Tobacco-Free Marion County

GRASSROOTS NEWSLETTER

September-October 2005Volume 4  Number 2

 

Welcome New Members to TFMC!  Thank you to the 134 new grassroots supporters who have pledged to speak up for the right to breathe smokefree air in Marion County.  Many young people aged 14 to 20 joined TFMC this year so this newsletter has information and a game relevant to youth issues in tobacco prevention.   Good news:  Preliminary research data shows smoking among Arkansas’ 9th graders has fallen in recent years from around 16.6% to 8%!  This trend continues throughout high school, with the smoking rate for seniors falling from 31.3% in 2000 to 16.8% this year.

 

Tobacco Marketing In Marion County   Tobacco Free Kids placed Arkansas’ share of the over $15 billion 2003 tobacco marketing budget at $189.7 million.  Using 2003 Census Bureau population estimates, Marion County’s share of tobacco ad dollars was one million, one hundred thirty-three thousand, two hundred twenty-nine dollars and eighty-six cents!  TFMC staff and volunteers conducted Operation Storefront in early spring of 2004 then again in the fall of 2005.  Comparing results of the advertising and product placement surveys, the tobacco industry has continued to increase its deadly presence in our community.  13 licensed tobacco retailers in Yellville, Summit, Pyatt, and Flippin near schools and/or parks were monitored.  The closed Pyatt Phillips 66 was dropped and the Murphy Oil station in Flippin was added to the 2005 survey.  Highlights include: 

  • 83% increase in industry provided advertising visible outside stores
  • 119% increase in industry provided indoor advertising 
  • 367% increase in tobacco promotions (coupons and buy-one-get-some offers)

 

Tobacco Industry Continues to Market to Kids  (Information condensed by Tobacco-Free Marion County staff from  www.tobaccofreekids.org ) In the November 1998 multistate tobacco settlement, the major cigarette companies and UST (the biggest spit tobacco company) promised not to “take any action, directly or indirectly, to target youth. . . in the advertising, promotion, or marketing of tobacco products."  These companies now claim they have fully complied with the settlement and stopped marketing to youth. But studies show that tobacco-industry marketing has reached record levels ($15.15 billion in 2003) since the settlement, with much of the increase in strategies that reach and influence kids.

Increased Tobacco Industry Spending on Advertising and Promotion

  • From 1998 to 2003, tobacco industry marketing increased by almost 125 percent.  Much of this increase was in categories effective at reaching kids, including high visibility store shelf displays, two-for-one promotions that make cigarettes more affordable to kids, giveaways such as hats and lighters, and in-store advertising.  
  • 71.4 percent of cigarette marketing in 2003, or $10.81 billion, was spent on price discounts paid to cigarette retailers or wholesalers in order to reduce the price of cigarettes to consumers. An additional $1.3 billion was spent on coupons and free cigarette promotions (e.g., buy one, get one free). These price promotions have served to effectively undercut the many state tobacco excise tax increases that the companies know reduce smoking, especially among kids. This helps explain why progress in reducing youth smoking has slowed considerably in recent years. http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=51513  
  • While the FTC reports on tobacco marketing in 2004 have not yet been issued, the major companies' annual reports and required filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show that they have continued to increase their marketing expenditures since 2003 …

In-Store Tobacco Marketing Strategies Reaching Kids

A July 2000 study found that after a settlement-mandated ban on tobacco billboard advertising went into effect, tobacco-company advertising and promotions increased significantly at retail outlets – and 75 percent of teens visit a convenience store at least once a week.

Cigarette Advertising Still Attracts Youth

A 2001 study by the UPenn Annenberg School for Communication found that exposure to cigarette ads leads youth to identify smoking with popularity and relaxation, which counters any perceived risks from antismoking ads.   Adolescents exposed to cigarette ads also perceived higher smoking levels among their friends, which increases the likelihood that they will smoke, themselves. And youth and young adults were also more likely to recall cigarette ads than 30-year-olds. Not surprisingly, other studies have repeatedly found that the most popular cigarettes among kids are those that are most heavily advertised.  Other research studies have also specifically found that kids are three times as sensitive to tobacco advertising than adults; that kids are more likely to be influenced to smoke by cigarette marketing than by peer pressure; and that a third of underage experimentation with smoking is attributable to tobacco company advertising and promotion.

  

                                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can your family find these tobacco related words in secondhand smoke in your home?

Crib death, Children, Asthma, Heart disease, Ear infections, Bad air, Hydrocarbons, Coughing, Money, Rent, Housekeeping, ADHD, Pneumonia, Ashes, Cancer, Fire hazard, Mom, Dad, Examples, COPD, Burns, Pets, Angina, Tooth decay, Risk, Safety, Toxins, Choking, Missed school, Smells, Denial, Smoke, Danger, Gasp, Quit.

 

Tobacco Cessation Opportunities  The Arkansas Division of Health, through the state’s School of Public Health, runs a FREE telephone QuitLine service for all Arkansas residents.  Call 1-866-NOW-QUIT and double your chances of successfully quitting!  Also, Jerry Strobel, certified QuitSmart Leader, is organizing a session for later this year in Marion County; contact the TFMC office for more information, 870-427-2620 or tfmc@marioncounty.com .

 

 

 

Tobacco-Free Marion County

PO Box 188

Pyatt, AR  72672