The implementation and enforcement of tobacco control laws: Policy implications for activists and the industry

We examine the process by which antitobacco laws and ordinances were implem ented and enforced in seven states and nineteen localities, Our findings in dicate that state- and local-level clean indoor air laws were rarely enforc ed by governmental agencies. Instead, these laws were largely self-enforcin g in that changed social norms regarding appropriate smoking behavior led t o generally high compliance rates. In contrast, teen access laws were not s elf-enforcing, but were often enforced through periodic vendor compliance c hecks. We also found that antitobacco forces did not devote a significant a mount of attention to implementation and enforcement issues. Their focus wa s primarily on enacting new legislation and fighting tobacco industry attem pts to weaken existing laws. Our results do not augur well for public health measures that require state -level enforcement and that are opposed by powerful and politically well-co nnected interests. For tobacco control laws to be effective, public health advocates need to consider the locus of enforcement responsibility and the sanctions available to the enforcement agency, such as license removal by l ocal authorities. These results suggest that failure to specify such mechan isms in the legislation will lead to delays in implementing and enforcing t he laws as well as to a number of compliance problems. Antitobacco coalitio ns will also need to become more actively involved in the implementation an d enforcement process.