Longitudinal analysis of tobacco and vape retail density in California

Tobacco retailer density may be associated with greater youth initiation and reduced success during quit attempts; however, the extent to which tobacco retailer density has changed overtime across multiple categories of retailers has not been reported.

Data on licensed tobacco retailers within California from 2015-2019 were obtained from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Store type was categorized by automated cross-referencing with Yelp. Geolocations were aggregated at county level for analyzing longitudinal trends in changes in tobacco retail density including demographic characteristics.

The number of active CA tobacco retailer licenses increased from 19825 in 2015 to 25635 in 2019. The highest percent increase in tobacco retailer licenses (9.1%) was observed in 2017. The number of specialized tobacco stores was highest in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Riverside counties. We observed a significant increase in the number of active licenses for non-specialized and specialized tobacco stores, both overall and after controlling for the size of populations within each region. Time was a statistically significant predictor for the number of active licenses for only non-specialized stores, after adjusting for covariates. Regional volume of retailers was positively associated with higher proportion of women, lower median household income, and higher proportion of Hispanic residents.

Monitoring the changes in tobacco retail density and associated sociodemographic factors over time can help to identify communities at higher risk for tobacco and nicotine product exposure and access, and its associated health disparities.