Tobacco dependence continues to be the single most preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Persons entering drug abuse treatment smoke at 3-4 times the rate, and staff in publicly funded programs smoke at twice the rate, of the general population. Although the burden of illness and associated economic costs of nicotine addiction are elevated in the drug treatment population, treatment programs rarely address comorbid nicotine addiction.

In this project, we forecast changes in California smoking behavior and health care costs due to state tobacco control policies. The goals of this project include estimating and forecasting changes in statewide California smoking behavior and health care costs. These changes are due to state tobacco control policies and changes in the state cigarette tax and funding for tobacco control education programs.

This is a household survey of young adults in San Francisco and Alameda counties to examine how changes in the current policy context affect tobacco use and other health behaviors. The study includes retail and neighborhood audits.

The purpose of this project was to characterize the San Francisco public’s perceptions and opinions about the ban of tobacco sales in pharmacies. On October 1, 2008, the City and County of San Francisco amended an ordinance of the San Francisco Health Code, prohibiting the sale of tobacco products in San Francisco pharmacies. “Big Box” stores (such as Costco) and grocery stores (such as Safeway) were not included in the ban. Opponents expressed concern that such a ban would have a negative financial impact on the pharmacies in question, which in San Francisco are primarily Walgreens.

Research on the impact of cigarette butt disposal in the outdoor environment as toxic waste.  

Marin County communities have some of the highest rates of youth cannabis use in California. To address this problem, a collaborative prevention project was established between Marin Healthy Youth Partnerships, a community-based organization funded by a federal Drug-Free Communities grant, the Marin Prevention Network, and Marin County Health and Human Services.

This project uses tobacco industry documents to analyze the implications of the industry's corporate social responsibility initiatives for tobacco control.  

Smoking and vaping in the outdoors are considered to be normal and acceptable in California and the Pacific Rim region. However, tobacco use in the outdoors results in harmful levels of secondhand smoke exposure, toxic tobacco, vaping and cannabis product waste, and fire hazards. This study identifies factors driving the cultural norm and pervasive notion that it is socially acceptable for smokers to smoke in the outdoors by analyzing past and current tobacco industry advertising, social media and political strategies in California, Thailand and Japan.

Most effective tobacco control policy in the United States has been enacted at the local and, more recently, state level. This project uses case study methods to research  how the tobacco industry and tobacco control professionals influence state and local policy making to develop knowledge that will lead to more effective tobacco control policies and strategies, while taking into account the major changes and uncertainties in the tobacco control policy environment that continue to occur: Specifically, the project

This sentinel surveillance garbology study documents environmental contamination from e-cigarette product waste, combustible tobacco product waste, and cannabis product waste at public high schools with in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, and San Francisco counties. The study shows that e-cigarette waste and combustible tobacco product waste contaminate the Bay Area high schools, confirming use of these products by high school students. Cannabis product waste represents an emerging issue.

In partnership with one of the largest permanent supportive housing programs for homeless and low-income adults with special needs in San Diego County, we will conduct a pre- and post-policy evaluation a smoke-free policy that includes restrictions on smoking in indoor and shared outdoor areas. The study will examine tobacco use behaviors, exposure to secondhand smoke, knowledge of, adherence to, and attitudes toward the smoke-free policy among the clientele of 4 permanent supportive housing programs.

Healthcare costs play a central role in FDA regulatory impact analysis. Many factors contribute to tobacco- attributable healthcare costs, including changing tobacco product use patterns, sociodemographic characteristics, health status, and socioeconomic status (SES). The central goal of this project is to develop economic models that analyze the impact of new patterns of tobacco product use on healthcare costs for different populations including those that are particularly vulnerable.

Analysis of the tobacco industry efforts to interfere with implementation of the WHO FCTC, currently focused on the tobacco industry interference with implementation of the Protocol on the Illicit Trade of Tobacco Products. As part of the WHO Collaborating Center, provision of support and technical assistance to WHO on implementation of Article 5.3 and its guidelines, i.e. establishing measures to protect tobacco control against the tobacco industry interference.

At the same time that regulations on tobacco and on opioid prescriptions have become more stringent, regulations on cannabis have become less stringent: as of 2019, 11 states had legalized recreational cannabis and an additional 22 states had legalized medical cannabis use. The effects of these diverging trends are not clear, in part due to dramatic differences in local policies. Our work assesses whether localities make consistent choices with respect to substance use policies, and which policies are associated with reduced substance use at the population level.

At the same time that regulations on tobacco and on opioid prescriptions have become more stringent, regulations on cannabis have become less stringent: as of 2019, 11 states had legalized recreational cannabis and an additional 22 states had legalized medical cannabis use. The effects of these diverging trends are not clear, in part due to dramatic differences in local policies. Our work assesses whether localities make consistent choices with respect to substance use policies, and which policies are associated with reduced substance use at the population level.

The goals of this project are to conduct case studies of selected California locales that may be candidates for implementing innovative endgame-furthering policy measures and to analyze tobacco industry documents to describe the industry’s understanding of endgame-oriented measures and its plans and strategies for opposing them.

This research involves developing models for smoking-induced heath care expenditures in the state of California as well as within a large HMO. The models include both static and dynamic estimates.

The Center creates partnerships with health care provider and policy groups to promote smoking cessation.  

The emergence of the legalized cannabis market, combined with the spread of e-cigarettes (which can also be used to aerosolize cannabis), have changed the tobacco market.  In many places the historic pattern of youth beginning with tobacco and adding cannabis has been reversed, with more youth starting with cannabis and adding tobacco.  The pressure for public use of cannabis has the potential for undermining smokefree laws.  Finally, major tobacco corporations, which have been considering entering the cannabis market since the 1970s, are starting to move.&nbsp

An important component of any FDA regulation of tobacco products is an economic analysis of the regulation. Models of the health-related economic costs of cigarette smoking have evolved and improved over the years, and current models take into account the complex relationship between smoking, health, and healthcare expenditures. However, there is a lack of research on healthcare costs attributable to the use of tobacco products other than cigarettes. It is important to have this information given the increased rates at which non-cigarette products are being used.

This multi-site collaborative project uses tobacco industry documents, interviews, and analysis of policies to study the influence of the tobacco industry on the U.S. military.  

This project investigates tobacco industry political strategies after the institution of "corporate culture" reforms in the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement. It addresses, in particular, the industry's response to tobacco control activities and the industry's use of outside organizations to advocate for its policy goals.

This project uses tobacco industry documents to explore how the tobacco industry has responded to public health and other campaigns that focus attention on the behaviors of the tobacco industry, and to develop a resource for advocates designing such campaigns.