Government Recommendations & Laws Protecting Children
New Jersey state and local laws as well as federal laws protect children from tobacco, encouraging people to live tobacco-free.
GASP's website hosts an online searchable database of local and county tobacco control laws in New Jersey. GASP maintains up-to-date summaries of all New Jersey state laws on tobacco. Our website also summarizes federal laws on tobacco control, including recent federal tobacco control laws that place marketing restrictions on cigarette and some smokeless tobacco products:
- On March 31, 2010, President Obama signed the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (PACT) into law, which regulates the tobacco product sales via mail and internet. PACT takes effect in 90 days from the signing, on June 29, 2010. The purpose of PACT is to help curb the sale of tobacco to children. PACT also helps to collect taxes on tobacco products sold through the mail and internet, requires tax stamps be affixed before delivery of the products to the customer, bans the delivery of these products through the U.S. Postal Service, requires age verification when the products are purchased and delivered, and increases penalties and improves enforcement. Read a press release and fact sheet on PACT, from Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
- On June 22, 2009, The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act ("FDA Act") (a.k.a. FDA regulations HR 1256), was signed by President Obama. The FDA Act gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") authority to regulate tobacco products, along with other restrictions on tobacco advertising. Read the FDA Act's implementation timeline, and read an Executive Summary of the Act.
- On March 19, 2010, to help implement the FDA Act, the FDA issued federal Regulations Restricting the Sale and Distribution of Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco to Protect Children and Adolescents, ("FDA Regulations", cited 21 CFR Part 1140), effective June 22, 2010. These FDA Regulations contain a broad set of federal requirements designed to significantly curb access to and the appeal of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to children and adolescents in the United States. The FDA Regulations restrict the sale, distribution, and promotion of these products, to make them less accessible and less attractive to kids. Learn more about these Regulations at the FDA's press release and Frequently Asked Questions on implementing the regulations.
Last update: 8/26/11