Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and is associated with higher rates of disease onset, illness, and mortality, particularly lung cancer.

2018-2023

Policies

• P.L.2019, c.425 Flavor Ban was signed in 2020 and prohibits the sale and distribution of flavored vape products, including menthol.
• P.L.2019, c.473 provides coverage of comprehensive tobacco cessation benefits in Medicaid.
• P.L.2019, c.496 revises the New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act to prohibit smoking at certain outdoor public places, including within the outdoor passenger pick-up and drop-off area of an airport that is not owned or operated by a federal or military authority.
• P.L.2021, c.475 establishes requirements for certain tobacco product retailers to stock and sell nicotine replacement therapy products.

Outreach

• Outreach is done through NJDOH’s Office of Tobacco Control and Prevention (OTCP) grantees listed below.

Grants given by NJDOH

• NJDOH provides funding to qualified agencies to provide prevention and/or treatment services as part of the State’s ongoing efforts to address tobacco use, treatment, exposure to secondhand smoke, to assist disparate populations, and to assure that professional skills in the field are maintained at the highest level. Grantees include:
  • Southern NJ Perinatal Cooperative (SNJPC) for Mom’s Quit Connection (MQC)
  • New Jersey Prevention Network (NJPN) awarded two grants
  • Garden State Equality awarded one grant
  • Center for Supportive Schools (CSS)
  • State of New Jersey Funding Quit Centers (11 centers)

Grants and funding received by NJDOH

• State of New Jersey Tobacco Tax Revenue
• State of New Jersey Retailer Tobacco License Revenue
• State of New Jersey Appropriations Special Funds
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
  • National State-Based Tobacco Control Program
  • Public Health Approaches for Ensuring Quitline Capacity
• US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Assets/resources

• Tobacco Free for a Healthy New Jersey (TFHNJ) regional coordinators facilitated the adoption of over 300 smoke-free outdoor recreational ordinances through community-based tobacco control coalitions called Integrated Municipal Advisory Councils. TFHNJ and its partners helped to reduce youth access to cigarettes, electronic nicotine delivery systems, and hookah by implementing point-of sale strategies in establishments that sell these products, particularly within municipalities where retailers are in close proximity to schools.

Challenges

• Tobacco industry influence
• Changing product market

Disparities/inequities

• New Jersey’s cigarette smoking prevalence is lower than the national average, but differences are seen by race/ethnicity, age, and geographic location.  
• Black/African American and Hispanic residents currently (2020) have the highest prevalence of cigarette smoking compared to other racial/ethnic groups.  
• New Jersey has higher prevalence of cigarette smoking in Southern counties.

Final Assessment

• Targets were achieved for cigarette smoking among adults and high school students.
• Tobacco use (cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco) among high school students declined but the target was not achieved.
• Due to insufficient data, accomplishment of the target for middle school students can not be determined.
• Exposure to secondhand smoke among nonsmoker high school students increased.

For more information, please refer to these resources:

• NJ Quitline
• Mom's Quit Connection
• New Jersey Tobacco Regulations
• CDC Office on Smoking and Health
• Healthy People 2030