Tobacco Retailer Saturation
A recent article in the Daily Gazette focused on the rising concern over the saturation of tobacco retailers in the Capital District. Capital Region cities, particularly in low-income, minority, and youth-populated areas, face an oversaturation of tobacco retailers compared to affluent suburbs. Hamilton Hill, a low-income neighborhood in Schenectady has 18 active tobacco retailers serving just 7,500 residents. In contrast, Niskayuna, a more affluent community in Schenectady has only 3 active tobacco retailers. While overall state tobacco use is declining, concerns exist over rising youth "openness" to smoking, the proliferation...
Youth Openness to Cigarette Smoking in New York has Reached Highest Level on Record
The New York State Department of Health announced the release of new data showing that approximately 1 in 5 students who have never smoked now report being "open" to the idea, the highest level on record since the state began collecting the data in 2000. Openness to smoking is defined as not having made a firm decision to avoid cigarette smoking in the near future. Thanks to effective prevention efforts, New York State has nearly eliminated youth smoking—2.4% in 2024, down from 27% in 2000. This new openness report, however, highlights a concerning shift in...
Youth Art Highlights the Environmental Cost of Tobacco Waste
We recently launched a paid media campaign that turned attention to an often-overlooked issue, the environmental impact of tobacco waste. The campaign featured original artwork created by Albany High School photography students under the guidance of teacher David Easton. The project gives young people a platform to share their perspective on how tobacco products affect the world around them. To maximize visibility the artwork was displayed on CDTA bus stops, CDTA infotainment screens, digital mobile ads, digital kiosks at Crossgates Mall and table wraps in the mall food court. Additionally, our Reality Check members made radio...
City of Albany becomes latest municipality to prohibit e-cigarettes in city parks
Congratulations to the City of Albany on adding e-cigarettes to their smoke free parks policy. Read the ordinance here
Congratulations to North Greenbush and Cohoes for making their parks vape free!
Since 2022, NYS law has prohibited smoking in all public parks, but not vaping, except in limited conditions. Municipalities have the authority to pass local laws to be more comprehensive, and many have, realizing the harm to lungs caused by secondhand aerosols and the environmental damage caused by toxic vape litter. The Town of North Greenbush and the City of Cohoes have made the important step to include e-cigarettes in their tobacco free parks policy. Way to go!!!! You can find the North Greenbush law here. You can read the Cohoes ordinance here.
To the left is a typical tobacco product display. If you don’t use tobacco, you may not even notice, but kids do. Kids see. Kids notice. Kids remember. In fact, kids are more than twice as likely as adults to notice and remember retail tobacco marketing.
