Who sells tobacco, who stops? A comparison across different tobacco retailing schemes.

end game harm reduction public policy

Journal

Tobacco control
ISSN: 1468-3318
Titre abrégé: Tob Control
Pays: England
ID NLM: 9209612

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
02 Jul 2020
Historique:
received: 11 12 2019
revised: 30 04 2020
accepted: 01 05 2020
entrez: 4 7 2020
pubmed: 4 7 2020
medline: 4 7 2020
Statut: aheadofprint

Résumé

Licensing of tobacco retailers has been proposed as a mechanism to encourage retailers to stop selling tobacco. However, previous studies of tobacco licensing and/or of retailers who have stopped selling have been restricted to one legislative environment. This study examines patterns of tobacco retailing across three legislative environments with three different licensing schemes (an annual fee-based licence, a zero-cost, one-off notification scheme and no notification/licensing scheme). A telephone survey was conducted of 2928 potential tobacco retailers who could personally choose whether or not to sell tobacco (rather than the decision being made at a head office). Unexpectedly, the annual licence fee to sell tobacco was not significantly associated with a lower rate of selling tobacco or a higher rate of stopping. After allowing for other factors, probability of selling, stopping selling and reported importance of tobacco sales varied across outlet types (p<0.001 for all three outcomes), and according to the remoteness of the retailer (p<0.001, p trend=0.041 and p A fee of $A286 was not associated with a lower rate of selling, or a higher rate of stopping. The effect of licensing on retailer numbers will presumably be greater for higher licence fees, but will also depend on the perceived importance of tobacco sales to the retailer. In turn, importance of tobacco sales appears to depend on market factors, including proximity to major urban centres and low-cost competitors. A higher licence fee is likely to have a larger effect on discouraging retailers from selling.

Sections du résumé

BACKGROUND BACKGROUND
Licensing of tobacco retailers has been proposed as a mechanism to encourage retailers to stop selling tobacco. However, previous studies of tobacco licensing and/or of retailers who have stopped selling have been restricted to one legislative environment. This study examines patterns of tobacco retailing across three legislative environments with three different licensing schemes (an annual fee-based licence, a zero-cost, one-off notification scheme and no notification/licensing scheme).
METHOD METHODS
A telephone survey was conducted of 2928 potential tobacco retailers who could personally choose whether or not to sell tobacco (rather than the decision being made at a head office).
RESULTS RESULTS
Unexpectedly, the annual licence fee to sell tobacco was not significantly associated with a lower rate of selling tobacco or a higher rate of stopping. After allowing for other factors, probability of selling, stopping selling and reported importance of tobacco sales varied across outlet types (p<0.001 for all three outcomes), and according to the remoteness of the retailer (p<0.001, p trend=0.041 and p
CONCLUSION CONCLUSIONS
A fee of $A286 was not associated with a lower rate of selling, or a higher rate of stopping. The effect of licensing on retailer numbers will presumably be greater for higher licence fees, but will also depend on the perceived importance of tobacco sales to the retailer. In turn, importance of tobacco sales appears to depend on market factors, including proximity to major urban centres and low-cost competitors. A higher licence fee is likely to have a larger effect on discouraging retailers from selling.

Identifiants

pubmed: 32616626
pii: tobaccocontrol-2019-055561
doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2019-055561
pii:
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Informations de copyright

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Competing interests: No, there are no competing interests.

Auteurs

Suzan Burton (S)

School of Business, Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia S.Burton@westernsydney.edu.au.

Fiona Phillips (F)

Cancer Prevention and Research Division, Cancer Council Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Christina Watts (C)

Cancer Prevention and Advocacy Division, Cancer Council New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Sydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Kelly Kennington (K)

Cancer Prevention and Research Division, Cancer Council Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Michelle Scollo (M)

Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Kylie Lindorff (K)

Quit Victoria, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Sam Egger (S)

Cancer Research Division, Cancer Council New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Classifications MeSH