Tobacco Control Policy and Prevalence Data: 1991-2008

The ImpacTeen State Level Tobacco Control Policy and Prevalence Database provides information for all states and the District of Columbia, using data that are available during the years 1991-2008. State-specific policy data address the following main topic areas: (1) Price/tax/funding, (2) Youth access laws, (3) Smoke-free air laws, and (4) Smoke-free air preemption. State-specific prevalence data are provided for available states and years from the following national surveillance system surveys: (1) Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, (2) Youth Tobacco Survey, (3) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, (4) National Survey on Drug Use and Health, and (5) Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey.

The data and codebook were compiled by researchers in the Department of Health Behavior at the University at Buffalo, in the State University of New York.  Work on this project was initiated at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) in Buffalo, New York, and completed in conjunction with researchers at the MayaTech Corporation in Washington, DC. Researchers at MayaTech are legislative policy specialists. This work represents that of the tobacco component of the ImpacTeen Project, which is a policy research partnership to reduce youth substance use. Representing this ImpacTeen tobacco component, the researchers were given a mandate to set up a state level tobacco policy database, which was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. RPCI researchers began compiling these legislative data in 1999 from state-specific tobacco policy data presented in the following multiple sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 'State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation' (STATE) system; National Cancer Institute's State Cancer Legislative Database Program (SCLD); the American Lung Association's 'State Legislated Actions on Tobacco Issues' (SLATI) system; and The Tax Burden on Tobacco: Historical Compilation (Volume 43, 2008; Orzechowski and Walker; Arlington, Virginia; 2009).

A tobacco state level policy database was created to track selected state-specific tobacco control policies from 1991-2008. Researchers worked to verify all data coded and entered, and conducted additional legislative research to resolve data discrepancies. State-specific prevalence data were also compiled for available states and years from the following national surveillance system surveys: (1) Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, (2) Youth Tobacco Survey, (3) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, (4) National Survey on Drug Use and Health, and (5) Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey. Data coding and entry were verified by a multi-step process to ensure maximum possible accuracy for all tobacco state-specific prevalence data. Additional information about the tobacco state-specific prevalence data presented is available at the following respective websites:
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/yrbs/
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/surveys/NYTS/
http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nhsda.htm
http://riskfactor.cancer.gov/studies/tus-cps/

A codebook, with definitions, is also available and provides additional information on data sources and detailed descriptions of all state-specific policy and prevalence data presented.

Codebook and Definitions (297KB PDF)

Cigarette Smoking Prevalence and Policies in the 50 States: An Era of Change (16.3MB PDF)

States tobacco control policy and prevalence data and U.S. overall prevalence data*

*All documents are in Excel format.

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