Chapter 32 Political issues

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Political issues: State and local governments

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By late 1995, more than 1000 communities had enacted local tobacco control

ordinances. In response, the tobacco industry has advanced legislation that in 29

states has been enacted to preempt or restrict local authority to regulate tobacco

products. Only one state, Maine, has yet repealed a tobacco preemption law. "The

tobacco industry has responded to the rapidly increasing diffusion of

community-based tobacco control policy interventions by using its political influence at

the state level to promote the passage of state laws that preempt local regulation of

tobacco. These preemption laws eliminate the authority of local jurisdictions to enact

their own legislation to control the tobacco epidemic. Often, these laws repeal strong

local ordinances. Almost uniformly, state preemption laws establish policies that do

not provide adequate public health protection; for example, most preemptive state

clean indoor air laws merely require separate sections for smokers and nonsmokers

in workplaces and restaurants... "The promotion of state legislation that preempts the

authority of local government to enact and enforce tobacco control ordinances is an

important tobacco industry strategy that undermines the public's health. "One of the

Healthy People 2000 objectives set by the Department of Health and Human Services

is to 'reduce to zero the number of states that have clean indoor air laws preempting

stronger clean indoor air laws on the local level'."

JAMA, September 10, 1997, pp. 858-863

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31 states have now implemented preemptive tobacco control provision.

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, January 8, 1999

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One of the national health objectives for 200 is (was) to reduce to zero the number of

state with preemptive smoke free indoor air laws. However, in 1999, 30 states had

preemptive tobacco control laws, which are considered undesirable by public health

advocates.

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, January 8, 1999, p. 1112

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Monday, July 24, 2000

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