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Surveillance and Evaluation Data Resources for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs

Table 4. Topic-Specific Tools: Sales Data

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Table 4. Topic-Specific Tools: Sales Data

Data Source

Tobacco-Related Indicators

Sampling Frame

Methodology (a),
Frequency (b),
Years Completed (c)

Comments

Contact

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Compliance Checks

  • Provides data on retailers that complied with the prohibition of the sale of tobacco products to minors.
  • Prior to March 21, 2000, the compliance check authorized state and local authorities to survey whether retailers followed the FDA regulation that prohibited the sale of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to children younger than 18 years.

Topics:

  • Ability of minors to purchase tobacco products.

National and state levels.

Subjects:
Local tobacco retailers.

  1. Random, unannounced visits by state or local officials authorized by the FDA.

    Methodology may vary by state.

  2. Annual.

  3. 1997–2000.

Supreme Court ruled that FDA exceeded authority.

Data collection suspended on March 21, 2000.

Food and Drug Administration.
(888) 453-6332.

Scanner Data
  • Provides market data on tobacco sales using universal product code numbers.
Topics:
  • Dollar sales.
  • Unit sales.
  • Volume sales.
  • Sales share.
  • Average selling price.
  • Average promoted price.
  • Average list price.
  • Percentage of stores selling each product.

State or local levels.

Subjects:
Retailers using UPC scanners.

  1. Varies.
  1. 1994–present.

Comparable data on grocery stores are available, but the cost of obtaining the data set may be prohibitive.

AC Nielsen and Company.
(770) 482-1939.

Office on Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(770) 488-5703.

Data are frequently used and are comparable across states Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Compliance Checks

  • Provides data on tobacco sales to minors through unannounced, annual inspections (includes location of establishments).
  • This monitoring research was authorized through the Synar Amendment, which mandated the reduction of tobacco sales to minors.
Topics:
  • Ability of minors to purchase tobacco products.

State and local levels.

Subjects:
Tobacco retailers.

  1. Random design.

    Unannounced visits.

    Methodology may vary by state.
  1. 1995–present.

Annual report details states' activities to enforce laws. Includes information on successes in reducing tobacco availability to young people, methods used to identify noncompliant retail outlets, inspection procedures, and plans for enforcing the law in the next fiscal year.

Comparability of data may be affected by the race and sex of young inspectors.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
(301) 443-8956.

Tax Revenue Data

  • Provides sales information on tobacco products.

Topics:

  • Sales (number of cigarette packs, cartons, and pounds of tobacco) per capita for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.

State level.

Subjects:
Wholesalers and distributors.

  1. Receipts collected monthly.

  2. Varies by state. Usually begins the first year a state collects tobacco excise tax.

The Tobacco Institute was dismantled in 1999, but Orzechowski and Walker, an economic consulting firm financially supported by tobacco companies, has begun publishing an annual report on tobacco sales and consumption.

Orzechowski and Walker.
(703) 351-5014.

State departments of revenue.

Tobacco License Database

  • Provides data on establishments approved to sell tobacco products.
  • Can be used for monitoring and enforcement.
  • Provides a sample frame for compliance checks or population observation studies.
Topics:
  • Tobacco license or sales permit.
  • Retailer type.

State level.

Subjects:
Tobacco retailers.

  1. Varies.

  2. Varies.
 

State enforcement or business regulations agency.

Data are frequently used and are comparable across statesData are frequently used and comparable across states.
Abbreviations: FDA = Food and Drug Administration. UPC = Universal Product Code.



 


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This page last reviewed August 10, 2004

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