Building community awareness and engagement to support regulation of dissolvable tobacco products

Background: The emergence of dissolvable tobacco products (DTP) may lead to increased prevalence of tobacco use, particularly among youth. Meltdown is a grassroots public education campaign on dissolvable tobacco products implemented by youth in Virginia (VA) and New Mexico (NM). Methods: Trained tobacco control youth advocates administered surveys during youth-led projects and events to assess public opinion and knowledge regarding DTP and increase public awareness. Convenience sample sizes were N = 8,150 in VA and N = 5,981 in NM. Packaging and flavoring questions were open-ended and all the logos on the packages remained unmodified. Post survey completion, youth discussed potential dangers of DTPs, particularly amongst youth. Results: Based on packaging alone, 35% VA teens and 39% NM teens thought the dissolvable tobacco products were candy, mints, or gum. 23% of VA teens and 26% of NM teens said they would try dissolvable tobacco products based on its packaging. 53% of VA respondents and 48% of NM respondents associated dissolvable tobacco product flavor, with candy, mints, or gum. Conclusions: The findings were compiled in reports and press release formats. The report was submitted and presented to the FDA to be considered in DTP regulations on flavoring and packaging. In addition, multiple earned media have included the youth's findings. The combination of research instruments and youth advocates can increase the appeal of public health issues to media outlets and stakeholders. In addition, research instruments can help focus youth activities to ensure they contribute to larger policy change efforts.