Youth Smoking Uptake Progress: Price and Public Policy Effects (original) (raw)
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Curbing adolescent smoking: a review of the effectiveness of various policies
The Yale journal of biology and medicine, 2005
Tobacco-related mortality is one of the biggest killers in American medicine. Evidence suggests that if adolescents can be kept tobacco-free, most will never start using tobacco. Therefore, tobacco control policies directed at the youth population could provide an effective method for sustaining long-term reductions in smoking in all segments of the population. Many forms of tobacco control policies have been implemented including restrictive laws, public campaigns, and taxation duties; there has been disagreement over which is most effective. We investigate the efficacy of various methods of tobacco control in youth and present a review of the published evidence. Econometric data for both youth access restrictions and environmental tobacco smoke restrictions afford ambiguous results. Results vary in a continuum from a moderate negative effect toward, ironically, a marginal positive effect on smoking. While information dissemination policies may be somewhat effective on the onset, t...
Smoking by adolescents: large revenue but little for prevention (vol 19, pg 29, 1995)
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 1998
The purpose of this paper is to report on the government revenue gained from the sale of cigarettes to minors and the proportion of this revenue that is spent on attempting to prevent adolescents from taking up this habit. Prevalence of smoking by minors was extrapolated for the individual states using Australian prevalence data; estimates of annual cigarette consumption were coupled with the respective cost of cigarettes in each state to derive an estimate of the total revenue accumulating from cigarette consumption by minors. From our analysis, approximately 21 1 000 Australian children under the legal age to purchase cigarettes consumed approximately 11.5 million packets of cigarettes in 1990. The estimated tax revenues to the federal and state governments from these sales were 8.42millionand8.42 million and 8.42millionand1 2.78 million respectively. While the average state revenue from cigarette consumption by minors during 1990 was just over 60perunder−agesmoker,only60 per under-age smoker, only 60perunder−agesmoker,only0.1 1 per under-age smoker was spent on antismoking campaigns in 1990. This is equivalent to approximately 0.002 per cent of state revenue from cigarette smoking by those under the legal purchase age being spent on discouraging adolescents from taking up this habit Clearly, there is an inequitable expenditure on antismoking activities, given the enormous resources obtained from sales to minors.
A simulation of the effects of youth initiation policies on overall cigarette use
American Journal of Public Health, 2000
OBJECTIVES: We developed a simulation model to predict the effects of policies aimed at reducing smoking initiation by youths younger than 18 years. METHODS: The model projected the number of smokers, never smokers, and ex-smokers by age, sex, and racial/ethnic group and the effects of reductions in youth initiation. RESULTS: The model predicted that even if tobacco policies eliminated youth initiation, the number of smokers would not be halved for more than 30 years. If initiation were halved and some of the initiation were delayed rather than eliminated, substantially smaller reductions would result. CONCLUSIONS: Policies that increase cessation rates are needed to reduce the number of current smokers and the more near-term health problems.
Prices, policies and youth smoking, May 2001
Addiction, 2003
Youth smoking continues to be an important public health problem. Many policy tools designed to reduce youth smoking are based on economic principles. This paper describes the economic and policy context of tobacco use aiming at reducing youth smoking and explains the economic rationale for tobacco control tools such as excise tax and price, clean indoor air laws, youth access laws and the broad provision of health information to the public. An overview of economic models of addiction provides the framework for empirical analysis of the impact of these policies. This is followed by a summary of the empirical evidence of the effectiveness of various tobacco control tools that are primarily economic in nature. The most consistent finding in this literature is that higher cigarette prices discourage youth smoking. Compared to the effects of cigarette taxation and price on youth smoking, the evidence on the effectiveness of the youth access laws and clean indoor air laws are still mixed and inconclusive. More research is needed to address issues such as: (1) the effects of gender, age, race and socio-economic status on the relationship between tobacco control policies and youth smoking; (2) better measurement of the outcome variables to account for the multi-dimensional nature of dependence; and (3) the effects of excise taxes and other tobacco control policies with regard to a host of dimensions of smoking such as initiation, cessation, and more generally the trajectories of tobacco use that would include patterns of progression, maintenance, regression, cessation, and relapse. More frequently collected longitudinal data than those currently available are needed to address the above issues. Understanding smoking behavior cannot be achieved without incorporating familial and other social contexts.
Price, Tobacco Control Policies and Youth Smoking
1996
This paper examines effectiveness of several tobacco control policies in discouraging cigarette smoking among youths. These policies include increased cigarette excise taxes (which result in higher cigarette prices), restrictions on smoking in public places and at private worksites, and limits on the availability of tobacco products to youths. The data employed in this research are taken from the 1992, 1993,
Health Policy, 2007
Although many states in the US have raised cigarette excise taxes in recent years, the size of these increases have been fairly modest (resulting in a 15% increase in the per pack purchase price), and their impact on adult smoking prevalence is likely insufficient to meet Healthy People 2010 objectives. This paper presents the results of a 75-year dynamic simulation model comparing the long-term health benefits to society of various levels of tax increase to a viable alternative: limiting youth access to cigarettes by raising the legal purchase age to 21. If youth smoking initiation is delayed as assumed in the model, increasing the smoking age would have a minimal immediate effect on adult smoking prevalence and population health, but would affect a large drop in youth smoking prevalence from 22% to under 9% for the 15-17-year-old age group in 7 years (by 2010)-better than the result of raising taxes to increase the purchase price of cigarettes by 100%. Reducing youth initiation by enforcing a higher smoking age would reduce adult smoking prevalence in the long-term (75 years in the future) to 13.6% (comparable to a 40% tax-induced price increase), and would produce a cumulative gain of 109 million QALYs (comparable to a 20% price increase). If the political climate continues to favor only moderate cigarette excise tax increases, raising the smoking age should be considered to reduce the health burden of smoking on society. The health benefits of large tax increases, however, would be greater and would accrue faster than raising the minimum legal purchase age for cigarettes.
Combating Teen Smoking: Research and Policy Strategies
Journal of Public Health Policy, 2002
EADERS might turn to this book seeking answers to three obvious questions about smoking among teenagers. Why do teenagers smoke? How can we prevent them from smoking? And how can we help them to quit? Unfortunately, the evidence carefully assembled and reviewed in this book cannot answer these questions with certaintya reflection of the current state of this vexing public health problem. The book offers a research agenda to remedy the gaps in our knowledge and calls for comprehensive strategies for controlling smoking by young people, but it can only suggest a menu of possible options. The authors, tobaccocontrol veterans, are optimistic and pragmatic, and they appropriately propose action in spite of uncertainty even as research and surveillance provide further insights.