Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch

Welcome to the North Carolina Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch web site. Advocates and professionals will find information about evidence-based ways to reduce the toll of tobacco use on N.C. communities and to promote tobacco-free living. There is also information for anyone who is trying to quit using tobacco in the Quitting Tobacco section.

Tobacco use remains the number one preventable cause of death and disease in the United States and North Carolina. The good news is WE KNOW WHAT WORKS and we are making steady progress in North Carolina and the nation. We work on this complex public health problem by building support for proven strategies to:

þ Prevent the initiation of smoking and other tobacco use
þ Eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke
þ Help tobacco-users quit; and
þ Identify and eliminate tobacco-related health disparities among N.C. populations and communities

House Bill 24 signed into law!

In effect on January 1, 2008, this new N.C. statute will ban smoking inside all state government buildings and allow N.C. local governments to do the same, if they choose. Read more...

HB 24 Resource for Local Government

North Carolina Helping Each N.C. Tobacco User to “Become An Ex”

The N.C. Division of Public Health has joined the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation (NATC) in participating in “Become an EX,” a campaign to help adult smokers think about their smoking triggers and consider making a quit attempt. The media campaign draws tobacco users to an interactive, edgy website, becomeanex.org, that allows smokers to explore their smoking triggers, sign up for a customized quit plan and sign up for social networking online support.

More than 900 North Carolinians registered for help quitting during the first month of the campaign.

Two Secondhand Smoke Bills Pass NC Legislature

In the 2008 Short Session of the N.C. General Assembly, two secondhand smoke bills successfully passed through the legislative process. These secondhand smoke bills were introduced by Sen. William Purcell and Rep. Jennifer Weiss on behalf of the Justus-Warren Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Task Force.

Senate Bill 1681: This bill requires all passenger-carrying vehicles owned, leased, or otherwise controlled by the state and assigned permanently or temporarily to a State employee or state agency or institution for official state business to be smoke-free. The bill also authorizes local governments to require passenger-carrying vehicles owned, leased, or otherwise controlled by local government and assigned permanently or temporarily by local government to local government employees, agencies, institutions, or facilities for official local government business to be smoke-free. This new law will become effective on Jan. 1, 2009.

Senate Bill 1669: This bill grants the local governing boards of community colleges the clear local authority and guidance to prohibit all tobacco use on their community college campuses and college-sponsored events. This new law became effective on July 11, 2008.

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