Elizabeth A Gilpin1, Lora Lee, John P Pierce. 1. Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0645, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Considerable controversy surrounds tobacco control emphasis on youth-access-to-tobacco laws, as there is limited evidence that such enforcement reduces youth smoking. In California, access-law enforcement increased substantially in 1996 compared to earlier in the decade. METHODS: Two longitudinal cohorts of adolescent never smokers from the large, population-based California Tobacco Surveys of 1993 and 1996 were followed-up 3 years later (1993-1996 [n = 1764] and 1996-1999 [n = 2119]). We examined transition to any smoking by follow-up with adolescent perception that cigarettes are easy or hard to get, during periods with less and more access law enforcement. RESULTS: Transition to any smoking by follow-up among 12- to 15-year-old never smokers was identical in the 1993-1996 cohort, regardless of whether they perceived cigarettes as hard or easy to get (about 38%), but was lower in the 1996-1999 cohort for those who perceived that cigarettes were hard (25.9%) vs. easy (36.1%) to get. This differential effect was confirmed in multivariate analyses that adjusted for demographics, cohort, and other known predictors of adolescent smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Increased enforcement of access laws may help protect young adolescents from experimenting with cigarettes by strengthening societal anti-tobacco norms. Such enforcement appears warranted as part of a comprehensive tobacco control program.
BACKGROUND: Considerable controversy surrounds tobacco control emphasis on youth-access-to-tobacco laws, as there is limited evidence that such enforcement reduces youth smoking. In California, access-law enforcement increased substantially in 1996 compared to earlier in the decade. METHODS: Two longitudinal cohorts of adolescent never smokers from the large, population-based California Tobacco Surveys of 1993 and 1996 were followed-up 3 years later (1993-1996 [n = 1764] and 1996-1999 [n = 2119]). We examined transition to any smoking by follow-up with adolescent perception that cigarettes are easy or hard to get, during periods with less and more access law enforcement. RESULTS: Transition to any smoking by follow-up among 12- to 15-year-old never smokers was identical in the 1993-1996 cohort, regardless of whether they perceived cigarettes as hard or easy to get (about 38%), but was lower in the 1996-1999 cohort for those who perceived that cigarettes were hard (25.9%) vs. easy (36.1%) to get. This differential effect was confirmed in multivariate analyses that adjusted for demographics, cohort, and other known predictors of adolescent smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Increased enforcement of access laws may help protect young adolescents from experimenting with cigarettes by strengthening societal anti-tobacco norms. Such enforcement appears warranted as part of a comprehensive tobacco control program.
Authors: Carey Conley Thomson; William L Hamilton; Michael B Siegel; Lois Biener; Nancy A Rigotti Journal: Tob Control Date: 2007-04 Impact factor: 7.552
Authors: Joshua H West; Elaine J Blumberg; Norma J Kelley; Linda Hill; Carol L Sipan; Katherine E Schmitz; Sherry Ryan; John D Clapp; Melbourne F Hovell Journal: J Immigr Minor Health Date: 2010-10
Authors: Catherine Best; Farhana Haseen; Winfried van der Sluijs; Gozde Ozakinci; Dorothy Currie; Douglas Eadie; Martine Stead; Anne Marie MacKintosh; Jamie Pearce; Catherine Tisch; Andy MacGregor; Amanda Amos; John Frank; Sally Haw Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2016-04-14 Impact factor: 3.295