Changes in the availability and promotion of non-cigarette tobacco products near high schools in New Jersey, USA

Most of the research on tobacco marketing at the point of sale describes patterns and trends in cigarette promotion.1–3 Among youth in the USA, however, use of other tobacco products, such as cigars/cigarillos, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and smokeless tobacco, exceeds rates of smoking.4 There is an urgent need to understand how diverse tobacco products are marketed in retailers that youth visit and how promotion differs by store type and neighbourhood demographics. We examined 1-year changes in the availability and advertising of non-cigarette tobacco products in a cohort of tobacco retailers near high schools in New Jersey, USA. In April 2015, research staff visited all tobacco retailers falling within a half-mile radius of the 41 high schools participating in the 2014 NJ Youth Tobacco Survey, a representative, probability sample of NJ youth5 (n=194 retailers). A half-mile is perceived by adolescents to be an easy walking distance and has been used in other …