Schools & Alcohol/Tobacco/Cannabis Retailers
An interactive proximity analysis of K-12 schools and retailers of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana across Clackamas County. Includes a 1/2 mile buffer around each school to assess walkability and two base layers of the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index, revealing which census tracts experience high, moderate, or low socioeconomic status and overall social vulnerability.
Context: While close physical access to alcohol, tobacco, or cannabis is by no means the only driver of youth and substance use, research shows that a child’s social and physical environment is pivotal to decision-making when it comes to smoking, vaping, and drinking. This is most prominent among the tobacco and vaping industry.
Density of retailers that sell these products is an evidence-based predictor of youth smoking and vaping, as youth are especially susceptible to marketing. Tobacco companies know this and leverage their environment to reach both current and future customers by advertising and promoting their products, normalizing the presence of tobacco products in everyday life. As the number of tobacco retailers increase, so does exposure to tobacco advertising and promotion.
Experimental smoking and vaping among youth is correlated with the number of tobacco retailers in high school neighborhoods and in communities where youth live. Additionally, tobacco retailers are disproportionately located in more heavily populated in areas with a greater number of minority and low-income populations, which may account for the higher percentage of youth who are of low socioeconomic status smoking.