Practical and Possible Approaches to Reduce Point-of-Sale Tobacco Advertising

Audience: This session will benefit local public health, nonprofits, advocacy organizations, and local decision makers who are working to regulate point-of-sale (POS) tobacco advertising at the local level. Key Points: The tobacco industry spends $29 million per day on advertising and promotion, much of this is spent at the POS. This type of marketing is difficult to regulate; as a result, the tobacco companies have freely marketed their products in stores with little interference from tobacco control.  In this session, participants will learn the key steps to regulating signage: 1) gathering and analyzing POS data, 2) understanding constitutional ways to regulate POS advertising through local policy, and 3) building a community coalition with both traditional and nontraditional partners. Lessons learned from a sign regulation campaign in a highly diverse urban area, St. Paul, Minnesota, will be shared. Educational Experience: Participants will hear about the St. Paul, Minnesota sign regulation experience from start to finish. The session will be very interactive with lots of opportunity for discussion. Benefits: Participants will leave the session with information about how to legally regulate POS tobacco advertising and concrete steps that they can take in their own communities.