies appear to be important in some of the countries that have had success in reducing smoking rates. School education programs and limits on retail sales are not likely to have much impact if implemented alone, but may be more important when combined with other policies.

The role of public policies in reducing smoking prevalence in California: Results from the California Tobacco Policy Simulation Model

“…Evidence on the effectiveness of youth access policies is weak, with mixed effects across studies (Hopkins et al 2001;Levy et al 2004). Hopkins et al (2001) considered interventions with community mobilization and found a median decrease in smoking of 5.8 percentage points (translating to about a 20% relative decrease using a 30% last 30 day prevalence rate), with a range of 3.8 to 11 (or 13% to 37% in relative terms).…”

Associations Between Residential Segregation and Smoking During Pregnancy Among Urban African-American Women

“…53 The proportion of families with income below the federal poverty level in 1999 was included to control for SES at the MSA-level of analysis. Finally, because higher state-level tobacco taxes may be associated with reduced smoking prevalence, [54][55][56] we included a measure of cigarette taxes (tax in dollars per pack of 20 cigarettes imposed by the state exclusive of any local taxes) 35 to control for potential confounding by variation in state-level tobacco control policies. The MSA population and the cigarette tax variable were log-transformed to correct skewness.…”

Trends in serious quit attempts in the United States, 2009–14

“…Many factors can affect quit attempts [5], including substantial increases in price and taxation [13], but as noted in the Introduction the last substantial national increase in cigarette prices was during the first half of 2009, limiting changes in price as a simple explanation for the phenomenon. The CDC Tips from Former Smokers (TIPS) campaign started in the first half of 2012, and pre-post analyses of population cohorts has demonstrated that TIPS increases quit efforts [14][15][16][17].…”

“…Total smoking cessation in a population is the product of the proportion of smokers making a quit attempt multiplied by their success rate [4,5]. As a result, public health programs have focused both on boosting quit attempts and improving their success rate.…”