Research finds that youth exposure to tobacco marketing is associated with tobacco & cannabis co-use

New research from the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation finds that reported exposure by youth to tobacco marketing was associated with co-use of tobacco and cannabis on a given day. 

To reach this result, researchers examined daily locations of youth, their travel patterns, and their exposure to tobacco retail marketing to learn about how these factors contribute to youth tobacco and cannabis use and co-use.

One hundred participants ranging in age from 16—20 years old completed 1,060 daily assessments. Using GPS-enabled smartphones with a survey application, participants completed brief daily surveys, and location coordinates were obtained at one-minute intervals. Tobacco outlets in study cities were visited to record marketing data. Tobacco outlet addresses and GPS location coordinates from youth phones were geocoded. The places where youth spent their time each day were constructed by joining sequential location points into a polyline, which was then buffered and overlaid with tobacco outlet locations.

Measures:

• Number of outlets with outdoor tobacco marketing within 50 meters of activity spaces and the amount of time participants were within 50 meters of these outlets each day.
• Participants also reported whether they saw tobacco ads by their neighborhood, school, workplace, and anywhere else each day. 
• Participants reported how much time they traveled each day by different modes of transportation, with parents/guardians, and with friends.
• Participants reported their tobacco and cannabis use each day.

The findings of the research include:

• Perceived exposure to tobacco marketing was associated with co-use of tobacco and cannabis on a given day. 
• The association between perceived exposure to tobacco marketing and tobacco use was more likely among youth who walked/biked/skated more.

PRC lead author Dr. Sharon Lipperman-Kreda says that "this study highlights the importance of policies and interventions addressing young people's exposure to and perception of exposure to tobacco marketing at the point of sale in the broader environment to reduce tobacco and cannabis use and co-use."