SAVI Community Trends Report: Unequal Access Tobacco Epidemic Report 2017 FINAL | страница 4

SAVI community trends » unequal access: tobacco retail in the indianapolis metro area
Unequal Access: Tobacco Retail in
the Indianapolis Metro Area
in the case of tobacco products and tobacco
marketing, greater access by and to marginal-
ized populations is the troublesome inequity.
Unequal Access
Tobacco is a notable health threat in Indiana
with over 11,000 Hoosier lives taken annually, [1]
and vulnerable populations have far more retail
access 1 to tobacco than do other segments of
the population. The local density and accessi-
bility of tobacco retail outlets not only provide
vulnerable populations with greater access to
tobacco products, [2-6] but they also provide
the tobacco industry with greater access to
vulnerable populations in terms of point-of-
sale (POS) marketing. [7-13] While unequal
access typically refers to less access to a
desirable resource by marginalized populations,
Differences in life expectancy do not occur
randomly. 2 [14] Some populations have greater
access to health-promoting and health-pro-
tecting resources; others have greater access,
or exposure, to potential health threats. In
the Indianapolis metropolitan area, tobacco
is more readily availability in areas that already
struggle with quality-of-life issues. Why should
we care? What can we do about it?
Higher poverty, lower education… and targeted
by tobacco. Why should we care? What can we
do about it?
In this report, we explore these questions and share results of
our analysis of tobacco access across the Indianapolis metro area.
industry has retained its presence in the U.S.,
with over 375,000 tobacco retailers. [19] The
tobacco industry also spends almost $8.5
billion annually on promotion. [20]
Where Tobacco Prevails
Since 1964, smoking rates among U.S. adults
have decreased from 42% to 15% because of
ongoing public health efforts. [15-18] Despite
this positive trend, smoking continues to exact
a heavy toll on the nation’s health, with one in
every five deaths in the U.S. due to diseases
known to be caused by chemicals in tobacco
smoke. [6] Although the harmful effects of
tobacco are now widely known, the tobacco
Based on smoking statistics, tobacco use is an
even greater problem in Indiana and in India-
napolis than in the country as a whole. In 2016,
the adult smoking rates of the five healthiest
states ranged from 9.1 to 13.8%. Indiana ranks
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While the term exposure is typically used when discussing environment toxicants, we are instead using the term access
because we are measuring accessibility of retail tobacco sites.
In July 2015, at our last health-focused SAVI Talks! event, we unveiled the Worlds Apart: Gaps in Life Expectancy in the
Indianapolis Metro Area report (www.savi.org/savi/documents/Worlds_Apart_Gaps_in_Life_Expectancy.pdf.)
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