title: Density of tobacco retailers near schools: effects on tobacco use among students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined the relationship between students' tobacco use and the density and proximity of tobacco retailers near their schools.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used data from the 2003-2004 California Student Tobacco Survey and California retail licensing data. Measures included students' self-reported tobacco use and geocoded state-reported locations of tobacco retailers. We used random-intercept generalized linear mixed modeling to jointly evaluate individual-level and school-level predictors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Density of retailers was associated with experimental smoking (odds ratio [OR] = 1.11; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.02, 1.21) but not established smoking (OR = 1.06; 95% CI = 0.94, 1.20). The effects on experimental smoking were confined to high school students (OR = 1.17; 95% CI = 1.06, 1.29) in urban areas (OR = 1.11; 95% CI = 1.01, 1.21); no effects were observed among middle school students or in rural schools. High school students were more likely to obtain cigarettes from a retailer; middle school students relied more heavily on social sources.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results support the plausibility of reducing rates of students' experimental smoking, but not established smoking, by restricting their access to commercial sources of tobacco in urban areas.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and the Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA. wmccarth@ucla.edu
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.forename: Ritesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mistry
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Minal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dietsch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003132:Commerce; D005260:Female; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012574:Schools; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014026:Nicotiana