Robert McMillen

2012-01-26T14:18:00.000-06:00

We have moved our blog - please visit us at http://mstobaccodata.blogspot.com/

49 Mississippi Communities Now Have Comprehensive Smoke Free Ordinances

2012-01-06T09:51:00.000-06:00

More than 22% of Mississippians live in a town that had passed a 100% smoke free ordinance, read our latest fact sheet to learn more. For more information on smoke free ordinances in Mississippi, visit our interactive map and our warehouse of Mississippi ordinances.

Also, we have released a 2 page version of the The Starkville & Hattiesburg Heart Attack Studies

47 Smoke-Free Ordinances in Mississippi

2011-11-22T12:27:00.000-06:00

Coldwater has also passed a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance. Mississippi now has 47 smoke-free communities. Read our fact sheet for more information and visit our warehouse of Mississippi Smoke-Free Ordinances.

46 Smoke-Free Ordinances in Mississippi

2011-11-21T12:03:00.001-06:00

By the end of 2011, 46 Mississippi communities will have implemented comprehensive smoke-free ordinances and more than 21% of Mississippian will live in a smoke-free community. See our latest fact sheet to learn more about these communities.

Also, our latest review of revenue from communities that collect an optional Tourism and Economic Development tax demonstrates that inflation-adjusted revenue increased 10.3% in the 12 months following the enactment of a smoke-free ordinance.

Economic Effects of Smoke-Free Ordinances in Mississippi Communities: An Examination of Tourism And Economic Development Tax Revenues

2011-11-17T15:02:00.003-06:00

There are several objective methods for assessing potential impacts of smoke-free laws on the hospitality industry. The most common approach is to examine trends in sales tax revenue from the hospitality sector before and after the smoke-free laws ordinances are enacted. In Mississippi, communities may choose to collect an optional Tourism and Economic Development (TED) tax that can be placed on restaurants and/or hotels/motels. This tax currently ranges from 1% to 4% of gross revenue. Most communities that collect a TED tax impose this tax on both restaurants and hotels/motels. Some communities collect the same percentage of tax from each sector, while others tax each sector at a different rate. Also, some communities only impose this tax on one sector of the local hospitality industry. Among the communities that collect this optional TED tax during the study period, 17 have implemented a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance and 16 have not implemented a smoke-free ordinance (See Table 1).

This study examines inflation-adjusted pre- and post-ordinance TED tax revenue data for each of the 17 communities with comprehensive smoke-free ordinances (and at least 12 months of post-ordinance data), and compares these revenue data to the revenue data from Mississippi communities without smoke-free ordinances. For each of the 17 communities with smoke-free ordinances, revenue data from these comparison communities were aggregated across the same two 12-months periods. The percent change in TED tax revenue for the smoke-free community was then compared to the aggregated percent change across the comparison communities. Finally, an average percent change in revenue was calculated for the 17 smoke-free communities and compared to the average percent change in the comparison communities.

Summary
In order to provide a comparison for each of the 17 communities with comprehensive smoke-free ordinances, we aggregated revenue data from the communities with the TED tax but without smoke-free ordinances and calculated a comparison for each smoke-free community. Table 2 provides an average percent change in revenue in the communities without ordinances during the same time period we examined in the communities with smoke-free ordinances.

Detailed Methods

Monthly sales tax collections data for municipalities are available at the local level from the Department of Revenue of the State of Mississippi. These monthly reports provide the amount of sales tax collected and the amount of Tourism and Economic Development (TED) taxes collected - http://www.dor.ms.gov/info/stats/transfer.html
Data were adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) using September 2011 as the base month.
We selected smoke-free communities with at least 12 months of post-ban data*.
We contrasted percent change in revenue in each of these smoke-free communities to the aggregated percent change in the comparison communities in Mississippi that did not have smoke-free ordinances.
Aggregated pre- and post-ordinance TED tax revenue data for control communities were extracted for the same period as each of the 18 smoke-free communities, and provide a comparison for the same time period.

Given that Mississippi communities adopted their smoke-free ordinance at different times, these time periods differ for the 18 smoke-free communities
Aggregated data from the 16 communities without smoke-free ordinances provide economic controls**

Results

Table 2 presents the the inflation-adjusted pre- and post- ban data for the Mississippi communities that have comprehensive smoke-free ordinances, collect a TED tax, and have at least 12 months of post-ban data. The percentage change in revenue for these towns ranges from -17% to 95%. As other researchers have noted***, this wide range reflects the volatile nature of the restaurant and hospitality industries, due to seasonality and turnover in businesses. Also, the largest changes occurred in the smaller communities.

For the communities with smoke-free ordinances as a whole, inflation-adjusted TED tax revenue were 10.3% greater in the 12 months following the enactment of a smoke-free ordinance. Conversely, there was no meaningful change in TED tax revenue in the aggregated control communities (-.1%). Thus there is no evidence that smoke-free ordinances harmed from the TED tax.

* Hernando experienced atypical revenue in October 2007 (post-ordinance study period) that was approximately 10 times as high as the monthly average for the study period. In order to avoid skewing the results in favor of the post-ordinance period, we replaced the TED tax revenue in Hernando for October 2007 with the revenue amount from November 2007.

** Data from two of the control communities were omitted due to changes in the TED tax structure during the study period. Ocean Springs increased the tax and Natchez added an occupancy TED tax during the study period.

*** Pope & Bartosch (1997)

Size of Workforce and Amount of Gaming at the Palace Casino, Before and After Implementing a Smoke-Free Policy

2011-11-17T14:23:00.000-06:00

The Palace Casino in Biloxi implemented a smoke-free policy when it reopened on June 14, 2011. The casino voluntarily prohibited smoking inside all of the casino facility, with the exception of a smoking lounge located off of the casino floor. The purpose of this brief is to summarize the available data about the potential economic impact of this new policy.

The Mississippi Gaming Commission releases quarterly reports that provide data on all of the non-reservation casinos. Although these reports do not release revenue data, the commission does release data on the number of employees, number of slot games, and number of table games for each casino. This brief examines these data for the Palace Casino, in the context of the Coastal Region Casinos.

Coastal Region Casinos

Beau Rivage
Boomtown
Grand Casino
Hard Rock Casino
Hollywood Casino
Imperial Palace
Island View Casino
Isle of Capri
Palace Casino
Sliver Slipper
Treasure Bay

Methods

Palace Casino data are examined for the number of employees, number of slot games, and number of table games for each Quarter from the First Quarter of 2006 to the 3rd Quarter of 2011
Data are also examined for the total number of employees, number of slot games, and number of table games in the Coastal Region
Given the seasonality of tourism and gaming, initial analyses focus on the 3rd Quarter for each year

The New Palace Casino implemented their smoke-free policy in mid-June of 2011, and thus the 3rd Quarter 2011 data provide post-policy data

Raw numbers of employees, slot games, and table games are provided for the New Palace Casino
Percent of employees, slot games, and table games in the Coastal Region that are housed in the New Palace Casino are also provided

These data provide illustrate the amount of the casino market in the Coastal Region that the New Palace Casino occupies

Results

Data from the 3rd Quarter demonstrate that the Palace Casino experienced no reduction in the number of employees, slot games, or table games after implementing a smoke-free policy in June of 2011

Data from the Coastal Region Casinos demonstrate no reduction in the Palace Casino market share of the region after implementing a smoke-free policy in June of 2011, as measured by the number of employees, slot games, or table games

Although it is possible that the modest increases observed after the smoke-free policy are because the casino increased its square footage during the renovation preceding the smoke-free policy, there was no evidence of a reduction in workforce or the amount of gaming

Based on the publicly available data from the Mississippi Gaming Commission, the implementation of a smoke-free policy did not harm the Palace Casino

Cautionary note: Data are only available for one quarter after implementing a smoke-free policy. Data from subsequent quarters will be necessary to assess any long-term positive or negative trends in the number of employees, slot games, or table games

Also, the number of employees, slot games, and table games serve as a proxy for revenue (because revenue data is not available) and may not perfectly correlate with revenue

Latest Details on Smoke-free Ordinances

2011-11-08T15:10:00.000-06:00

We have added a new feature to our warehouse of information about local smoke-free ordinances in Mississippi. As many of you are aware, American Nonsmokers' Rights uses a different criteria for categorizing communities as having 100% smoke-free laws than we have used. ANR evaluates ordinances across three domains; 1) non-hospitality workplaces, 2) restaurants, and 3) bars. We have simply categorized communities as either having no ordinance, an ordinance with exemptions, or an ordinance with only minor exemptions. To illustrate, we have categorized Oxford as having a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance, whereas ANR does not consider Oxford to have a 100% smoke-free ordinance for non-hospitality workplaces because their ordinance exempts tobacco retail stores.

To reduce confusion, we have created a spreadsheet that illustrates how ANR and Mississippi categorize the communities that we have determined to have compressive ordinances.

Latest Releases

2011-09-27T14:01:00.000-05:00

We have just posted our latest report from the 2010 Youth Tobacco Survey (the 2011 survey is currently field). The latest reports from the 2011 University Surveys are also available under Feature Publications. Highlighted Result: 75.8% of UMiss students, 72.6% of USM sudents, and 70.4% of MSU students believe that smoking should NOT be allowed anywhere on campus.

More on Sales Tax Revenue

2011-09-20T16:15:00.003-05:00

Earlier today, I posted trends for hospitality tax revenue in several Mississippi communities that have implemented comprehensive smoke-free ordinances. Another way to look at these data is to place the hospitality tax revenue in the context of overall sales tax revenue. In the charts below, I provide trends for the hospitality tax as a percent of the total sales tax revenue. Note that the impact of the hospitality industry on the local sales tax revenue did NOT decrease for any of these communities after smoke-free ordinances were implemented.

Starkville

Hattiesburg

Tupelo

Ridgeland

Sales Tax Revenue Following a Smoke-Free Ordinance

2011-09-20T14:19:00.003-05:00

Some Mississippians have expressed concerns that smoke-free laws could harm restaurants and decrease local and state sales tax. Numerous studies and reports from states and communities outside of Mississippi, based on several objective outcomes which are examined before and after passage of comprehensive smoke-free legislation, revealed no impact or positive impacts on sales tax revenue and employment in the hospitality industry.

Current Situation in Mississippi
Almost half of Mississippi restaurants are located in communities with smoke-free ordinances, and sales tax revenues from restaurants have NOT decreased in the time since the ordinances were enacted. There are currently 41 municipalities in Mississippi that have implemented a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance, and twelve others have passed partial smoke-free ordinances that exempt bars. According to the Mississippi State Department of Health database of restaurants in this state, almost half (46%) of restaurants in this state are in one of these communities and thus are subject to smoke-free ordinances. Note that this percentage only includes those restaurants in communities with smoke-free ordinances and does not include restaurants that are voluntarily smoke-free, so it’s likely that substantially more than half of restaurants in Mississippi are smoke-free either due to choice or local ordinance. Analysis of sales tax revenue suggests that these smoke-free policies and ordinances have not decreased revenue.

The optional local tourism tax allows us to objectively examine the impact of these smoke-free ordinances. Mississippi cities and towns may implement an additional tourism tax on restaurant and hotel sales. Although not every municipality implements this optional hospitality tax, sixteen of the municipalities that have implemented a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance also have implemented a hospitality tax. Trend analyses for revenue from this tourism tax demonstrates that no community that enacted a smoke-free ordinance experienced a loss in revenue. Tourism tax revenues have been increasing in many of these communities, and have continued to increase following the enactment of smoke-free ordinances. The charts below illustrate revenue trends before and after smoke-free ordinances for several Mississippi communities.

Starkville's Hospitality Tax

Hattiesburg's Hospitality Tax

Tupelo's Hospitality Tax

Ridgeland's Hospitality Tax

Cigarette Prefences Among Mississippi Adults

2011-08-24T13:23:00.001-05:00

From the 2010 Mississippi Adult Tobacco Survey

Marlboro and Newport are the most popular brands of cigarettes among Mississippi adults
Almost half of Mississippi smokers usually smoke mentholated cigarettes
About a quarter of Mississippi smokers buy their cigarettes by the carton
About one in five of Mississippi smokers use coupons or rebates to purchase cigarettes
The purchase of cigarettes over the Internet or at Indian reservations does not appear to be an issue in Mississippi (based on the reports of respondents in this survey)

Methods for the Mississippi Adult Tobacco Survey

2011-08-24T10:46:00.001-05:00

From the CDC:

NATS Methodology at a Glance

The NATS was designed as a stratified, national, landline and cell phone survey of non-institutionalized adults 18 years of age and older. It was designed to yield data representative and comparable at both national and State levels.

Each state is divided into at least three strata: a listed landline stratum, a not-listed landline stratum, and a cell phone stratum. The target number of landline completes per state was 1863. Target number of cell phone completes per state varied in proportion to each state’s population.

NATS fielding occurred between October 20, 2009 and February 28, 2010.

Mississippi:
Landline completes: 1,761
Cell completes: 42
Total completes: 1,803

Results from the Mississippi Adult Tobacco Survey

2011-08-24T09:42:00.003-05:00

The CDC administered the MS ATS to Mississippi adults. The following charts summarize key findings from this survey. More to come over the following days.

Health Status

MSU Students Support a Smoke-Free Campus

2011-08-16T10:20:00.001-05:00

Results from the 2011 MSU Student Tobacco survey demonstrate overwhelming support for a smoke-free policy that applies to all areas of campus. Moreover, these types of policies are common across the U.S., and in the southeast.

Tobacco-Free Colleges and Universities

2011-08-15T14:14:00.001-05:00

Our latest fact sheet addresses tobacco-free colleges and universities. Over 500 campuses are tobacco-free, and the list of tobacco-free campuses includes many in the southeast. In Mississippi, Delta State and several community colleges have implemented tobacco-free policies and the University of Mississippi has restricted tobacco use to a limited number of places on campus.

Recent surveys of students from MSU, USM, and UM demonstrate that the overwhelmings majority of students support a tobacco-free policy for their campus.

Calhoun City Smoke-Free Ordinance

2011-08-11T15:56:00.000-05:00

Visit our ordinance website to read the new Calhoun City ordinance. This site also provides a comparison grid of the ordinances for smoke-free Mississippi communities.

Updated fact sheet and YouTube Channel

2011-08-09T15:26:00.000-05:00

And we updated our fact sheet to include all 41 smoke-free communities in Mississippi. 19.9% of the Mississippi population now lives in a community with a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance.

Also, visit our revamped YouTube Channel.

Latest Map of Smoke-free Mississippi Communities

2011-08-08T16:33:00.000-05:00

Calhoun City is the latest Mississippi community to pass a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance. There are now 41 smoke-free communities in Mississippi.

Visit our update map.

Final Report - FY2010/11

2011-07-25T11:28:00.000-05:00

We've posted a summary of our surveillance activities for the past fiscal year.

Cigarette Consumption and Cigarette Revenue, 1955-2010

2011-07-07T17:26:00.001-05:00

Check out our latest fact sheet

Mississippi increased the state cigarette tax from 18 cents to 68 cents on May 15, 2009.
The data from tax records clearly demonstrates that the 2009 increase in the state cigarette tax has been followed by reduced consumption and increased revenue.
Although the increased tax was only in effect for six and a half months during 2009, revenue from the tax increased by 41.2% and per capita consumption decreased by 4.4% from 2008 to 2009.
Changes were more substantial in 2010, when revenue from the tax increased by 100.8% and per capita consumption decreased by 21.5% from 2009 to 2010.

Mississippi now has 40 communities with comprehensive smoke-free ordinances

2011-06-30T09:54:00.000-05:00

We have just released our latest fact sheet on smoke-free Mississippi communities. We now have 40 communities that have passed comprehensive smoke-free ordinances, and 19.84% of our state's population lives in one of these 40 communities.

Changes to Mississippi Tobacco Data dot Org

2011-06-21T10:38:00.001-05:00

We've updated the In The News section of our website to include links to our social media tools. The link to twitter tracks media coverage of tobacco control issues, the blog provides updates about tobacco data in Mississippi, and Google realtime lets you see up-to-the-second social updates, news articles and blog posts about tobacco control topics around the world.

Per Capita Consumption of Cigarettes

2011-06-16T16:27:00.001-05:00

One of the CDC's Key Outcome Indicators for evaluating tobacco control programs is the per capita consumption of cigarettes. As can be seen from this chart, Mississippi's per capita consumption has been higher than that of the U.S. as a whole since 1991. The U.S. has experienced a steady decline since the early '80s, while the downward trend in Mississippi appears to have stalled twice over the past two decades. The good news is that there was a substantial drop from 2009 to 2010. Although it is too soon to determine if this a trend or simply a one-year blip, this decrease is exciting.

Note that the blue line represents Mississippi and the red line represents the U.S.

Curious about emerging tobacco products?

2011-06-16T16:14:00.000-05:00

Visit this wiki to learn more. Watch this blog next week for a post on the prevalence of use of these products among Mississippi youth and adults.

More than 500 trillion molecules of strong carcinogens per cigarette: use in product labelling?

2011-06-14T09:50:00.000-05:00

From Tobacco Control

Therefore, after appropriate message testing, the following wording could be used in cigarette package labelling: ‘the smoke of each cigarette contains more than 500 trillion strong carcinogen molecules’. This may provide a strong cautionary note and lead to abstinence, cessation and avoidance of secondhand smoke.

Stephen S Hecht

Tobacco Use among Mississippi Youth

2011-06-13T12:50:00.001-05:00

Cigarette smoking has declined dramatically in Mississippi over the past 10 years, and a recent post illustrates these trends in current cigarette smoking and initiation of cigarette smoking. In the space below, we provide the trends of initiating use of cigarettes, cigars, or smokeless tobacco products and current use of at least one of these products.

Latest Map of Smoke-Free Mississippi Communities

2011-06-10T14:13:00.000-05:00

We've updated our map to include the latest communities to pass smoke-free laws. There are now 39 Mississippi communities with comprehensive smoke-free laws.

Limited Progress

2011-06-03T10:14:00.000-05:00

First, the good news. The Palace Casino in East Biloxi will become the first Mississippi casino voluntarily go smoke-free. On Tuesday General Manager Keith Crosby announced smoking won’t be permitted anywhere in the building except in the smoking lounge adjacent to the casino floor. Hopefully, other casinos in this state will follow suit.

Next, the limited good news. Olive Branch has passed an ordinance the restricts smoking inside of public indoor places. However, the exemptions in this ordinance continue to allow smoking in indoor public places. Restaurants with bars may allow smoking after 9 p.m. Also exempt from the ban are bars that only allow patrons more than 21 years old. These exemptions mean that employees and nonsmokers will continue to be exposed in Olive Branch. Moreover, children who dine at restaurants with bars will be exposed to the toxic remnants of post-9:00 smoking (thirdhand smoke).

New Studies Show an FDA Menthol Ban Would Benefit Public Health, Garner Broad Public Support

2011-05-13T13:12:00.000-05:00

AJPH recently published three papers on menthol cigarettes, including our recent paper. Media coverage links are below.

YTS Posters

2011-05-03T12:49:00.000-05:00

We are printing these posters for the Health Department and all of the schools that participated in the YTS. Contact us if you would like the pdf.

The Environmental Burden of Cigarette Butts

2011-04-19T08:13:00.000-05:00

The current supplement of Tobacco Control addresses the environmental burden of cigarette butts.

Check out our fact sheet on the burden in Mississippi.

New smoking ordinance goes into effect in 30 days

2011-04-12T09:55:00.000-05:00

From the Rankin Ledger.

Latest Reports

2011-04-06T09:45:00.000-05:00

We have just released several new and updated reports.

The 2010 MSU Report, 2010 USM Report, and 2010 UM Report. Among the highlights, each of these studies found that the majority of undergraduate students believe that smoking should not be permitted anywhere on campus.

On that note, our latest fact sheet reveals that over 500 universities across the U.S., including Delta State University and the University of Arkansas, have tobacco-free campuses. The current policies of DSU, USM, JSU, MSU, and UM are also described.

We have also updated the Smoke-free Communities in Mississippi Timeline - 38 Mississippi communities have now passed comprehensive smoke-free ordinances. The map of smoke-free communities has also been updated.

Our updated State Rankings report includes the latest data from the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation. Mississippi currently ranks 31st in protecting its population with 100% smoke-free laws.

Flowood Passes No Smoking Ordinance

2011-04-05T10:40:00.000-05:00

Another Mississippi town passes a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance. Currently, almost 20% of the Mississippi population lives in a community with a a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance.

Editorial: Olive Branch considers smoking ban

2011-04-05T09:10:00.000-05:00

From the Commercial Appeal

Mississippi College to Become a Smoke-Free Campus

2011-03-13T08:07:00.000-05:00

from their website. UMiss has greatly restricted smoking on campus & Delta State has a tobacco-free campus (see out fact sheet). Will other universities follow suit?

Our Latest Fact Sheet

2011-03-11T10:14:00.000-06:00

Youth Smoking | 1998-2010

Menthol Cigarettes - Most Popular among Mississippi Youth

2011-03-11T10:12:00.000-06:00

Menthol cigarette flavoring helps to promote smoking by "improving" the taste of smoke, and thus decreasing the unpleasantness of early smoking experiences. Research has demonstrated that menthol is more than a flavor - it makes it easier for youth to initiate smoking (see The Case Against Menthol Cigarettes).

The latest results from the 2010 Mississippi Youth Tobacco demonstrate the popularity of menthol cigarettes among Mississippi youth.

Among current middle school smokers, 59.5% usually smoke menthol cigarettes
Among current high school smokers, 69.0% usually smoke menthol cigarettes
Analyses revealed no statistically significant differences in regular menthol cigarette use across race, grade, or gender.

Although the legislation that authorized the FDA to regulate tobacco also implemented a ban on cigarettes with flavors such as chocolate with the rationale that this will discourage youth initiation, menthol was exempted from this ban and is being considered separately by the FDA.

Frequent Smoking among Mississippi Youth

2011-03-11T09:21:00.001-06:00

Overall, rates of tobacco use remained steady. The state has experienced substantial decreases in tobacco use during the early years of our tobacco control programs, and these decreases have been sustained over the past two years. There were no statistically significant increases or decreases in initiation form 2009 to 2010; however, there have been substantial and statistically significant decrease in initiation of cigarette smoking from 1998 to 2010.

897 Mississippi public middle school students have smoked cigarettes on at least 20 of the past 30 days
The prevalence of frequent smoking has decreased by 85% since 1998, leading to 4,931 fewer middle school students who are frequent smokers

9,687 Mississippi public high school students have smoked cigarettes on at least 20 of the past 30 days
The prevalence of frequent smoking has decreased by 50% since 1998, leading to 9,824 fewer high school students who are frequent smokers

Current Smoking among Mississippi Youth - the latest from the 2010 Youth Tobacco Survey

2011-03-10T08:43:00.000-06:00

6,388 Mississippi public middle school students are current smokers
The prevalence of current smoking has decreased by 72% since 1998, leading to 16,699 fewer young smokers

Public High Schools

27,152 Mississippi public high school students are current smokers
The prevalence of current smoking has decreased by 34% since 1998, leading to 14,190 fewer young smokers

Senatobia board votes to go smoke-free

2011-03-09T12:11:00.001-06:00

With a vote of four to one the City of Senatobia board members voted to adopt an ordinance making Senatobia smoke-free effective April 1.

Upcoming Posts from the YTS

2011-03-08T09:40:00.000-06:00

Current tobacco use
Most popular brands among Mississippi Youth
Popularity of mentholated cigarettes among Mississippi Youth
Source of cigarettes
Addiction & cessation
Susceptibility among nonsmokers
Prevention & knowledge
Perceptions of social norms
Exposure to tobacco smoke
Youth who live with smokers
Youth with friends who use tobacco products

Latest from the 2010 Youth Tobacco Survey

2011-03-08T08:48:00.000-06:00

Results are in from the 2010 Mississippi Youth Tobacco Survey. In the public middle schools, we had a 70% response rate with 1644 completed surveys; and in the public high schools, we had a 74% response rate with 1789 completed surveys.

26,449 Mississippi public middle school students have tried at least one cigarette
The prevalence of having ever tried smoking has decreased by 57% since 1998, leading to 34,406 fewer middle school students who have tried smoking
69,857 Mississippi public high school students have tried at least one cigarette
The prevalence of having ever tried smoking has decreased by 34% since 1998, leading to 33,291 fewer high school students who have tried smoking

Support for Smokefree Air fact sheet

2011-03-01T13:31:00.001-06:00

Check out our latest fact sheet. Despite strong public support, the smokefree air bill died in committee today.

Youth Initiation of Tobacco Use

2011-02-25T12:19:00.002-06:00

We will soon be releasing our First Quarterly Report for 2011. This report addresses the first goal of tobacco control programs - preventing initiation of tobacco use. Most people who start smoking are younger than 18 years of age, so preventing adolescents from initiating tobacco is critical to reducing the burden of tobacco use on this state. This report summarizes trends in the initiation of several tobacco products among Mississippi middle and high school students.

Key Outcomes

Initiation of cigarette smoking, cigar smoking, and smokeless tobacco has decreased substantially since statewide tobacco control programs were implemented in 1999. (Source: Mississippi Youth Tobacco Survey)

Initiation of cigarette smoking among middle school students decreased by 52% since 1998, leading to 31,828 fewer middle school students who had tried smoking.

Initiation of cigarette smoking among high school students decreased by 37% since 1998, leading to 37,657 fewer middle school students who had tried smoking.

Smoke-Free Ordinances in Mississippi

2011-02-24T16:34:00.000-06:00

There are currently 37 Mississippi communities that have implemented 100% smoke-free ordinances (smoking is not allowed in any indoor public place). Several other communities have implemented partial smoke-free ordinances. This site provides a summary of the key features of these ordinances for each city, as well as a PDF of the ordinance.

Adult Cigarette Smoking Prevalence, 1998-2009

2011-02-24T09:02:00.002-06:00

There are two broad approaches to reducing the adult prevalence of smoking.

The first is to lower the rate of smoking initiation among youth. Mississippi has experienced substantial success in this area. The initiation rate among middle school students had decreased by 52% and decreased among high school students by 37% since 1998.

The second is to increase cessation among current smokers. This can be accomplished through cessation programs and through policy.

Cessation:

The Office of Tobacco Control offers both healthcare system-based and population-based interventions that provide services to the individual tobacco user, which include the following:

ACT Center
The ACT Center for Tobacco Treatment, Education and Research provides free face-to-face tobacco treatment to Mississippi residents interested in quitting. Eligible participants receive nicotine replacement therapies and prescription medications. The ACT Center is located in Jackson, MS with several satellite tobacco treatment clinics throughout the state.
Mississippi Tobacco Quitline: 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669)
The Mississippi Tobacco Quitline provides free telephone-based tobacco treatment to Mississippi residents interested in quitting. Nicotine replacement therapies are available to eligible participants.

Policy:

Across the United States, state tobacco control policies have improved substantially over the past 13 years. Since 1998, the average state cigarette tax has increased from 39 cents to $1.45. During this time period, many states and communities have also passed smoke-free laws. Currently, 22 states and the District of Columbia have passed comprensive smoke-laws (smoking is not allowed in any indoor public place or worksite), and 47.5% of the U.S. population lives in a community or state with a comprehensive smoke-free law.

However, policy changes in Mississippi have been slower. Although Mississippi recently raised the state cigarette tax from 18 cents to 68 cents, 35 states and the District of Columbia have a higher tax rate and the current state tax falls well below the national average. Mississippi has also been slower to pass smoke-free policies. There is not currently a comprehensive smoke-free law in this state. However, 35 communities, accounting for 20% of the population in Mississippi have passed local comprensive smoke-free ordinances.

Summary
The smoking rate among US adults has decreased slowly and steadily since 2002 (BRFSS data). Although youth smoking rates in Mississippi have also declined during this time period, there have been no decreases in the smoking rate among Mississippi adults. It is not possible to state conclusively why Mississippi had not experienced a decline in adult smoking rates when the rates are dropping in the U.S.. However, the disparities in the state cigarette tax and smoke-free legislation are likely partially responsible.

Science Guiding Advocacy

2011-02-23T12:35:00.000-06:00

As social scientists, we are trained to use objective scientific methods to collect and analyze data on social issues. We produce academic papers, give professional talks, and even occasionally produce reports for policy makers (with the expectation that others will actively apply our findings to policy issues, but rarely do we actually get in front of a social issue and become active advocates). I’ve spent the past decade conducting research on tobacco, and my way of thinking about the role of a social scientist has shifted drastically. Stan Glantz, the eminent cardiologist and one of the people at the epicenter of the our Nation's first smoke free movement in California, once advised me, “So long as the science guides the advocacy rather than the reverse, it’s perfectly acceptable for a scientist to advocate for health policies.”

Given that our tobacco research is often applied to advocate for national, state, and local tobacco control policies, we take several steps to ensure our scientific credibility. First, the people administering our surveys do not have any stake in the outcome of the surveys. To illustrate, the SSRC's Survey Research Laboratory (SRL) administers many of our surveys, and their compensation depends on the quality of their survey administration, not the outcome of the survey. Schoolteachers administer our other surveys, and, like the SRL administrators, these individuals do not have any stake in the survey findings. Second, we release all of our study findings on our website, not just the findings that support particular tobacco control policies. Third, we provide full disclosure of our research methods, as well as the source of funding for our research. By doing so, we provide people with information needed to accurately assess the merit of our research and identify any possible conflicts of interest. These measures protect our scientific integrity and ensure that we continue to let the science guide the advocacy rather than the reverse.

State Trends in Smoke-Free Laws

2011-02-22T10:58:00.000-06:00

Twenty-three states and DC have passed statewide smoke-free laws that apply to restaurants, bars, and workplaces. In addition, hundreds of communities have passed local smoke-free laws. Although many Mississippi communities have also passed smoke-free laws, we continue to lag behind the majority of the states. Based on data from American Nonsmokers' Rights.

Motion Chart - click on the play icon in the bottom left corner.

Smoking Attributable Costs to Mississippi

2011-02-22T10:18:00.004-06:00

Based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Local Smoke-Free Ordinances and Restaurants in Mississippi

2011-02-22T09:59:00.004-06:00

Background
Although many Mississippi communities have implemented smoke-free ordinances, only 20 percent of Mississippians live in one of these communities. This session, a bill was introduced in both houses of the Mississippi Legislature that would have protected all Mississippians inside of public places. Some Mississippians have expressed concerns that smoke-free laws could harm restaurants and decrease local and state sales tax. Numerous studies and reports from states and communities, based on several objective outcomes which are examined before and after passage of comprehensive smoke-free legislation, revealed no impact or positive impacts on sales tax revenue and employment in the hospitality industry.

Current Situation in Mississippi
Almost half of Mississippi restaurants are located in communities with smoke-free ordinances, and sales tax revenues from restaurants have NOT decreased in the time since the ordinances were enacted. There are currently 37 municipalities in Mississippi that have implemented a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance, and eleven others have passed partial smoke-free ordinances that exempt bars. According to the Mississippi State Department of Health database of restaurants in this state, almost half (46%) of restaurants in this state are in one of these communities and thus are subject to smoke-free ordinances#. Note that this percentage only includes those restaurants in communities with smoke-free ordinances and does not include restaurants that are voluntarily smoke-free, so it’s likely that substantially more than half of restaurants in Mississippi are smoke-free either due to choice or local ordinance. Analysis of sales tax revenue suggests that these smoke-free policies and ordinances have not decreased revenue.

The optional local tourism tax allows us to objectively examine the impact of these smoke-free ordinances. Mississippi cities and towns may implement an additional tourism tax on restaurant and hotel sales. Although not every municipality implements this optional hospitality tax, sixteen of the municipalities that have implemented a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance also have implemented a hospitality tax. Trend analyses for revenue from this tourism tax demonstrates that no community that enacted a smoke-free ordinance experienced a loss in revenue. Tourism tax revenues have been increasing in many of these communities, and have continued to increase following the enactment of smoke-free ordinances. The charts below illustrate revenue trends before and after smoke-free ordinances for several Mississippi communities.