BACKGROUND Research has shown that tobacco control policies have helped produce the dramatic decline in use over the decades following the 1964 surgeon general's report. However, prevalence rates have stagnated during the past two decades in the US, even with large tobacco taxes and expansions of clean air laws. The observed differences in tobacco control policy effectiveness and why policies d...

From December 2012 standardised packaging for tobacco products – known as ‘plain packaging’ – has been mandatory in Australia. This paper evaluates the preliminary evidence – in the form of ABS household expenditure on tobacco data – to establish whether the policy has been successful. Despite our econometric efforts, the data refused to yield any indication this policy has been successful; the...

BACKGROUND Building on its National Tobacco Control Policy initiated in 2000, Vietnam is currently considering introducing a comprehensive law to strengthen the implementation of tobacco control policy. This study analyses the positions of key stakeholders in the development of tobacco control legislation in the context of a largely state-owned industry, and discusses their implications for the...

BACKGROUND While increasing cigarette taxes has been a major policy driver to decrease smoking, taxes on other tobacco products have received less attention. Our aims were to evaluate the impact of chewing tobacco/cigar taxes, cigarette taxes, and smoke-free legislation on adolescent male and female use of smokeless tobacco and cigars. METHODS We analyzed data on 499,381 adolescents age 14-18...

This analysis has been prepared with policy advice following a direction from the Minister of Finance to assess tobacco excise increases that could be progressed in Budget 2012. It does not assess and compare tobacco excise increases with other revenue, savings and expenditure options Ministers have considered in preparing the 2012 Budget. The focus is on the potential impacts of tobacco excise...

Research has been shown to be a critical component of successful national tobacco control programmes. China currently has a small number of dedicated researchers addressing tobacco use and control. We encourage the growth of tobacco research as an academic and governmental field of inquiry. Such research would include multiple foci: biologic and toxicologic, epidemiologic, economic, health prom...

November 2, 2004, was a successful day for smoke-free policies in Columbus, Ohio; Lincoln, New Jersey; Copperas Cove, Texas; Winooski, Vermont; Wausau, Wisconsin; and many other cities and towns across the United States. They either upheld smoke-free workplace laws that were under threat or introduced new ones. The spread of these laws follows the recent success seen in New York City where over...

Smoking prevalence in remote Australian Aboriginal communities remains extraordinarily high, with rates reported of up to 82%. Widespread exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is exacerbated by overcrowded housing. Implementation of existing smoke-free policies is challenged by the normalization of smoking and a lack of appropriate regulation resources. This paper celebrates a grassroot...

BACKGROUND While Italy has implemented some tobacco control policies over the last few decades, which resulted in a decreased smoking prevalence, there is still considerable scope to strengthen tobacco control policies consistent with the World Health Organization (WHO) policy guidelines. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of past and project the effect of future tobacco control poli...

College campus tobacco-free policies are an emerging trend. Between September 2013 and May 2014, we surveyed 1309 college students at 8 public 4-year institutions across California with a range of policies (smoke-free indoors only, designated outdoor smoking areas, smoke-free, and tobacco-free). Stronger policies were associated with fewer students reporting exposure to secondhand smoke or seei...