RISE – Statewide Rural Coordinating Center

Big Tobacco takes advantage of weaker tobacco licensing laws in rural communities and the data reflects that.

• Rural adults’ use of any tobacco product is significantly higher (25.6%) than the California general population
  (14.6%).
• Rural-county stores were more than twice as likely as other stores to sell roll-your-own tobacco and two times more likely to sell chewing tobacco than stores in nonrural counties.
• Rural-county stores were found to be significantly more likely to advertise at least one discount for chewing
  tobacco and vaping products which appeals to price-sensitive consumers, including youth (20.9% prevalence of
  discounts in rural communities vs. 16.8% in nonrural communities).

Society for Public Health Education. Retail Tobacco Marketing in Rural Versus Nonrural Counties: Product Availability, Discounts, and Prices. 2020. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31908200/

Tobacco Free CA. Story of Inequity: Rural Communities. https://tobaccofreeca.com/story-of-inequity/rural/