US Tobacco Control

Policy Coherence in US Tobacco Control: Beyond FDA Regulation

Joshua S. Yang¹, Thomas E. Novotny^2*

1 Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California , United States of America, 2 Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, United States of America

Citation: Yang JS, Novotny TE (2009) Policy Coherence in US Tobacco Control: Beyond FDA Regulation. PLoS Med 6(5): e1000079. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000079

Published: May 19, 2009

Copyright: © 2009 Yang, Novotny. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* E-mail: tnovotny@mail.sdsu.edu

Introduction Top

As the Obama administration moves to enact meaningful and comprehensive health care reform in the United States, tobacco control must be elevated as a public health priority [1]. Though tobacco control efforts have been recognized as a top public health achievement of the 20th century [2], tobacco use continues to be the leading preventable cause of death in the US [3]. As Box 1 shows, the US bears a heavy burden from the health and fiscal effects of smoking. Thus, continued progress in preventing tobacco use and promoting smoking cessation must be a leading priority for health care reform under the new administration. This policy paper gives the current status of tobacco control policies, initiatives, and legislative action at the time of going to press./.../