Abstract
Objective: We sought to quantify the density and potential impact of strategies to reduce the number of tobacco retailers in Western Australia.
Methods: An ecological cross-sectional study used suburb-level population, socioeconomic status (SES) data, tobacco retailer and school location data in Western Australia. Tobacco retailers were classified by type and geocoded. Bivariable regression examined the association between socioeconomic status and retailer density by subregion. Scenario modelling explored potential impacts of license restrictions based on retailer type, density caps and school proximity.
Results: Tobacco retailer density was higher in low–socioeconomic status than in high–socioeconomic status areas in Western Australia. Examples of modelled scenarios included restricting tobacco licences to supermarkets (which would reduce retailer numbers by 82%) and within 500 m of schools (resulting in a 41% reduction in retailers), with differential impacts by region and socioeconomic status.
Conclusions: The relationship between retailer density and socioeconomic disadvantage aligns with international observations. Existing licence schemes could be leveraged to reduce tobacco availability through restrictions on types of retailers permitted to sell, per-capita area density and school proximity.
Implications for Public Health: Retailer-based restrictions can be harnessed to reduce the “supply side” of tobacco and would help to denormalise the widespread availability of a lethal product.
