# Project 2: Big City Tobacco Control Study

> **NIH NIH P01** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2021 · $728,113

## Abstract

Project 2: Big City Tobacco Control Study
An estimated 36.5 million US adults still smoke cigarettes and nearly 7 in 10 want to quit but only 7 in 100
succeed. Smoking is concentrated in lower income and certain racial/ethnic groups who face additional
obstacles to quitting: living in areas that are disproportionately saturated with tobacco retailers, that contain a
larger volume of marketing cues, and offer markedly cheaper tobacco products. Two types of population-based
interventions in the retail environment are increasing rapidly at the local level. Place-based strategies limit the
location, type and density of tobacco retailers (e.g., limit proximity to schools, tobacco-free pharmacies, a cap
on retailers per population). Consumer-focused strategies increase price through non-tax mechanisms (e.g.,
establish minimum price and pack size) and restrict which tobacco products are sold (e.g., flavored products in
tobacco-only shops). However, the overall benefits of these interventions for tobacco control, and specific
benefits to disadvantaged and racial/ethnically diverse communities, are not firmly established. The goal of
Project 2 is to address this critical gap in tobacco control research by evaluating an on-going natural
experiment in retail interventions in 30 large cities across the US. With engagement of Big Cities Health
Coalition, Project 2 proposes to evaluate whether and how local interventions affect the tobacco retail
environment and the potential consequences for adult tobacco use. A multilevel, spatial dataset will integrate
unique data sources for each city: 1) legal research to characterize the presence, type and strength of
interventions; 2) marketing observations in a longitudinal cohort of tobacco retailers (n=1800, 60 per city),
3) city-specific data on sales volume of tobacco products; 4) a longitudinal cohort survey of adult smokers to
assess quit attempts (n=2400, 80 per city); 5) spatial analyses of tobacco retailer density in census tracts as
well as store- and person-centered buffers. Generalized linear mixed models that adjust for smoke-free air
laws and tobacco tax levels will be estimated for three primary aims. Aim 1 examines whether place-based
interventions are associated with lower density of tobacco retailers at baseline, decreases in tobacco retailer
density over time, and with narrower inequities in lower-income neighborhoods. Aim 2 examines whether
consumer-focused interventions are associated with higher tobacco prices at baseline, greater increases in
price over time, and with narrower inequities in lower-income neighborhoods. Aim 3 examines whether
stronger retail interventions are associated with tobacco use reduction at the city level (sales volume) and
individual level (quit attempts). The public health significance of Project 2 is to inform the evidence base that
guides best practices for state and local programs aiming to counter tobacco industry influence at the point of
sale. In the context of thi...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10251879
- **Project number:** 5P01CA225597-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** KURT M. RIBISL
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $728,113
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10251879

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10251879, Project 2: Big City Tobacco Control Study (5P01CA225597-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10251879. Licensed CC0.

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