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Despite more than 30 years of public health programs to reduce tobacco use, smoking is still the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. In response to this continuing epidemic, voters in California (1988), Massachusetts (1992), Arizona (1994), and Oregon (19%) approved ballot initiatives that established state- wide tobacco control programs funded by cigarette excise tax revenues. Evaluating these innovative public health interventions is important, both to improve existing programs and to guide other states in developing and implementing similar interventions. In this paper we describe the methods being used to evaluate the statewide anti-tobacco campaigns in California and Massachusetts, and review the findings of process and outcome evaluations of both programs. Our review suggests that both programs have had a substantial impact on the public `s health by reducing cigarette consumption and stimulating the development of policies to reduce environmental tobacco smoke exposure. However, it does not appear that either program has reduced smoking initiation among adolescents. Our evaluation suggests three problems in pm gram implementation that future anti-tobacco campaigns must avoid in order to produce long-term, sustained effects: (1) the gradual erosion of program funding by the state legislatures and governors; (2) the lack of a consistent, supportive constituency within state government and (3) inconsistency in campaign themes, messages, and programs. We conclude by offering recommendations to correct these problems so that state- wide cigarette-tax -funded anti-tobacco campaigns can realize their potential to become one of the most effective public health interventions available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. The purpose of this study was to examine the relative effects of taxation vs an anti-smoking media campaign on cigarette consumption in California. Methods. Quarterly cigarette sales data reported by the California State Board of Equalization between 1980 and 1992 were used to estimate a time-series model, adjusted for seasonal variations and time trends. Results. The estimated results show that sales of cigarettes were reduced by 819 million packs from the third quarter of 1990 through the fourth quarter of 1992 owing to an additional 25-cent state tax increase, while the anti-smoking media campaign reduced the cigarette sales by 232 million packs during the same period. Conclusions. Both taxation and anti-smoking media campaigns are effective means of reducing cigarette consumption. The strength of those effects, however, is influenced by the magnitude of the taxes and the amount of media campaign expenditures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To review the available evidence for home smoking restrictions as a useful tool in the prevention of youth smoking and to make recommendations for further research. A PubMed search (1 January 1990 to 26 January 2010) identified studies involving youth ≤18 years using extensive criteria. In all, 17 studies relating home smoking restrictions to youth smoking behaviour were identified from titles, abstracts or the full text, as required. Two additional articles were identified by other means. KE, NS and EG reviewed the studies. Differences in interpretation were resolved by discussion, with EG making final decisions. Of the 19 studies, 16 (including the only 2 longitudinal studies) showed at least marginal evidence of an association of home smoking restrictions with reduced adolescent smoking behaviours. Associations were more numerous and stronger in homes without adult smokers, suggesting that even in such homes, lack of a smoke-free home may undermine the parental value of not smoking. Definitions of home smoking rules, adolescent smoking behaviour and treatment of parental smoking varied widely among studies. It is recommend that future research: (1) contrast smoke-free homes for everyone against all others, (2) included an interaction term for parental smoking and having a smoke-free home, or conduct separate analyses for homes with and without parental or other adults smokers and (3) examine early and later stages of the smoking uptake continuum. While the evidence is suggestive for an effect, further research is required to establish causality using longitudinal designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study assessed the impact of state media campaigns that prominently feature counter-industry messages on youth cigarette smoking, beyond the effects of price, secular trends, tobacco control efforts, and the national truth® campaign. Methods: Rates of youth smoking were compared in three groups of states: (1) those with long funded counter-industry campaigns (California, Florida, and Massachusetts); (2) states with more recently funded counter-industry media campaigns (Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, and New Jersey); and (3) other states. An analysis was performed for a series of national telephone surveys of 12-17 year olds between 1999 and 2002, controlling for differences in demographic background, the price of cigarettes, and exposure to the national truth® campaign. Results: Between 1999 and 2002, rates of current smoking and established smoking decreased significantly faster in states with established or more newly funded counter-industry campaigns than in other states. State counter-industry campaigns appear to prime, or make more salient, negative perceptions about tobacco industry practices. Conclusion: Results highlight the value of continued state counter-industry campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents findings of a survey that has explored the characteristics and participants' perceptions of tobacco control coalitions in California. California's local public health system consists of health departments in 58 counties and three cities. These all 61 health departments have been mandated to form tobacco control coalitions as part of Proposition 99, the 1988 Tobacco Tax Initiative. This mandate was operationalized through administrative guidelines developed by the Tobacco Control Section of the California Department of Health Services. In the said survey, staff and members from each of the 61 local tobacco control coalitions were contacted by mail to participate in a survey. Survey data revealed that the average coalition began meeting 17 months prior to the survey, within months of the start of Proposition 99 activities. Overall, it was revealed that coalitions have become popular vehicles for enhancing community participation in health promotion efforts.

This article presents information on a study designed to test adult and child attitudes towards a mass media cigarette smoking prevention program in Los Angeles, California. The authors addressed four issues in the evaluation. First, they assessed whether adults and children would favor each other's involvement in a cigarette smoking prevention program. Second, whether adults and children would favor each other's involvement in a cigarette smoking cessation program. Third, the authors assessed whether adults and children would be interested in the same prevention program content areas. Fourth, they looked at whether adults and children would learn the same program content areas. Videotapes of a television-enhanced smoking prevention program, delivered in Los Angeles in 1982 was used as the stimulus material for this formative evaluation research.

This study examines the politics underlying the implementation of a smoking ban in public facilities, including restaurants and bars. The analysis is grounded in interviews with the moral entrepreneurs who spearheaded the antismoking crusade and the status quo defenders who opposed it, a content analysis of letters to the editor, and data on the pro- and antiban letter writers' cumulative property values. The findings reveal that moral entrepreneurs and proban letter writers focused on health risks thought to be associated with secondhand smoke; their opponents focused on the individual right to smoke. As expected, status also differentiates the pro- and antiban groups, consistent with theorizing about the role of status politics in the creation of deviant types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]