$3.9M Boost for Nicotine & Cannabis Policy Center
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The Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center (NCPC) at UC Merced has secured a $3.9 million grant from the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program to continue its work to combat the use of tobacco and other inhalants in underserved areas of the San Joaquin Valley and foothill populations. The funding goes into effect on July 1 and lasts for four years, with subawards established with four partners to enhance the grant’s impact. The grant is part of the revenue generated by Proposition 56, which focuses on reducing smoking rates and addressing health inequity affecting underserved populations.
UC Merced’s Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center Secures $3.9 Million Grant
UC Merced’s Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center (NCPC) has secured a $3.9 million grant to solidify its mission in the fight against tobacco and inhalant use within underserved populations in the San Joaquin Valley and foothill regions. The funding enables the center to continue its work for an additional four years starting July 1.
The Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, a UC-based body, is providing the grant. The TRDRP funds research into social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences that aim at achieving health equity for Californians. NCPC has subawards with four collaborators—California Health Collaborative, GreenInfo Network, Stanford University, and UC Irvine—to maximize the grant’s impact.
The grant forms part of the revenue generated by Proposition 56, the California Healthcare, Research and Prevention Tobacco Act of 2016. The initiative aims to reduce smoking rates and tobacco-related illnesses, focusing on addressing health inequity affecting underserved populations.
The NCPC operates under UC Merced’s Health Sciences Research Institute (HSRI), with community health psychologist Arturo Durazo serving as the center’s director.
Reports highlight tobacco as a significant health concern, with adult smoking prevalence in the rural San Joaquin Valley at 28.9%, higher than the national adult average of 11.5% in 2021. Smokeless tobacco use is also higher in these communities.
Moreover, a third of underage decoys used by authorities to test retailers in the Valley’s seven counties in 2022 successfully purchased tobacco products, according to California government data.
Irene Yen, a public health professor and principal investigator for NCPC, points out the challenge among young users: “We thought we had taken care of cigarettes among young people. Then there was an explosion of e-cigarettes and vaping. So the whole area is, sadly, a new challenge.”
Despite being under the UC Office of the President, securing funds was no easy task, states Durazo. The application process was competitive and involved rigorous scrutiny from experts outside California, mirroring the tough funding decisions made at the National Institutes of Health.
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