Regulating Non-cigarette Tobacco Products More Effectively

Audience: Staff from state and local tobacco control programs and non-government organizations. 

Key Points: Tobacco product manufacturers are moving aggressively to develop, test, and market many non-cigarette commercial tobacco products, also called “other tobacco products” (OTPs), hoping to capitalize on declining cigarette use and loopholes in regulations that were written with cigarettes in mind.  This session will highlight these issues, emphasizing the important role state and local health departments should play in regulating these products and that advocates can fulfill in educating policymakers about the need for greater regulation.  The presentation will focus on policy and legal issues related to five products:  dissolvables, electronic cigarettes, little cigars, snus, and water pipes.  We will examine various policy options that may be applied to OTPs, including smoke-free laws, sales and marketing restrictions, taxation, other non-tax pricing measures, and regulations relating to product design and manufacture.  We will describe characteristics of the products that lead to them being ineffectively regulated and under-priced; provide examples of laws that do and do not adequately address OTPs; and recommend more effective regulation of these products.

Educational Experience: A 30-minute discussion will follow brief presentations from the panel.  In addition to answering attendees’ questions, the panel will develop discussion questions on strategies to regulate non-cigarette tobacco products more effectively.

Benefits: Participants will understand how non-cigarette tobacco products are presently treated under federal and select state laws, and what policy options can be utilized to more effectively regulate these products at both the federal and state and local levels.