The ALA “State of Tobacco Control” report is an annual report released every January which evaluates state and federal tobacco control policies and assigns letter grades “A” through “F” based on various tobacco control measures that have been proven to prevent and reduce tobacco use and, as a result, save lives. The ALA grades are intended to be used for legislative education and advocacy and do not solely reflect the work of state health agency tobacco control programs. Despite this, tobacco control program staff and health agency leadership may be asked questions or face criticism for state grades upon their release. This one-pager provides talking points which program managers and other staff can use in navigating these conversations.
The Tobacco 101 Resources contains a collection of policy briefs, blogs, virtual deskside briefings, state success stories, and workshop recordings prepared by ASTHO and the Tobacco Control Network, and serves as a training tool for health agency tobacco control staff. This guide overviews a range of topics including COVID-19, smokefree casinos, menthol and other tobacco product flavors, e-cigarette use, tobacco cessation, preemption, and industry tactics.
Tobacco endgame is a strategy of policy approaches used to phase out all sales of commercial tobacco products, especially cigarettes. While this concept may have been seen as radical in the past, the tobacco endgame movement has gained significant support and momentum over recent years. In this expert panel webinar, panelists Chris Bostic, JD, MS of Action on Smoking & Health, Tim McAfee, MD, MPH of the University of Washington, Delmonte Jefferson of The Center for Black Health & Equity, and Beth Olagues, MPH of the California Department of Public Health explore why states and other jurisdictions should consider endgame policies in their short- or longer-term policy planning, what “tobacco endgame” means, whether endgame policies address health disparities and social determinants of health or exacerbate them, and what opportunities that states and other jurisdictions can pursue to pass endgame policies or set the state to consider such policies in the future.
This two-page brief provides an overview of assurances of voluntary compliance (AVCs) and how states and other jurisdictions can use them to further tobacco policy goals in collaboration with attorneys general offices. Topics covered include what AVCs are, why they’re worth pursuing, and now they can lead to expanded tobacco control program partnerships with attorneys general offices and state health agency leadership. A case study from Kansas is also featured.
The Intersection of COVID-19 & Tobacco Control technical assistance package contains a collection of state case studies, research, virtual event recordings, and online resources prepared by ASTHO and the Tobacco Control Network, the ASTHO peer network that serves health agency tobacco control programs and their partners. Youth and young adult tobacco use have reached record high rates in recent years, emphasizing the importance of understanding the intersection of tobacco use and vulnerability to the COVID-19 pandemic. The resource can additionally be accessed on ASTHO’s e-Learning Center.
The 2022 TCN Policy Recommendations Guide reflects our Network’s priorities – it declares a vision and direction for those policy and system changes that the TCN membership believes are most important to preventing and reducing all forms of tobacco use and eliminating secondhand smoke exposure, including aerosols and toxins emitted by non-combustible products. Our guide aims to expand on policy recommendations that address health disparities by including interventions that focus on economic stability, education, the built environment, healthcare access, and social/community context.
The 2022 TCN Policy Recommendations Guide provides (1) guiding principles for advancing tobacco control policies and also for working with Tribal nations and (2) a summary of the changing tobacco control landscape, including the youth e-cigarette epidemic, information on health disparities and health equity, the roadblock of policy preemption, and addressing related issues such as marijuana, e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury (EVALI), and COVID-19.
This TCN Coffee Chat featured Delmonte Jefferson, Executive Director of The Center for Black Health & Equity; Mike Merissa, Staff Attorney at the Public Health Law Center; and Caroline Goncalves Jones, Director of Advocacy and Outreach for Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. These subject matter experts participated in a panel discussion exploring how tobacco control programs can best push back against false talking points about the recent FDA announcement in communications with leadership, lawmakers, and the general public.
Additional Resources
In the early months of 2021, national tobacco control advocacy and research partners convened several virtual events relating to health equity in tobacco control, a key priority captured in the TCN Strategic Map. To ensure that this detailed and important partner information is captured and available to the TCN membership, this materials packet summarizes the expert presentations from five virtual events and provides timestamped links within each presentation (when possible) for those interested in listening in on specific discussions to learn more.
Virtual Deskside Briefing #1: Encouraging Casinos to Go Smokefree — Lessons from ANR
This virtual deskside briefing featured Traci Kennedy from Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights discussing successes and lessons learned from their efforts to encourage tribal and non-tribal casinos to adopt voluntary smokefree policies.
Virtual Deskside Briefing #2: State Tobacco Policy Updates from ASTHO and TFK
This virtual deskside briefing featured Andy Baker-White, Senior Director of State Health Policy at ASTHO, and Caroline Goncalves Jones, Director of Advocacy and Outreach at Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, providing updates on state tobacco control policy activity during the 2020 legislative sessions, and discussing what we might expect to see looking to 2021.
Virtual Deskside Briefing #3: E-Cigarette Harm Perceptions and Support for Tobacco-Free Campus Policies
This virtual deskside briefing featured Dr. Matthew E. Rossheim, researcher and Assistant Professor with the George Mason University Department of Global and Community Health, who provided a summary of his recent study examining the influence of e-cigarette harm perceptions on support for a tobacco-free campus policy among college students.
Virtual Deskside Briefing #4: Communicating the Risks of Tobacco Use and COVID-19
This virtual deskside briefing featured Dr. Brian King, Deputy Director for Research Translation for the CDC Office on Smoking and Health, and Anna Arkin, Tobacco Cessation Communications Planner with the Minnesota Department of Health, who discussed the latest science on tobacco use and COVID-19 risk and the most effective strategies to communicate these findings accurately and effectively to the general public.
Virtual Deskside Briefing #5: Integrating Tobacco Cessation into Behavioral Health and Substance Misuse Treatment Settings
This deskside briefing featured Taslim van Hattum, Senior Director for the National Council for Behavioral Health, and Rebecca Padilla, National Manager of Tobacco Programs for the American Lung Association, sharing best practices and resources on how state and territorial tobacco control programs can support the integration of tobacco cessation treatment in behavioral health and substance misuse treatment settings.
In January and February 2020, the Tobacco Control Network Executive Committee’s Member Survey Workgroup, in collaboration with the CDC Office on Smoking and Health, conducted a TCN Member Survey of state and territorial health agency tobacco control program managers and Funders Alliance organization leads. The purpose of this effort is to evaluate the effectiveness of resources and services provided by TCN to its membership, and to identify opportunities for TCN to better support the needs of its members. A total of 22 program managers and Funders Alliance leads took the survey, and the Executive Committee is committed to ensure that the work of the TCN changes as a result of the input provided by members across the nation through survey results.
TCN is convening a three-part coffee chat series focused on member engagement to ensure that program managers and Funders Alliance organization leads are getting the most out of TCN resources and services. Coffee chats are virtual events that keep presentation slides to a minimum and instead focus on having an informative and productive conversation as a group.
Coffee Chat #1: The Value of TCN Regional Meetings and the TCN Peer Mentor Program
Coffee Chat #2: How TCN Supports State and Territorial Tobacco Control Programs
Coffee Chat #3: Previewing the 2021 TCN Policy Recommendations Guide
2019 TCN Policy Scans
This full policy scan provides more detailed information on the state policy landscape relating to (1) restricting flavored tobacco products, (2) the display of tobacco products at the point of sale, and (3) state Medicaid coverage of tobacco cessation treatments.
2018 TCN Policy Scans and Infographics
These shareable infographics summarize key insights from the full policy scan that provides more detailed information on (1) limiting tobacco retailer density near youth-oriented locations, (2) strengthening clean indoor air acts to include mental health and substance abuse treatment settings, and (3) the impact of recreational marijuana legalization on clean air policy:
2016 TCN Policy Scans
The 2019-2022 TCN Strategic Map serves two main purposes. First, it allows TCN to publicly communicate the Network’s unique mission and strategic objectives, allowing for better understanding of the value that TCN adds to state and territorial tobacco control programs. Second, having a strategic map aids the TCN Executive Committee in establishing key priorities in a manner consistent with the Network’s overall long-term vision. This one-page brief and narrated presentation featuring TCN Chair Frances Limtiaco discuss key elements of the Strategic Map and how they reflect the priorities of TCN in its support of state and territorial tobacco control programs for the next three years.
Supplemental Materials:
Youth use of e-cigarettes continues to be an emerging public health challenge. Addressing this challenge requires the cooperation of state and territorial public health agencies with school administrators, nurses, teachers, and other school-based stakeholders to ensure that all young people can learn in an environment free from e-cigarette use.
Recognizing this issue of national importance, TCN collaborated with the CDC Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) to produce this pair of youth e-cigarette use microlearning videos, a long form and a short form video, to assist TCN members in their existing efforts to work address youth e-cigarette use. These microlearning videos feature introductory remarks TCN Chair Luci Longoria before a comprehensive overview on the prevalence and risks of youth e-cigarette use from Dr. Brian King, Deputy Director for Research Translation with OSH. Both videos present the same content in different levels of detail.
Along with these videos, other resources that you might find helpful in communicating with schools and other external stakeholders include:
Nearly 34 million U.S. adults smoke cigarettes. About two out of every three of them want to quit and more than half will try to quit each year. Quitting can be difficult, but if we come together and double down on our efforts, we can help people who smoke make 2019 the year they quit—and quit for good. CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) has designated 2019 the Year of Cessation, providing a coordinated opportunity across state and territory public health agencies to enhance their capacity to address tobacco cessation efforts. Listen to ASTHO’s Operationalizing Tobacco Cessation Policy Efforts podcast episode to hear about the policy implications and implementation efforts from the Tobacco Control Network and state public health executive leadership.
Guests:
Resources:
TCN collaborated with the Public Health Law Center (PHLC) on a three-part virtual series highlighting preemption as a barrier to achieving tobacco control best practices. Each virtual session featured an expert speaker from PHLC along with state and local case studies.
Virtual Series Part One: Why State Preemption and Local Authority Matter
Virtual Series Part Two: Tobacco Industry Tactics for Passing Preemption Legislation
Virtual Series Part Three: Moving Forward When Tobacco Preemption is in Effect
For more information and resources, see the PHLC webpage on tobacco preemption.
TCN published a two-page brief that summarizes key findings from TCN’s workforce development virtual workshop series featuring expert speaker LaTanisha Wright. The brief also discusses policy implications of the information shared by Ms. Wright during her three-part virtual series.
In addition, TCN published a supplementary presentation highlighting how the strategic priorities captured in the 2016-19 TCN Strategic Map overlap with ASTHO research on the needs of the state and territorial agency public health workforce.
TCN Workforce Development Virtual Workshop Series
Expert speaker LaTanisha Wright was featured on a three-part TCN workforce development virtual workshop series that explored tobacco industry tactics at the retail setting.
Recordings and supplementary materials from TCN’s workforce development virtual workshop series featuring expert speaker LaTanisha Wright are available below:
Recordings
Supplemental Materials
The burdens of tobacco use and access to tobacco-free living spaces vary drastically across different communities in the United States. TCN convened a two-part virtual town hall series to overview the impact of historical discrimination on the implementation of smoke-free housing policies, with particular emphasis on health equity solutions.
Town Hall Part 1
Veronica E. Helms (Social Science Analyst, HUD) discusses the disproportionate tobacco use among HUD-assisted adults, and how smoke-free housing policies can help encourage this population to quit smoking.
Town Hall Part 2
Capt. James LaVelle Dickens (Senior Public Health Advisor for the Office of Minority Health, HHS Region 6) discusses how smoke-free housing policies fit into the greater historical context of tobacco control policies that promote health equity at the population level.
This podcast features remarks from Kristy Marynak (CDC), Dr. Jeff Willett (Truth Initiative), and Steven Fiala (OR and TCN Emerging Issues Workgroup Co-Administrator). This podcast is moderated by Luci Longoria (OR tobacco program manager and current TCN Chair-Elect). Kristy and Jeff overview the latest facts and research findings on heated tobacco products and JUUL e-cigarettes and discuss the implications of these emerging tobacco products on the work of public health practitioners. Steven provides a brief overview of the TCN Emerging Issues Workgroup and invites TCN members to join its quarterly meetings.
What are message mapping and message framing? How can state health departments utilize these concepts to coordinate tobacco-related messaging across different stakeholders? What is a state example of these concepts being put into action? On this first-of-its-kind interactive TCN virtual training, attendees gained insights on how state health departments can use message mapping and message framing to coordinate strong tobacco control messaging with external stakeholders and partners. Michelle Johns (CDC/OSH) provided a thorough overview of message mapping and message framing, and Ann Staples (NC) presented on a local message mapping case study from her work in North Carolina.
Tobacco use continues to impact some communities more than others. This is especially true for menthol tobacco products, which are disproportionately preferred by African Americans and young people. Menthol cigarettes are easier to smoke and may be more difficult to quit than non-flavored cigarettes, making the topic an especially challenging health equity matter for health departments and other state and local stakeholders to address. During this TCN webinar, Laura Oliven (Minnesota Department of Health), Betsy Brock (Association for Nonsmokers – Minnesota), and Michael Scott (NAATPN, Inc.) discussed what state and local stakeholder can do to address menthol tobacco use in their communities. Webinar speakers also provided information on the social context of menthol use, and described why African Americans and young people are more likely to smoke menthol cigarettes than other populations.
On April 2, 2018, ASTHO convened an Ask the Experts virtual section exploring the intersection of tobacco cessation and opioid use in which national thought leaders shared their perspectives on the overlap between tobacco and opioid use, and how tobacco cessation can be integrated in substance abuse treatment and other clinical settings. The following presentation and accompanying resource packet summarize remarks from expert panelists and integrate partner resources and journal articles mentioned during the Ask the Experts event and published since it took place.
This podcast features Talyah Sands (ASTHO), Paul Baker and Marcela Gaitan (Nuetras Voces), Keith Vensey (Geographic Health Equity Alliance) and Joshua Hudson (National Native Network). This podcast is moderated by Luci Longoria (Oregon tobacco program manager and current TCN Chair-Elect). Talyah, Paul, Marcella, Keith, and Joshua describe the work that CDC-funded national networks are doing to address tobacco disparities and provide insights on how state health departments can partner with these networks.
For more information, please see the ASTHO infographic and the CDC website.
This past November, tobacco manufacturers in the U.S. began publishing court ordered tobacco statements admitting wrongdoing in how they marketed their products to the public for decades prior. While the plain text black and white advertisements will continue to be seen periodically in some newspapers and on network television over the coming months, public health stakeholders have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to promote tobacco control by leading a public conversation on the deceit of tobacco companies in how they advertised their deadly products to American consumers. On this TCN webinar, Desmond Jenson (Public Health Law Center), Becky Wexler (Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids) Doug Matheny (Oklahoma Tobacco Research Center and former TCN Chair) and Andrea Mowery (ClearWay Minnesota and current TCN Past-Chair), shared resources and recommendations on how to best amplify the impact and reach of the tobacco industry corrective statements that detail tobacco company misconduct. The conversation focused specifically on how state and territorial tobacco control stakeholders can make these corrective statements more visible and leverage them to promote tobacco control policy and messaging.
This video series provides brief (10-15 minute) video walk-throughs on key TCN resources to ensure members and external partners alike are getting the most out of what the TCN website has to offer. Each video below is accompanied with links to additional resources that are discussed in each video. More videos are coming soon! If you have a question about any of these videos, or a recommendation for a “how-to” video that you’d like to see, please let us know at tcn@astho.org.
How-To Video #3: Interactive State Policy Map
How-To #2: TCN Forum
This podcast features Dr. Jay C. Butler (Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, and ASTHO President), Dr. Brian King (CDC Office on Smoking and Health), and Matthew Green (Washington State Department of Health). This podcast is moderated by Erin Boles-Welsh (Rhode Island Department of Health and TCN Chair-Elect). Dr. Butler, Dr. King, and Matthew overview the science behind e-cigarette use of youth and adults in the context of addiction to nicotine and discuss policy options available to states and territories to reduce e-cigarette exposure.
For more information on the 2017 ASTHO Presidents Challenge, “Public Health Approaches to Preventing Substance Misuse and Addictions,” please visit the ASTHO website.
This podcast features Dr. Jeffrey Fellows (Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research), Barry Sharp (Texas Department of State Health Services), and Meg Riordan (Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids). This podcast is moderated by Andrea Mowery (Vice President of ClearWay Minnesota and TCN Chair). Jeff, Barry, and Meg share how to conduct ROIs in tobacco control and prevention, overview available resources for state and territorial tobacco control programs and discuss the role ROIs can have in conveying the cost effectiveness of tobacco programs and initiatives.
This podcast features Allison Myers (Executive Director of Counter Tools), Cassandra Stepan (Local Tobacco Policy Planner at the Minnesota Department of Health), and Derek Smith (Director of the Tobacco-Free Project at the San Francisco Department of Public Health). This podcast is moderated by Erin Boles-Welsh (Tobacco Control Program Manager for the Rhode Island Department of Health and TCN Chair-Elect). Allison, Cassandra, and Derek discuss the role of community engagement in different state and municipal point of sale policies, and how their implementation can fit in to larger comprehensive tobacco control efforts. This is the third of five podcasts of the 2016-2017 TCN Podcast Series.
This podcast features Beverly May (Regional Advocacy Director for the Western States and National Project Manager for Raising the Tobacco Age to 21 for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids), Scott Hall (Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce), and Lila Johnson (Program Manager for the Tobacco Prevention and Education Program at the Hawaii State Department of Health). This podcast is moderated by Luci Longoria (Health Promotion Manager of the Oregon Health Authority and TCN Policy Chair). Beverly, Scott, and Lila discuss the evidence behind raising the minimum tobacco purchasing age to 21, and overview how state and local tobacco control programs can collaborate with community groups, legislators, and government bodies to pass and enforce Tobacco 21 legislation. This is the second of five podcasts of the 2016-2017 TCN Podcast Series.
This podcast features Andrea Mowery (Vice President of ClearWay Minnesota and current TCN Executive Committee Chair) and April Roeseler (Chief of the California Tobacco Control Program and former TCN Policy Chair). Andrea and April discuss how state tobacco control programs can use the TCN 2016-2017 Podcast Series, the TCN Policy Recommendations, and the TCN 2016 Spring Webinar Series, and how they can utilize these formats to communicate with their own partners and stakeholders. This is the first of five podcasts of the 2016-2017 TCN Podcast Series.
The TCN Policy Recommendations reflects our Network’s priorities – it declares a vision and direction for those policy and system changes which the TCN membership believe are most important to reducing and eliminating the health issues caused by tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure. Building on the previous policy document, the 2016 TCN Policy Recommendations aim to prepare the TCN membership to meet the evolving demands of the tobacco control landscape. It is our hope that the 2016 TCN Policy Recommendations will be used to help shape effective tobacco control programs. State and territorial tobacco control programs found the 2012 version helpful in providing program direction, completing readiness assessments, developing their five-year National State-Based Tobacco Control workplans, and educating their state’s leadership about evidence-based tobacco control work.
TCN has drafted a series of success stories that explore how state health departments and partner organizations have achieved tremendous tobacco control successes at the state and local levels. Each success story highlights steps taken, results, and lessons learned to serve as case studies for state health departments interested in taking similar action in their own states.
Persons with low educational attainment are disproportionally impacted by tobacco use and continue to be a priority population in tobacco control efforts. This final webinar in the TCN Spring Webinar Series explored the magnitude of disparities in tobacco use by educational attainment and socioeconomic status. During the webinar, presenters shared how to reach out to non-traditional partners to address this disparity and presented case studies examples demonstrating previous work with this population. This webinar featured presentations from Dwana Calhoun, Director of the Self-Made Health Network, and Yolanda Savage-Narva, Director of Health Equity at ASTHO.
Much of the success in the tobacco control field has come from different partners with different perspectives working together to arrive at complicated decisions that affect the public’s health. The second webinar of the TCN Spring Webinar Series highlighted some challenging topics related to tobacco policy. This webinar featured a dynamic array of speakers who discussed how they were able to achieve successes in tobacco policy areas with the support of their executive leadership. This webinar explored topics including, but not limited to, raising the tobacco purchasing age to 21, working to address health equity among LGBT communities, mentholated cigarettes, and the integration of tobacco and marijuana policy.
TCN’s Policy Recommendations inform the Network’s priorities and visions for ultimately reducing tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke, and address tobacco-related disparities and other emerging issues in tobacco control. This webinar reviewed the recommendations and shared ways that state health tobacco control managers and other public health professionals can utilize the information to lead future evidence-based strategies in advancing tobacco control efforts.
TCN submitted a comment to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development on its proposed rule regarding smoke-free public housing.
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