Fairfield County Point of Sale Tobacco Retailer Store Audits

Article Presented By Hometown-Motors, Inc.

(Lancaster) – Through the Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation grant from the Ohio Department of Health, the Fairfield County Health Department created a workgroup in 2023 to develop an action plan to address youth tobacco use in Fairfield County. This plan includes training students to conduct point of sale store audits to identify tobacco promotion strategies used by retailers. 

From 2016 to 2019, total tobacco use among middle school and high school students in Ohio increased 88% from 16.1% to 30.3%, with middle school use increasing 125% and high school use increasing 52%. According to the 2018 Fairfield County Youth Behavior Survey, 28.2% of Fairfield County high school seniors stated that they started using electric vapor products (E-cigarette, vape) by the age of 16-17, and cigarettes by the age 14-15. Only 46.5% of seniors stated they had never used electric vapor products, and 15% stated that they use vapes daily. These electric vapor products, or vapes, contain dangerously high percentages of nicotine, which affects the development of young brains. Additionally, even in very small quantities, nicotine can cause addiction in youth.

54 individual point of sale store audits were recently completed with the help of community youth to collect data on how tobacco products are marketed and promoted in Fairfield County. Youth were trained in how to conduct the store audits; they evaluated things such as types of products, flavors offered, price promotions, and more. 52 out of 54 stores (gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stores, etc.) sold tobacco products. The cheapest price of a tobacco product was $0.69, and the cheapest pack of cigarettes were $3.80. 33 out of 54 stores sold e-cigarettes and 29 out of 33 had flavored e-cigarettes. The cheapest e-cigarette device was $0.99.

Evidence shows that tobacco company advertising and promotion influences young people to start using tobacco. The tobacco industry spends billions of dollars each year to market their products. Tobacco ads make smoking appear to be appealing, and flavorings in tobacco products can make them more appealing to youth. 

For more information about the Fairfield County Health Department’s Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation program, call (740) 652-2800, or visit www.fairfieldhealth.org.