Room for Two in Tobacco Control: Limits on the Preemptive Scope of the Proposed Legislation Granting FDA Oversight of Tobacco

Abstract

This article examines the public health authority states have to reduce tobacco use in light of the Food and Drug Administration's oversight of tobacco. The authors point out that states have achieved dramatic reductions in tobacco use in the past with little assistance from federal authorities. Indeed, often federal statutes impeded state efforts. The authors examine the preemptive scope of FDA oversight and conclude that states retain and, in some cases, actually improve their legal options for reducing tobacco use under the FDA legislation.