New York tobacco control program community success: Increased public support for local policy change at the point of sale, 2010-2012

A major goal of the New York Tobacco Control Program (NY TCP)'s community intervention is to decrease exposure to tobacco product marketing in the retail environment. Community contractors have focused on 4 model policies since 2009: banning the sale of tobacco products in pharmacies, banning the display of tobacco products in stores, banning the sale of tobacco products near schools, and capping the number of tobacco retailers in a community. To increase support for these policies, contractors mobilize their communities and educate local policymakers and the public about the relationship between youth exposure to tobacco product marketing at the point of sale and youth smoking and about the model policy solutions. Support for each of the 4 model policies is monitored as part of the NY Adult Tobacco Survey (ATS), a representative household survey of New York residents aged 18 or older. Approximately 4,000 adults are interviewed each year. We found that support for each of the 4 model policies increased significantly between 2010 and 2012. Support for the pharmacy ban rose from 45.7% to 57.3%; for the display ban it rose from 49.5% to 56.7%; for the school ban it rose from 51.9% to 67.9; for the retailer cap it rose from 47.4% to 52.9%.