Tobacco Control Legal Consortium - facts sheets provided to help understand the "Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act"...

July 30, 2009 - On June 22, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) comprehensive authority to regulate the manufacturing, marketing, and sale of tobacco products. The new law represents the most sweeping action taken to date to reduce what remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.

To help you understand and evaluate this complex legislation, the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium ("Improving Health Through the Power of Law") has prepared two series of fact sheets. In the coming months, the Consortium will be developing additional materials to address legal issues raised by the new legislation and to help state and local advocates and policymakers take full advantage of the new opportunities it creates.

Federal Regulation of Tobacco: A Summary - Our first series of fact sheets summarizes by topic key elements of the new law and Federal Regulation of Tobacco: Impact on State and Local Authority - Our second series of fact sheets describes how the new federal legislation will affect the tobacco control authority of state and local governments.

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