Tennessee's smokefree policy: it's time for local control.

Tobacco use in Tennessee is higher than the national average and the decline in usage rate has stalled. The smokefree policy enacted to address this health issues contains several exemptions and does not repeal preemption that was introduced in 1994. In March 2013, the Governor unveiled Health and Wellness Initiatives, including reduction in the use of "tobacco products." To achieve this goal, two approaches should be considered and integrated into the initiative to facilitate the decline in tobacco use - policy and population. On the policy approach, the Governor should consider working for the repeal of state preemption of local tobacco control policymaking by the 1994 Prevention of Youth Access to Tobacco Act, and for removing exemption for certain venues from the Non-Smoker Protection Act. On the population approach, the Governor should consider focusing on young adults as an integral part of the target group and tobacco-free campuses as a strategy for addressing tobacco use among such group. All these conform to the Initiatives' strategy of "localized ownership."