The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 granted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, smokeless tobacco and any other tobacco products that the FDA "deems" to be within its authority. So far, the FDA hasn't issued a "deeming" regulation to assert jurisdiction over other tobacco products, meaning that products like e-cigarettes, hookah, little cigars and dissolvables are completely unregulated at the federal level.

This webinar introduces the Minnesota Healthy Beverages in Healthcare Toolkit, a new set of resources geared to support efforts to develop and build healthy beverages programs in Minnesota healthcare facilities.

The Public Health Law Center provides a range of legal technical assistance for the Kansas Health Foundation, including the Healthy Communities Initiative grantees. This webinar provides an overview of how the Public Health Law Center can assist communities with potential public policy approaches designed to support healthy eating and active living.  

Supporting smoke-free policies for multi-unit public housing is a critical way to reduce health disparities among some of our most vulnerable citizens.  This webinar provided information on the public housing market and acquainted attendees with the terminology that is common in the affordable housing sector.  The presenters discussed recommendations on how to work with public housing authorities and also reviewed legal topics that should be considered when discussing smoke-free policies with public housing authorities. 

 Presenters:

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 granted the FDA the authority to address the crushing public health burden of menthol in tobacco products, especially on youth, African-Americans, and the LGBTQ community. Unfortunately, in the three years since the law was enacted, the FDA has studied the issue but failed to act on this authority. This webinar will discuss what the public health community can do to press the FDA to take bold action on menthol.

Download the Powerpoint slides here.

The Public Health Law Center provides legal technical assistance to communities around the country on a variety of public health issues. This webinar outlines the breadth and depth of assistance, with a specific emphasis on support to Minnesota grantees working on Community Transformation Grant (CTG) projects, Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) strategies and Tobacco Free Community (TFC) initiatives.

This webinar provides an overview of the science behind obesity and chronic disease. It explains why growing numbers of hospitals are taking steps to reduce sugary drink consumption and other healthy eating strategies within their facilities. Finally, it provides information about strategies and tools, drawing on examples from hospitals around the country as well as highlighting work in Minnesota.

This webinar demonstrates how tobacco control supporters can search industry documents at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)’s Legacy Tobacco Documents online library, and use them in their work. 

The adoption of smoke-free policies for multi-unit residential properties has been increasing exponentially over the last several years.  The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is a strong supporter of these policies because eliminating smoking in individual units protects residents by improving the indoor air quality and lowering the risk of fire.  From this webinar, attendees will learn about the legal considerations involved when adopting and implementing smoke-free policies for subsidized housing.   A representative from HUD’s Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard reviews recent HUD announcements and initiatives regarding smoke-free policies and the Director of Operations and Property Management from the Boston Housing Authority discusses that authority’s decision to implement smoke-free policies.

This webinar provides an overview of policy considerations for those interested in providing a safe smoke-free environment for children in foster homes, passenger vehicles, child care settings, and playground areas. It also presents regulatory and legislative updates and describes policy challenges and options for jurisdictions considering smoke-free or tobacco-free measures to protect children in these settings.

On May 8, 2012, Public Health Law Center Staff Attorney Natasha Frost joined other child care experts to present at the Weight of the Nation conference.  Other presenters included Dr. Dianne Ward, Professor of Nutrition in the Gillings School of Global Public Health; Dr. Laura Kettle Khan, Senior Scientist in the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity at the Centers for Disease Control; and Dr.

This webinar provides an overview of why school food procurement is key to changing the nutritional quality of school meals.  Presenters highlight schools’ practices of procuring food for federally-funded school meal programs, the legal requirements schools must follow when procuring food, and schools’ opportunities to leverage procurement practices for the improvement of school nutrition.