Tobacco control policy and adolescent cigarette smoking status in the United States

Abstract

Introduction: Tobacco policies that limit the sale of cigarettes to minors and restrict smoking in public places are important strategies to deter youth from accessing and consuming cigarettes. Methods:We examined the relationship of youth cigarette smoking status to state-level youth access and clean indoor air laws, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and cigarette price. Data were analyzed from the 2001 to 2002 U.S. Health Behavior in School-Aged Children survey, a crosssectional survey conducted with a nationally representative sample of 13,339 students in the United States. Results:Compared with students living in states with strict regulations, those living in states with no or minimal restrictions, particularly high school students, were more likely to be daily smokers. These effects were somewhat reduced when logistic regressions were adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics and cigarette price, suggesting that higher cigarette prices may discourage youth to access and consume cigarettes independent of other tobacco control measures.Discussion: Strict tobacco control legislation could decrease the potential of youth experimenting with cigarettes or becoming daily smokers. The fi ndings are consistent with the hypothesis that smoking policies, particularly clean indoor air provisions, reduce smoking prevalence among high school students.

High School Students’ Use of Electronic Cigarettes to Vaporize Cannabis

“…Participants' responses were summed and transformed into a 3-point ordinal scale, whereby scores 0 to 4 were classified as low SES (22.0%), 5 to 6 as moderate SES (46.8%), and 7 to 9 as high SES (31.2%). 7 A subset of participants also reported on race, but because of the small size of the sample (n = 1370; 85.9% Caucasian), these data were excluded from the current study.…”

Youth activity spaces and daily exposure to tobacco outlets

“…In particular, such exposure may increase access to tobacco, exposure to tobacco advertising and promotion, and exposure to others who use tobacco. All of these factors are related to youth tobacco use (Botello-Harbaum et al, 2009;Carpenter & Cook, 2008;DiFranza, Savageau, & Fletcher, 2009;Ding, 2003;Henriksen, Feighery, Wang, & Fortmann, 2004;Henriksen, Schleicher, Feighery, & Fortmann, 2010;Lipperman-Kreda, Grube, & Friend, 2012;Wakefield & Chaloupka, 2000). Controls over the number of tobacco outlets and their distance from residential areas or schools are frequently advocated approaches to reduce youth exposure and access to tobacco products and thus their tobacco use.…”

The Effect of the Internet on Teen and Young Adult Tobacco Use: A Literature Review

“…Although buying cigarettes online is likely not the primary source for youth acquisition (Botello-Harbaum et al, 2009), the ease with which teens can obtain tobacco opens a window into the lack of regulation of the Internet. Moreover, as the Internet continues to grow in popularity among young people and becomes part of the social fabric of their lives, acquiring tobacco products online has the potential to become more popular (Fix et al, 2006).…”