Banning smoking in public schools and playgrounds, in nearly every workplace, in restaurants, bars, and indoor public spaces. Increasing the cigarette tax from $0.87 to $2.87 per pack. Pushing for smoke-free housing and bans on flavored tobacco.

California has long been a national leader in efforts to end the tobacco epidemic, adopting state and local policies to support tobacco-free communities. While the state as a whole has made significant progress over the past three decades in reducing rates of cigarette smoking, progress across some California communities has been uneven.

In a new study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR), researchers examined how statewide variations in local tobacco policies have left some Californians more vulnerable to the harms of tobacco. Their investigation provides first-of-its-kind information on inequities in tobacco control policy protection across populations disproportionately impacted by tobacco, including racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities; low-income, rural, or multiunit housing residents; and people living in neighborhoods with high concentrations of low-income or minoritized populations.

Researchers will share findings from the study — which uses data from the 2014–2019 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) and existing state, county, and city tobacco control policies and neighborhood-level data on social drivers of health — and discuss some of the disparities in local tobacco policies and their effects on smoking behaviors. They will also share insights from a series of focus groups and interviews with community members, including parents, young adults, students, tobacco control professionals, public health administrators, volunteer organizations, and policymakers, and provide policy recommendations to address tobacco-related inequities in California.