Delaying the rules to end menthol cigarettes will continue to cost lives
Yesterday the Biden administration announced that it will delay issuing the rules to eliminate menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars until March 2024 at the earliest. Nearly two years ago, the FDA announced a proposed rule to prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes, as well as [More]
Updated Report: Tobacco Companies and Convenience Stores Partner to Hook Kids, Fight Life-Saving Policies
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has released an updated version of the report Deadly Alliance: How Big Tobacco and Convenience Stores Partner to Hook Kids and Fight Life-Saving Policies in partnership with the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC), American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart [More]
CounterTobacco.org’s 12th Annual Point-of-Sale Tobacco Marketing Photo Contest
CounterTobacco.org’s 12th Annual Point-of-Sale Tobacco Marketing Photo Contest is here! Each year we host this contest to showcase what’s happening in the tobacco retail environment all across the country. These images are crucial to educating the public, educating policymakers, and furthering the success of state and local tobacco control efforts that [More]
Webinar: Environmental Scans for Alcohol Policy Change with the Alcohol Policy Resource Center
We are excited to announce a collaborative webinar with the Alcohol Policy Resource Center. The Environmental Scans for Alcohol Policy Change webinar will be on Wednesday, November 8th, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern. Assessing your community is critical in identifying potential issues contributing to underage [More]
Building healthier communities for all to reduce cancer risk
Researchers continue to uncover how health behaviors– like diet, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and tobacco use– can be risk factors for certain cancers. In fact, one recent study estimates nearly half of all cancer deaths are associated with these potentially modifiable risk factors. The American Cancer Society [More]
Meet our newest team member: Michael Kelly, Project Director
Michael Kelly is a Project Director at Counter Tools and is passionate about policy change and making a positive impact. Learn more about Michael’s background in his staff profile below. Tell us a little bit about your background before you came to Counter Tools. I’m from St. [More]
Counter Tools Joins Call on UN Committee to Recommend Stronger Tobacco Control Policies
Counter Tools joins Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and 206 other signatories from 61 countries in calling on the UN Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) to maintain and strengthen its call to country Parties in the Draft General Recommendation n°37 [More]
What do we know about modern oral nicotine pouches?
If you’ve visited a convenience store lately, you’ve likely seen advertisements for nicotine pouches like Zyn, On!, Rogue or Velo. These ‘modern’ oral nicotine products have seen massive increases in sales over the last several years. What do we know about these products and who’s using them? [More]
Youth Advocacy Against the Tobacco Industry
Youth are important in the fight against the manipulative and deceptive marketing practices of the tobacco industry! This year in 2023, youth from around the country came together in Washington D.C. to protest an industry that has long influenced them to use deadly tobacco products. During the [More]
We’re partnering with North Carolina in new ways
We are excited to partner with the North Carolina Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch (TPCB) and two tobacco control regions of the state to address health equity through tobacco policy change! Counter Tools is providing training and technical assistance for tobacco prevention programs and community partners to [More]
Paving the Road: How Electric Vehicles Can Affect Tobacco Control at the Point of Sale
President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order in August 2021 that set a target for electric vehicles (EVs) to make up half of all new vehicle sales in the U.S. by 2030. Later that year, he signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to build out [More]
The Impact of the Retail Environment and Alcohol Outlet Density
The alcohol industry is quite transparent in their goals to recruit new drinkers, including women, Hispanic consumers and “beer rejectors”. One strategy that has seen growing success over the course of the last 20 years is offering new products that are sweeter and easier to drink than traditional [More]
Healthy POS Webinar Series: Better Conversations about Health Equity and Tobacco POS Strategies
Join Counter Tools for our upcoming Healthy POS Webinar titled "Better Conversations about Health Equity and Tobacco POS Strategies." In this webinar, Dr. Julie Sweetland (FrameWorks Institute) will help attendees understand effective ways to message about health equity from a tobacco perspective, and best practices to support [More]
We’re hiring a Project Director!
Counter Tools invites applications for a Project Director position. The Project Director provides timely and high-quality project management, training, and technical assistance to Counter Tools client-partners working to advance place-based public health. Their national perspective and expertise strengthens Counter Tools’ position as a trusted thought leader in, and [More]
Letter in Support of Rules to Prohibit Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars
Dear Senator or Representative: We write to express our strong support for proposed rules that the Food and Drug Administration has issued to prohibit the manufacture and sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. FDA’s proposals will substantially improve public health by reducing youth tobacco use, preventing [More]
Alcohol industry profits from marketing to underage buyers
It’s easy to find data on all sorts of consumer trends in alcoholic beverages, from insights on how the pandemic impacted sales to what products are gaining popularity, often with breakdowns by age, gender, and other demographic information. One data point you won’t see represented in these [More]
Counter Tools celebrates our 10th anniversary
As Counter Tools celebrates our 10th anniversary, we’re reflecting on the partnerships that sparked community change in the retail environment and looking forward to our ambitious goals to address health equity and empower communities to become healthier places for all. Where we’ve been Over the past decade, [More]
Retailers will now be required to post tobacco industry “corrective statements” at the point of sale
Starting July 1, 2023, nearly 200,000 tobacco retailers across the country must begin installing signs in their stores with “corrective statements” from the tobacco industry. This is a long-awaited result of a 2006 federal court case ruling in which major tobacco companies were found guilty of racketeering for deliberately [More]
Store Assessments: A powerful tool for understanding the retail environment
Marketing and promotions for alcohol and tobacco products saturate retail stores in most communities—the same places where you buy milk, snacks, and medicine. Research has shown that exposure to advertising and promotions for these products have a number of negative health impacts, such as prompting youth initiation, [More]
Success story: Kansas high schoolers participate in summer project to learn about the tobacco retail environment
From September 2021 to August 2022, Counter Tools supported the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to address two of their identified priority areas: preventing the initiation of tobacco use among youth and young adults, and addressing tobacco-related health inequities. This included point-of-sale training for KDHE’s [More]
