2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

320088
Twenty Years of Legislative Data: Examining Changes in State Laws on Cigarette Excise Taxes, Smokefree Protections, and Preempting Tobacco Control Efforts from 1995 to 2015


Wednesday, November 4, 2015 : 12:50 p.m. - 1:10 p.m.

Carissa Holmes, MPH, Office on Smoking and Health, CDC, Atlanta, GA
Allison MacNeil, MPH, Office on Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Brandon Kenemer, MPH, Office on Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Carter Consulting, Inc.), Atlanta, GA
Kisha-Ann S. Williams, MPH, CHES, NCCDPHP, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Gabbi Promoff, MA, Office on Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Introduction: Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Implementing evidence-based interventions, such as comprehensive smokefree laws and increasing tobacco prices, reduce youth initiation and increase cessation. Ensuring that localities have the legal authority to enact tobacco control interventions is also key to improving public health. These interventions are reflected in three Healthy People 2020 objectives to: 1) increase the federal and state tax on tobacco products (TU-17); 2) establish smokefree laws in all 50 states, Washington, DC, territories, and tribes (TU-13); and 3) eliminate state laws that preempt stronger local tobacco control laws (TU-16).

Methods: We analyzed state trends in implementing three types of laws in all states and Washington, DC for three areas: 1) cigarette excise taxes, 2) comprehensive smokefree laws prohibiting smoking in all indoor areas of worksites, restaurants, and bars; and 3) preemption of local smokefree laws. We analyzed these trends from 1995 to the second quarter of 2015, using the State Activities Tracking and Evaluation System, an interactive online application operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. States include Washington, DC. We presented these trends in terms of state counts, changes in laws over time, and averages.

Results: Between 1995 and 2015, the number of states with a cigarette excise tax rate of >$1.00 per pack grew from 0 to 31. During this same time period, the number of states with comprehensive smokefree laws increased from 0 to 27, and the number of states with preemption decreased from 16 to 12.

Conclusion: States have made marked progress along these three tobacco control interventions in the past two decades; however, further progress is crucialto reduce tobacco-related morbidity and mortality in the United States.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe trends in state cigarette excise taxation rates over the past two decades. Describe trends in state laws prohibiting smoking in all indoor areas of worksites, restaurants, and bars over the past two decades. Describe trends in state laws preempting localities from passing tobacco prevention and control-related policies over the past two decades. Describe trends in state cigarette excise taxation, smokefree legislation, and preemption legislation to inform the best way to approach future state tobacco prevention and control efforts. Understand the potential of CDC’s State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation System to conduct historical research on all enacted, state-level tobacco prevention and control legislation since 1995.

Keyword(s): Tobacco Control, Policy/Policy Development

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have worked in tobacco control since 1998 and currently serve as the Associate Director for Policy at CDC Office on Smoking and Health. I am also the co-lead for HHS healthy people tobacco use area and have been involved in the development and release of Surgeon Generals Reports on Smoking and Tobacco as well as the Tips from Former Smokers education campaign.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 5137.0: Continuing to clear the air: smoke-free trends