Report Card
Enforcement
Tennessee’s Department of Agriculture is the designated enforcement agency for Tobacco 21 and allows for a lenient affirmative defense after an unlawful sale if the retailer provides training to the employee who sold the product. Until Tennessee law establishes a statewide Tobacco Retail License requirement, its enforcement program will remain largely inadequate to prevent underage sales at retail. Fines into perpetuity are issued for unlawful sales, which does little to deter a rogue retailer from flouting the MLSA law. Tennessee penalizes youth for purchase, use, or possession (PUP) of tobacco products, which is not in keeping with best practices for a Tobacco 21 law.
Tobacco Retail License
- Comprehensive statewide Tobacco Retail License covering all tobacco products
- Multiple Tobacco Retail Licenses that cover all tobacco products
- Tobacco Retail License only covers cigarettes and NOT e-cigarettes
- No statewide Tobacco Retail License
Preemption
- No preemption
- Preempted from raising the sales age
- Preempted from creating a Tobacco Retail License
All public health is local. Often Big Tobacco works to add preemption to statewide tobacco control bills so cities and counties are unable to enact laws that better protect the public.
High School Vaping Rate
22.1%
of High School Seniors have vaped in the past 30 days
Tobacco Prevention vs. Industry Marketing
$1 : $133
Tennessee spends $2M in tobacco prevention efforts and the tobacco industry spends $266.3M in marketing. For every $1 spent in prevention, Big Tobacco spends $133 in marketing.
Tax per pack of cigarettes
$0.62
E-cigarette tax: $0.00
State Rank: 43
Higher tobacco taxes are associated with decreases in tobacco use and increases in cessation and lower youth initiation.
Annual State Healthcare Costs due to Tobacco Use
$2.67 billion
Information updated Nov 2020. Please contact megan.boelter@tobacco21.org if you have suggested updates.