Clinical Research Directory

The Next Step in Smoking Prevention: the Reduction of Tobacco Retail Outlets, a Comprehensive Policy Evaluation

Sponsor: Maastricht University Medical Center

Summary

Few countries have legislation to reduce the number and types of tobacco retail outlets. The Netherlands plans to ban tobacco sales in supermarkets in 2024. The overall aim of this proposed research is to evaluate the implementation of new legislation to reduce the number and types of tobacco outlets in the Netherlands, up until and including the ban on sales of tobacco in supermarkets. In a comprehensive policy evaluation, the investigators plan to examine (1) the impact of the policy on the number and types of tobacco outlets, (2) the impact on attitudes and behaviors of smoking adults and non-smoking youth, and (3) the influence of the tobacco industry on the policy process and the retail environment. In addition, the investigators plan to focus on differential effects in disadvantaged neighborhoods, where both smoking rates and tobacco outlet density are typically highest. The investigators bring together a unique combination of economic, psychological, and journalistic research methods. The investigators examine the impact of the new legislation on the amount and type of tobacco outlets and on the number of smokers by using routinely collected monitoring data. The investigators examine the impact of the legislation on smoking susceptibility of non-smoking youth and on impulse tobacco purchases by smoking adults with yearly quantitative surveys (two surveys before the policy implementation and two after) and with qualitative interviews and discussion sessions. The investigators examine whether these impacts differ for disadvantaged versus non-disadvantaged neighborhoods. The investigators examine what strategies the tobacco industry uses to influence the new legislation, policy processes, and the tobacco retail environment by performing a journalistic investigation, using for example documents obtained by Freedom of Information Act requests, (possibly) leaked documents from insider meetings, and interviews with insiders. Our research will provide a comprehensive evaluation of the effects of the implementation of the proposed legislative measures. Based on our results, the investigators will formulate recommendations for the Dutch Cancer Society, the Dutch government, and for other countries who consider reducing the number of tobacco outlets; highlight potential areas for further development and improvement within the legislative framework and provide recommendations on how to counter the lobby from the tobacco industry.

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