Meet our staff: Maria Julian, Executive Director
Maria Julian is the Executive Director at Counter Tools. She loves working to bring positive change to critical issues in place-based public health. Learn more about Maria's background and what inspires her in her staff profile [...]
Counter Tools releases stance on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Counter Tools has released a stance that defines how we approach equity, diversity, and inclusion with our current partners and clients and those we have the opportunity to work with in the future. Included is our [...]
Counter Tobacco Podcast: Equity in Point-of-Sale Tobacco Control
This episode is all about working towards health equity with point-of-sale tobacco control. We discuss some of the drivers behind inequities in tobacco use and related morbidities and mortality, and how we can use a pro-equity [...]
Tobacco Control Enforcement for Racial Equity – A joint statement from public health organizations
This fall, Counter Tools joined a working group of public health advocates to develop a collective statement on equitable tobacco control enforcement. More than 40 public health organizations endorsed and released the statement this month, titled [...]
Inspiration from a SOPHE webinar on equity and anti-racism in public health
Systemic inequities such as racism impact individuals across the social determinants of health and create unequal opportunities for individuals to stay healthy. In an engaging webinar from SOPHE, the panelists shared insights on racism in the [...]
Reflecting on Indigenous Peoples’ Day and how to become a better ally
This week marked Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which recognizes Native Americans as the first inhabitants of the Americas. In this tumultuous year as we have renewed our focus on inequities and health disparities, we must be sure [...]
Trust for America’s Health releases recommendations to address obesity crisis
Access to healthy food or safe places to be active is inconsistent across communities and research shows that socioeconomic factors including poverty and race/ethnicity contribute to an increased rate of obesity. The State of Obesity 2020 [...]
Counter Tobacco Podcast: On Your Radar – September Spotlight on Flavor Bans
'On Your Radar' is a new episode format designed to put the most relevant and recent news stories and research on countering tobacco product sales, promotions, and marketing in the retail environment on your radar. This episode spotlights [...]
Nebraska passes T21 policy and adds electronic smoking devices to their Clean Indoor Air Act
Counter Tools is thrilled to congratulate Nebraska, one of our partnering states, on two exciting policy victories! LB1064 This bill makes Nebraska the 33rd state to pass statewide T21 legislation. By raising the minimum legal sale [...]
Counter Tobacco Podcast: On Your Radar – August POS News
Released as two mini episodes throughout the month, 'On Your Radar' is a new episode format designed to put the most relevant and recent news stories and research on countering tobacco product sales, promotions, and marketing in the [...]
Healthy POS Webinar Series: Securing Healthy Food Access through Targeted Programming
Our recent quarterly webinar in Counter Tools' Healthy POS series focused on healthy food and produce prescriptions. Public health advocates are increasingly focused on interventions that address social drivers of health. With produce prescriptions, healthcare providers [...]
California passes ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products
We’re excited by the news that California’s State Assembly recently passed a bill prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. We know that the tobacco industry has long targeted Black communities and youth [...]
Reducing Tobacco Disparities with Minimum Floor Price Laws
According to the Surgeon General, raising the price of tobacco products is one of the most effective strategies for reducing initiation, decreasing consumption and increasing cessation. While excise taxes are a common strategy for increasing tobacco [...]
Counter Tools supports the Pandemic Child Hunger Prevention Act
Counter Tools envisions a nation where healthy living is equitable across communities and every person has access to healthful choices. We recognize the enormous impact of food access and food security on health and well-being. As [...]
Highlights from the Convenience Store News 2020 Tobacco Report
Despite public health’s success in tobacco policy over the recent years, we know tobacco remains a top source of revenue for the convenience store industry. In order to identify appropriate policy interventions or other point of [...]
Tobacco retailer density in 30 U.S. cities – ASPIRE and Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids share new findings
New research on tobacco retailer density finds that across 30 major US cities, 63% of public schools are located within 1,000 feet of a tobacco retailer. The data show there is also a high density of [...]
