Tobacco control policy at the national and local levels

This session will help the public health community understand the authority granted in 2009 to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate tobacco, limitations on that authority, and the ways in which federal, state, and local tobacco control efforts can complement each other. FDA staff will address actions taken by the FDA in the first four years of regulating tobacco products and give a sense of future regulatory priorities. Staff from the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium will explain how the public health community can engage in the regulatory process to support the FDA and help it pass tobacco regulations that will have the most significant impact on the public's health. The Consortium will also discuss opportunities for action under the Tobacco Control Act that the FDA has not yet explored. Attendees will learn about specific policy options that they can pursue and understand the different and specific ways in which they can collaborate with and support the FDA's work. At the conclusion of this session, attendees will be able to describe the FDA's role, its activities to date, and the importance of continued state and local tobacco control efforts to support, supplement, and complement the FDA's activities.