BUFFALO, NY—Today, the Western New York Area Tobacco Control Programs, which coordinates direct tobacco control programming to eight counties in WNY, hosted a press event outside the Wilson Farms Store located at 601 Prospect Ave., in order to report on early results from the local New York Retail Tobacco Advertising Survey.

“Tobacco control programs throughout the state have been conducting surveys of retail tobacco outlets in order to raise awareness of the tobacco industry’s marketing strategies using retail advertising and promotions and their impact on youth, “ said Andrew Hyland, PhD, Senior Research Scientist at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. “Data collected from 32 stores in the Erie-Niagara region between February and April show that over 90% of these stores displayed tobacco ads and displays in their interiors. A significant number of these ads were located three feet or below, which is normally at the eye-level of a child, and in many cases, placed near candy, which are direct violations to the tobacco Master SettlementAgreement of 1998.”

“One of the purposes of the agreement was to promote public health and to prevent youth tobacco use,” said Terry Alford, coordinator of the Erie-Niagara Tobacco-Free Coalition. “Violations of the agreement are especially harmful to young people across WNY. Since the agreement was signed, every major tobacco company has been implicated in a violation of one or more provisions of the agreement.”

The survey also found that 93% of stores displayed tobacco advertising and promotional items which was visible from the street. Over 50% of these stores had up to 25% of their exteriors covered in tobacco ads, and another 14% had up to 50% of their exteriors covered. Small business-owned stores in distressed neighborhoods were found to have more tobacco ad displays than all other types of stores. Community areas with people living in poverty and who have less than a high school education live in areas with more visible external tobacco ads.

“Enough is enough,” exclaimed Judith Anderson, President of the Minority Health Coalition speaking at the press event. “In order to promote positive, healthy and clean environments, as well as holding the health and well-being of our youth as a priority, we believe that indoor and outdoor advertising should be kept at a minimum. We therefore request that local businesses aid us in our effort by reducing the amount of tobacco advertising within our neighborhoods. We are happy to include Wilson Farms Stores as our partner in advocating for policies to do just that, and hope other stores look at them as the model to aspire to.”

The Western New York Area Tobacco Control Programs (WNY Area TCP), which covers Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming Counties, consists of several NYSDOH-funded and supported tobacco control organizations. These include: the Allegany County Awareness Coalition; the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Tobacco Control Coalition; the Erie-Niagara Tobacco-Free Coalition; Smoke-Free NOW; the Tobacco Cessation Center of WNY—North; school support programs; and, several Reality Check chapters, a teen organized grass-roots movement designed to expose the manipulative marketing and advertising tactics used by the tobacco industry to target young people.

The goals of the WNY Area TCP include:

1. the reduction of disease, disability and death related to tobacco use by preventing the initiation of tobacco use among young people;
2. promote quitting among young people and adults;
3. eliminate non-smokers’ exposure to secondhand smoke; (4) and, identify and eliminate disparities related to tobacco use among different population groups

The WNY Area TCP offers information about the benefits and limits of public policies that impact tobacco use; disseminates educational materials on tobacco and health; provides training to health professionals, teachers and human service personnel; operates a speakers’ bureau; and, sponsors public informational campaigns.

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