Frequently Asked Questions

We are conducting a survey of community leaders to understand their beliefs and opinions about tobacco-related issues and policy options that may affect your community. We also want to understand what key Florida community opinion leaders have heard about Tobacco Free Florida's efforts to promote policy, environment, and systems change to prevent tobacco use.

This study is sponsored by the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida and conducted by RTI International, their independent evaluator.

The Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida will use this information to improve how they educate Floridians about tobacco-related issues and policies.

The study will last from December 2025 through April 2026. During this time, RTI International will contact community leaders with an introductory letter inviting them to participate. Then, RTI International will follow up with mailings, phone calls, and emails to see if leaders wish to participate.

This survey is one component of an independent comprehensive evaluation of the Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida. The evaluation helps ensure that the Bureau is effective in its work to reduce tobacco use among Floridians. The findings will be presented to Bureau leadership and the Tobacco Education and Use Prevention Advisory Council.

The final report will be a public document that is available to any citizen who requests it.

RTI International was competitively selected by the Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida to evaluate its programming. RTI International is an independent nonprofit research organization based in North Carolina. You can learn more about the work that RTI does by visiting www.rti.org.

RTI International was selected by the Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida as the independent evaluator through a competitive process. This survey is part of its comprehensive evaluation of Florida's Tobacco Free Florida Program.

RTI International is an independent, nonprofit research organization. We provide research, development, and technical services to federal and local government agencies and commercial clients worldwide. We have experience working with other state health departments across the country to evaluate their tobacco control programs (e.g., New York, Vermont, Indiana, Louisiana, etc.).

Community leaders were selected who have a significant role in public discourse about policy options to prevent tobacco use among youth. These leaders include school superintendents, school board members, chambers of commerce, county officials, and city officials. To get the leaders' name and contact information, RTI researched the city and county websites as well as public directories of government officials.

No, your participation is completely voluntary. However, as a community leader, your opinions on local tobacco-related issues and policies are very important. We hope that you will take a few minutes to share your opinions with us.

The survey will help the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida understand how local leaders feel about several public health issues, particularly tobacco-related issues and policies. Your opinion is important and will be included as part of an average score combined with other respondents from your county.

Yes, it is an opinion survey. No matter how long you have been in your leadership role, your opinions about this topic area are very important and relevant for your community. Even though the negative health effects of tobacco are well-known, people in Florida - and in your community - still use tobacco.

We're speaking with community leaders across the state -- non-elected and elected officials, each of which have an important perspective to share and influence on tobacco-related issues. For example, The Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida wanted to choose to interview school superintendents and school board members because they work with and have influence on youth; preventing youth from using tobacco is one of the Bureau's most important goals.

RTI International maintains the confidentiality of all participants. Therefore, we cannot state who responded to our invitation or participated. We invited a sampling of community leaders in every county: school superintendents, school board members, chambers of commerce, county officials, and city officials.

Your responses are confidential; no personal information is linked to the survey. The survey only records an ID number for each response. For each question, we will report the average response of all leaders who respond to the survey.

You may not have heard of all the policies mentioned in this survey, as not every community has them in place. However, you may have learned about the risks of tobacco use or prevention policies—especially those aimed at youth—through Tobacco Free Florida’s grantees, community partners, media campaigns, or local events and organizations that have gone tobacco-free.

Tobacco products include anything made or used to smoke, chew, or inhale nicotine or tobacco, such as cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, vapes, chewing tobacco, dip, snuff, pouches, and hookah.

A mobile tobacco shop is a vehicle, trailer, or temporary setup (like a truck, van, or cart) that sells tobacco products in different locations instead of a fixed storefront.

Vaping nicotine refers to the use of an electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS). These are also known as e-cigarettes, e-cigs, vape pens, e-hookahs, hookah pens, or mods. Some common brands are Vuse, HQD, Fume, and Geek Bar.

We are referring only to public schools. Private schools are not governed by the superintendent and charter schools are public schools that operate under a performance contract, or a 'charter' which frees them from many regulations created for traditional public schools while holding them accountable for academic and financial results.