Predicting the Impact of Tobacco Retail Licensing in Virginia on the Prevalence of Tobacco Use
Tobacco retail licensing (TRL) is recommended as an effective policy to reduce youth tobacco use. A study was conducted by George Mason University and Virginia Commonwealth University to review policies nationwide and create an overview document to assist in educating policy makers and the public in Virginia about this important issue.
Grant Award Amount: $450,000
Principal Investigator:Hong Xue, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Health Behavior and Policy
Collaborating Partners:The College of William & Mary, Georgetown University, Georgia State University, Tobacco Free Alliance of Virginia, University of Virginia
This study aims to use systems science and simulation modeling methods to build interactive tobacco prevention and control policy simulation models to assist policy development, implementation, and evaluation to prevent and control tobacco use (e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes) among youth in Virginia. This study will generate scientifically grounded evidence about the potential for three types of regulatory strategies to minimize the burden of tobacco products: 1) increasing the minimum age of legal access to tobacco products (e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes), 2) imposing excise taxes on e-cigarettes (and increasing conventional tobacco taxes), and 3) creating a minimum distance for e-cigarette retail outlets from K-12 schools.