The California experience shows that it is difficult but not impossible to succeed against a force as rich and powerful as the tobacco industry.

California voters approved the landmark California Tobacco Tax and Health Promotion Act in 1988, and the enabling legislation made California the first state to implement a comprehensive tobacco control program. Since then, the program has remained the largest of its kind in the world.

The primary goal of the California Tobacco Control Program (CTCP) is to prevent tobacco-related disease and death in California by reducing tobacco use across the state. The CTCP's comprehensive approach strives to change the broad social norms around the use of tobacco by creating a social and legal climate in which tobacco becomes less desirable, less acceptable, and less accessible. California's strategy focuses on four broad priority areas for use both in program planning and funding decisions: reducing exposure to secondhand smoke; revealing and countering tobacco industry influence; reducing the availability of tobacco products; and providing cessation services.

The program has made significant progress toward a tobacco-free California, through the combined efforts of 61 local health departments, four ethnic networks, approximately 90 community-based organizations, a statewide media campaign, a cessation helpline, and other statewide support systems, including the Technical Assistance Legal Center (TALC).

Californians are better protected from exposure to secondhand smoke than residents in the rest of the United States: virtually all indoor workplaces in the state are smoke-free, including restaurants and bars. Californians are modifying their behavior by smoking less, and an increasing percentage of California smokers over the past decade have indicated a desire to quit or have actually made an attempt to quit smoking. California youth smoking rates are among the lowest in the nation.

Future tobacco control efforts will focus on policies that have proven effective in reducing smoking prevalence and consumption (e.g. cigarette excise tax increases, restrictions on places where people can smoke, and restrictions on the marketing and sale of tobacco products), while continuing to educate Californians about the need for protection from secondhand smoke and the influence of the tobacco industry in their communities.

Adapted from A Model for Change: The California Experience in Tobacco Control (October 1998) and California Tobacco Control Update (November 2002), produced by the California Department of Health Services / Tobacco Control Section.