Mapping tobacco access in the Indianapolis metropolitan area has revealed that vulnerable populations have far more retail access to tobacco than do other segments of the population . Because tobacco use is such a big problem in our city , we must continue to identify cross-sector opportunities for addressing disparities in tobacco use and access and to work together toward change in the policy environment .
Limitations
Available state data tell us the locations that have legal certificates to sell tobacco , but the data do not reveal if any of these outlets do not sell tobacco even though they have certificates . There is currently no publically available source of data on actual tobacco sales . Tobacco retailers are not required to report this information . Tobacco tax certificates cannot be used to track tobacco sales , as these are sold to the distributors versus the retailers . Private marketing firms generate and sell estimates based on surveys and audits . We did not purchase those for the purpose of this analysis . Our measures of tobacco retail access do not account for growing Internet e-cigarette sales or access via other vehicles besides commercial retail location .
In our access measurements , we did not control for population density . It is possible that in more sparsely populated areas , distances considered accessible ( i . e ., considered reasonable to travel for a tobacco purchase ) are much greater than those in higher density areas ( e . g ., the urban core ).
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About the analysis
In our analysis , we derived tobacco access for census tracts in the Indianapolis Metropolitan Statistical Area ( MSA ) through the calculation of density and accessibility of licensed tobacco retail outlets . We obtained the location of 2017 licensed outlets from the Indiana State Department of Health . We used five-year population estimates by census tracts for 2010-2014 , from the American Community Survey . For additional caution , we tested the results for significance to ensure the differences between the means for each indicator in each access group were not the result of random occurrence . ( See Appendix B .)
About the authors
This analysis and article were prepared by a team from the Polis Center : Karen F . Comer , MLA ; Kelly Davila , MA ; Debra Hollon , MBA ; and Matt Nowlin , MP .
Special thanks to faculty and staff at the IU Richard M . Fairbanks School of Public Health for their contributions , including Paul Halverson , PhD ; Sue Hancock , MPH ; and Katy Ellis , MPH for report review and input and to Josh Vest , PhD , for methodology review .
Special thanks also to Joe Gibson , PhD , and David Broyles , MPH , of the Marion County Public Health Department , and to Allison Meyers , MPH , PhD , Counter Tools , for their expert review .