Tobacco Outlet Density and Demographics in Erie County, New York

Economic literature shows that smokers are responsive to the price of cigarettes and that African American and lower-income smokers are particularly price sensitive.1–4 Tobacco control policies that effectively restrict access and use of cigarettes will raise the cost of the cigarettes themselves as a result of increased costs in obtaining and using cigarettes. For example, zoning restrictions on the number of tobacco outlets in a given area will require smokers to travel greater distances, which has a cost associated with it, to obtain cigarettes. Studies in the alcohol literature indicate that reductions in the physical availability of alcohol products are associated with positive health and behavioral outcomes,5–8 especially in low socioeconomic areas.9,10 No such studies have been performed concerning tobacco retail outlet densities. Given this deficiency in the tobacco literature, we set out to determine whether tobacco outlets were more densely concentrated in areas with lower incomes and more African Americans.