Additionally, the tobacco retail permit ordinance was one of three local ordinances simultaneously implemented in Santa Clara County aimed at curbing the health impacts of tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure. Ordinance NO. NS-625.5 and NS-625.6, implemented in November 2010, were not focused solely on tobacco retail environments, but rather on reducing secondhand smoke exposure in outdoor settings selleck compound such as parks, dining areas, and entryways, and indoor settings such as multi-unit dwellings, hotels/motels, and tobacco-only retail establishments. The introduction of several tobacco-related policies at the same time presents a challenge for the validity of this work.
As such, it is not possible to infer causation from this study. The “before” and “after” effects may not be solely attributable to the county ordinance, and may be due in part to other factors, such as the policies mentioned above. Investigators were unable to exercise control over these and other types of interventions. This has
been a limitation addressed in other studies of real-world interventions (Cummins, 2005 and Rigotti et al., 1997). Future studies of tobacco permit laws learn more might consider an experimental or quasi-experimental design to provide strong evidence of the impact of tobacco retail permits on retailer density and compliance, as has been demonstrated for studies of other tobacco legislation (Altman et al., 1999, Cummings et al., 1998, Eby and Laschober, 2013, Nguyen, 2013 and Rigotti et al., 1997). Santa Clara County’s tobacco license law is one of the most progressive in the country. The ordinance appears to have had a demonstrable, unexpected impact on the tobacco retail environment in Santa Clara County, even though it was expected to impact retail density in the long term through transfer of license. Following implementation of the tobacco retail permit, there
was an immediate reduction of density, proximity to schools, and overall tobacco retailers in Santa Clara County. next Additionally, the implementation of a comprehensive ordinance helped catalyze other tobacco control efforts around the county. Since the County ordinance was implemented, two additional cities in Santa Clara County, including the largest city, San Jose, have implemented tobacco retail permit ordinances. When these local county and city-level ordinances are combined with rigorous state regulation, a powerful potential exists to reduce youth access and exposure to tobacco products. Given the limited research on the impact of tobacco retailer licensing, these findings are especially useful for other cities and counties considering similar policy interventions and highlight the need for future, more robust, research in Santa Clara County and other communities to provide stronger validation of the impacts of these interventions.