MENTHOL CIGARETTE RESTRICTIONS COULD HIKE COST, CUT USE
Limiting the sale of menthol cigarettes to cigarette specialized stores may decrease the variety of sellers and increase the cost of cigarette smoking cigarettes, a brand-new study recommends.
"Targeting the cigarette retail environment is quickly becoming the next frontier in cigarette control," says Todd Combs, research aide teacher at the Brownish Institution at Washington College in St. Louis and lead writer of the paper in Cigarette Control.
"Plans concentrated on the places cigarette is sold can decrease cigarette use and tobacco-related health and wellness disparities by enhancing the direct and indirect costs of cigarette to customers," Combs says.
Scientists used a computer system model called Cigarette Community to test the effect of 5 retail limitations on the decrease of seller density; total cost each cigarette pack; and the average range customers travel to buy cigarettes.
The model was based upon information from 6 neighborhoods in Minnesota that are planning or have passed menthol limitations. Throughout each substitute day in the model, computer-generated "individuals" smoke and deciding on when and where to buy cigarettes.
Of those evaluated, limiting all cigarette sales to cigarette specialized stores had the biggest effect on thickness decrease, particularly in metropolitan low-income locations. Limiting all cigarette sales or menthol cigarette sales in this way also may have the biggest effect on the total direct and indirect costs of cigarettes.
In almost all the simulations, plan changes affected low-income populaces and African Americans the the very least, most likely because they live in retailer-dense locations. That finding led the writers to recommend combining thickness limitations and sales limitations to decrease disparities.
"Neighborhoods often implement plans to decrease health and wellness disparities amongst priority populaces," Combs says. "Our outcomes recommend that retail plans targeted at enhancing direct and indirect costs of purchasing cigarettes and, most likely, decreasing cigarette smoking cigarettes amongst low-income or black or African-American populaces might impact them much less compared to for the overall populace.
"This is most likely because they live in retailer-dense locations (black or African-American cigarette smokers) or travel further typically (lower earnings cigarette smokers) to purchase less expensive items."
