Tess Cruz, PhD, MPH¹, Darleen V. Schuster, MA, MPH, CHES², Parasto Jouharzadeh, MPH¹, and Valentina Andreeva-Cook¹. (1) Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1000 South Fremont Ave, Unit 8, Room 4209, Alhambra, CA 91803, 626-457-6647, tesscruz@usc.edu, (2) Keck School of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, 1000 South Fremont, Unit 8, Room 5129, Alhambra, CA 91803

Few restrictions exist when tobacco marketing occurs in adult facilities such as bars, fraternities or adult-only booths at events. We have observed and will describe major shifts in these promotions since 1996. Tobacco-sponsored bar promotions were advertised in newspapers before 2001. Since then, newspaper ads have declined, replaced in small part by announcements on protected websites for smokers. Most of these promotions are unadvertised. Instead, tobacco marketing staff appear at venues popular with specific demographic niches. At rodeos, sampling booths have evolved from roped-off areas surrounded by hay bales in 1999 to saloon-like tents in 2003. At races, airbrushed big-rigs unfold into interactive sampling booths for adults. Tobacco brand booths for adults are now seen at events that are not brand-sponsored, circumventing the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA). Another target has been fraternity parties that agree to host tobacco marketing staff. Access by un-carded minors violates the MSA. When events do not permit tobacco-sponsorship, such as professional basketball, tobacco booths set up in nearby gas station and store parking lots. The promotions feature new brand extensions and flavored tobaccos, with coupons or samples, and generate names for direct mail. Last year in California there were 331 tobacco-sponsored bar nights, 44 booths at or near public events, and 40 fraternity parties to promote cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. The MSA has not discouraged these strategies. Policy options will be discussed, including encouragement of voluntary policies by susceptible adult facilities to restrict such marketing.

Learning Objectives: At the completion of this session, participants will be able to

(
• describe three recent changes in the promotion of tobacco to young adults; (
• understand how to identify and report two common violations of the Master Settlement Agreement seen in tobacco-sponsored adult-only facilities; (
• Evaluate the usefullness of voluntary policies to restrict these types of tobacco promotions.

Keywords: Tobacco Industry, Tobacco Settlement

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.