204341 Are strong laws enough? : Youth access laws and state-reported retailer violation rates (RVRs)

Monday, November 9, 2009: 10:48 AM

Sandra Adrovet, MPH , Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Rockville, MD
Susan Marsiglia Gray, MPH , Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Rockville, MD
Background: State laws are important components of public health efforts to reduce youth access to tobacco products, but it is undetermined whether they are sufficient in and of themselves to reduce the rate of illegal tobacco sales to youth. This study examined and compared the extensiveness of state laws restricting youth access to tobacco and evaluated its association with state-reported rates of illegal tobacco sales to youth (RVRs) among all 50 states and the District of Columbia from 1996-2006.

Methods: Data from the National Cancer Institute, State Cancer Legislative Database (SCLD) were stratified by states' Preemption or Non Preemption policy status. Average summary RVRs according to youth tobacco access law extensiveness performance (LEP) were compared using ANOVA or Kruskal Wallis test. Additionally, bivariate analysis was used to evaluate the association between the LEP per year and RVRs.

Results: The average summary RVRs ranged from 40.6 in 1996 to 9.8 in 2006. Significantly lower average summary RVRs were observed in states where law extensiveness performance (LEP) was the highest in 1999 (p<0.05). However, average summary RVRs did not differ significantly (p>0.05) by LEP for the rest of the years evaluated. Higher law extensiveness scores were significantly associated with lower rates of illegal tobacco sales to youth (RVRs) in 1999 (p<0.05). Conclusion: Although it is important to have strong laws to control youth access to tobacco, these findings suggest that strong laws are not enough by themselves to reduce youth access to tobacco products through retail sources.

Learning Objectives:
Examine and Compare the ratings on SCLD scale developed by Alciati and colleagues (1998) to evaluate the extensiveness of state youth tobacco access laws based on ratings in nine major areas (minimum age, packaging, clerk intervention, photo identification, vending machines, free distribution, graduated penalties, random inspections and statewide enforcement) according to the state reported rate of illegal tobacco sales to youth (RVRs) scores Discuss the results and implications of the analysis on state SCLD scores and their association with the state reported rate of illegal tobacco sales to youth (RVRs) Describe the purpose and requirements of the Synar amendment and its implementing regulation

Keywords: Tobacco Control, Access

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: At present I'm a doctoral student of philosophy in education at the Metropolitan University in Puerto Rico and a current Data Analyst-Intern for the DHHS- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (SAMHSA/CSAP). During the last two years, I served as a research assistant for the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus for a research study on prevalence of Hepatitis C in the adult population of Puerto Rico. Through this experience I had the opportunity to travel the island to collect primary data, serve as Field Research Supervisor and interviewer, offer counseling for sexual transmitted diseases and conduct data management and analysis. I completed a Masters degree in Biostatistics and a bachelor degree in Statistics at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus and Rio Piedras Campus respectively.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.