TOBACCO IN OUR COMMUNITIES

 

Place Matters

The location, density, and type of tobacco retailers in a community affect tobacco rates and contribute to health inequities. Understanding this impact empowers us to utilize strategies to improve our built environments with respect to how tobacco products are marketed and sold.

What happens when tobacco retailers are located near homes and schools?

  • Youth are more likely to experiment with smoking
  • People who smoke consume more cigarettes per day

People have a harder time quitting.

Increased availability of tobacco products is associated with increases in both youth and adult smoking rates, even when other neighborhood factors like racial composition and socioeconomic status are taken into consideration.

In particular, studies have consistently shown that children are more likely to smoke when they live or go to school in neighborhoods with a high density of tobacco retailers. Look at what big tobacco is doing in your town.

 

DELAWARE COUNTY

 

Pictured above are Tobacco Retailers in black and Schools in blue.

  • Delaware County currently has 54 active tobacco retailers
  • 6% of tobacco retailers in Delaware County are located within 1,500 feet of a school
  • The current adult smoking rate for Delaware County is 23%
  • Four tobacco retailers are within 700 feet of a school 

 

OTSEGO COUNTY

  • Otsego county has 66 tobacco retailers
  • The current adult smoking rate for Otsego county is 19.7%
  • Five tobacco retailers in the county are within 1,500 feet of a school
  • 48% of retailers in the city of Oneonta have tobacco products occupying greater than 50% of the space behind the checkout counter

 

SCHOHARIE COUNTY

  • The current adult smoking rate for Schoharie county is 18.1%
  • Four retailers are within 1,500 feet of a school
  • Schoharie county has 29 total tobacco retailers
  • A tobacco retailer within 700 feet of Jefferson Central School has a state sales violation