Localities have historically been, and continue to be, at the forefront of adopting innovative tobacco control policies that have diffused to other localities and higher governmental levels. Preemption withdraws power from localities and centralizes it at higher governmental levels, thus limiting localities’ ability to prioritize their own public health agendas to meet unique local needs. In the 2019 legislative sessions, various state legislatures have proposed legislation that would preempt local jurisdictions from regulating tobacco products in some manner, demonstrating that preemption is still a crucial issue topic in tobacco control.

To provide key information about, and strategies to avoid, preemption, the Tobacco Control Network (TCN) and the Public Health Law Center (PHLC) are collaboratively organizing a three-part webinar series exploring what tobacco control stakeholders need to know about this ongoing public health challenge. This first webinar of the three-part series provides an overview of local authority and state-level tobacco control preemption. The webinar makes the case as to why understanding state preemption and local authority is essential to pursuing tobacco control best practices and reducing health disparities. This webinar includes a presentation from subject matter experts at the Public Health Law Center accompanied by two state and local level case studies on the impacts of tobacco preemption. All tobacco control stakeholders are invited to participate in this learning series.

This webinar has already occurred. Please use the resources below:

Webinar Slides [PDF]
 

Speakers:
Ryan Coffman, Philadelphia Department of Public Health
Karen Girard, Oregon Health Authority
Christina Thill, Tobacco Control Network (TCN), Executive Committee member
Andrew Twinamatsiko, Public Health Law Center