Rural Communities
How Big Tobacco Targets Rural Communities
Rural communities are full of hardworking people who value strength and independence. Tobacco companies understand this, so they package and advertise their deadly products to play to values of self-reliance and resiliency with images such as cowboys, hunters, and racecar drivers. Big Tobacco aggressively markets cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products like chew in rural areas, taking advantage of weaker tobacco retail licensing laws in rural communities.1 This has contributed to increased smokeless tobacco use rates among high school males in rural areas, exceeding the national average.2
Because of these practices, rural counties have some of the highest smoking rates in California,3 and rural residents start smoking at an earlier age.4 Rural counties also suffer higher rates of lung cancer,5 and smoking causes 80-90 percent of lung cancer cases. That’s why it’s more important than ever to ensure rural communities are truly free from Big Tobacco’s deadly, addictive products.
The proof is in the data
Indicator | Rural Communities | General Population |
|---|---|---|
Adult tobacco use | ||
1. Adult Cigarette Use: Adult cigarette smoking prevalence | 9.1% The estimate is significantly higher than the California general population. | 6.1% |
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2. Change in Adult Cigarette Use: Rate of change in adult cigarette smoking, 2014 to 2022 | -34.1% The 2022 estimate is significantly lower than the 2014 estimate. | -50.8% |
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3. Adult Tobacco Use: Adult tobacco use prevalence (e.g. cigarettes, e-cigarettes and other vaping products, other tobacco products) | 15.1% The estimate is significantly higher than the California general population. | 11.4% |
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Youth tobacco use | ||
4. Youth Cigarette Use: Youth cigarette smoking prevalence | 1.9% | 1.2% |
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5. Youth Tobacco Use: Youth tobacco use prevalence (e.g. cigarettes, e-cigarettes and other vaping products, other tobacco products) | 9.6% | 7.3% |
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Availability of tobacco & tobacco industry influence | ||
6. Cheapest Cigarettes: Average price for the cheapest pack of cigarettes | $7.02 | $7.11 |
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7. Flavored Little Cigar Price: Average price for a single flavored little cigar/cigarillo | $0.97 | $0.97 |
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8. Tobacco Stores: Density of stores selling tobacco per 100,000 residents | 90.6 The estimate is 10.0 stores per 100,000 higher than the California general population. | 74.8 |
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9. Flavored Tobacco: Proportion of stores that sell flavored non-cigarette tobacco products | 86.6% The estimate is significantly higher than the California general population. | 81.8% |
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10. Menthol Cigarettes: Proportion of stores that sell menthol cigarettes | 92.4% The estimate is significantly higher than the California general population. | 88.3% |
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11. Tobacco Advertising: Proportion of stores that keep 90% of their storefront free from any advertising | 39.5% | 40.1% |
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Secondhand smoke | ||
12. Adult Secondhand Tobacco Exposure: Proportion of adults exposed to secondhand smoke or vape | 26.3% | 24.5% |
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13. Youth Secondhand Tobacco Exposure: Proportion of youth exposed to secondhand smoke or vape | 15.0% The estimate is significantly lower than the California general population. | 32.9% |
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14. Smokefree Homes: Proportion of adults with smokefree homes | 91.1% | 90.9% |
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Cessation | ||
15. Quitting: Proportion of smokers who tried quitting in the last 12 months | 55.4% | 57.9% |
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16. Doctor Advice to Quit: Proportion of smokers whose doctors advised them to quit | 53.3% | 49.1% |
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Organizations around the state are working to fix tobacco-related health disparities.
ACS CAN Central Valley Regional Rural Initiative to Reduce Tobacco-Related Disparities
The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is the nation’s leading cancer advocacy organization and the nonprofit. The Central Valley Regional Initiative of the ACS CAN works to reduce tobacco-related health disparities in rural communities in the Central Valley region to create more smoke-free environments across multi-unit housing complexes, healthcare campuses, and community colleges and trade schools, including in Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, and Tulare counties.
Statewide Coordinating Center for Rural Communities
The Rural Communities Coordinating Center is a joint partnership between the California Health Collaborative (CHC) and Education, Training and Research (ETR) project that provides support and assistance to California’s five rural regional projects. The Rural Communities Coordinating Center aims to inform and educate policy makers, community members, and key stakeholders about a Rural Communities Policy Platform to prevent and reduce tobacco use among California’s rural communities. Further, the Coordinating Center will build mindshare within the rural communities to engage in tobacco prevention policy advocacy with non-traditional partners such as law enforcement, tribal stakeholders, and environmental groups.
North Coast Regional Partnership
This project addresses tobacco-related health disparities in rural populations by building community awareness and support for proven tobacco control strategies in the rural North Coast Region of California, including advancing Tobacco Retail Licensing policies, advancing Smoke-Free Multi-Unit Housing policies, advancing smoke-free fairgrounds, and casino policies.
North Valley Region
This project focuses on engaging communities in the North Valley Region (Butte, Glenn, Shasta, Colusa, Tehama, and Yuba counties) to address tobacco-related health disparities. We work small, rural communities to encourage local celebrations, festivals, parades, or other heritage community events to implement voluntary smoke-free policies, as well as other community organizations, educational campuses, licensed health care and assisted living facilities, as well as improve referrals to the California Smokers’ Helpline and reduce exposure to secondhand smoke and aerosol.
Gold Country Region Rural Initiative
The California Health Collaborative’s Gold Country Rural Regional Initiative focuses on the six most rural counties of the region including Sutter, Stanislaus, El Dorado, Amador, Tuolumne, and Nevada to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke and tobacco use. We work to ensure that tobacco control policies are included in City/County General Plans, and at community colleges and trade schools. We also work to mobilize young adults to provide education on secondhand smoke, smokeless tobacco, electronic smoking devices, and tobacco industry targeting of priority populations for policymakers and other community stakeholders.
A Story of Inequity
Tobacco’s impact on health disparities in California
For decades, the tobacco industry has aggressively targeted California’s diverse communities with predatory practices. Internal documents from Big Tobacco outline their strategies – many of which are shocking attempts to peddle deadly products by way of product discounts and manipulative advertising. They even gave away free products to youth in the past. These tactics masquerade as support for communities under the guise of cultural celebration.
Unfortunately, the tactics have worked. Big Tobacco aggressively targeted communities and, as a result, some populations have higher rates of tobacco use, experience greater secondhand smoke exposure at work and at home, and have higher rates of tobacco-related disease than the general population.1
Addressing tobacco-related health inequities is key to California’s efforts to fight tobacco, our state’s number one cause of preventable death and disease.2 Tobacco use, pricing, and its impact across California were analyzed where significant disparities were found across various populations. See how Big Tobacco affects each community in the Nation’s most diverse state.