Grant Number:	7R21CA280049-03 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator:	Kong, Amanda
Organization:	Wake Forest University Health Sciences
Project Title:	Investigating the Impact of Local Land Use and Zoning Policies on Equitably Reducing Tobacco Retailer Availability
Fiscal Year:	2024

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Given persistent racialized and socioeconomic inequities in neighborhood tobacco retailer availability (TRA), decreasing TRA is an important intervention for decreasing inequities in tobacco use and tobacco-related disease. To address inequities in TRA, several cities have implemented licensing-based policies such as limiting the number of retailers that may possess a license to sell tobacco in a neighborhood. However, local licensing-based policies may be difficult to implement in states with preemption, which prohibits local governments from enacting tobacco control policies such as retailer licensing. To date, 14 states preempt local governments from regulating tobacco retail licensing. Oklahoma (OK) is one of the most comprehensively preempted states in the nation, and the state has exclusive authority over tobacco retailer licensing. However, an examination of OK’s statutes reveals that the state does not preempt localities from regulating zoning or land use. Use-based zoning may be able to reduce TRA by regulating the land (i.e., parcels) where retailers are permitted or prohibited from selling tobacco products (e.g., residential, industrial). This mixed-methods study (based in Oklahoma City and Tulsa) will be the first to explicitly evaluate the impacts of use-based zoning on eliminating racialized and socioeconomic inequities in TRA in a comprehensively preempted state. The two Specific Aims include: 1) Evaluate the equity impacts of policies that cap the number of tobacco retailers in certain zones and 2) Engage with local key stakeholders to identify facilitators and barriers to the dissemination of Aim 1 findings and implementation of zoning-based tobacco control policies. We will use geographic information systems and spatial epidemiology methods to identify the relationships between specific zones, TRA, and neighborhood sociodemographic characteristics. We will then simulate policies that limit the number of tobacco retailers within certain zones and compare changes in observed neighborhood inequities in TRA (e.g., weakening of inequities; percent and absolute decreases in TRA) pre- vs. post-policy. We will then use a semi-structured interview guide to explore key stakeholder recommendations for improving the dissemination of study results and to better understand perspectives on facilitators and barriers to implementing zoning- based tobacco control policies in OK, focusing on key implementation outcomes. This innovative and equity- focused study fits within NCI’s mission to “support cancer research across the nation to advance scientific knowledge and help all people live longer, healthier lives” with the long-term objective to reduce inequities in tobacco-related cancers. This study is grounded in dissemination and implementation science best practices and may produce evidence of reductions in TRA and pro-equity effects, which may open the door for a new suite of policy tools that can promote tobacco control and health equity, especially in preempted states.





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