From 1993 to 2004, SmokeLess States: Statewide Tobacco Prevention and Control Initiative (renamed in July 2000 SmokeLess States®: National Tobacco Policy Initiative) supported statewide efforts to reduce tobacco use, particularly among children and youth.

SmokeLess States made grants to 48 statewide coalitions and two other coalitions (in the District of Columbia and Tucson, Ariz.) working in partnership with community groups to develop and implement comprehensive tobacco-control programs that included educaives.

Beginning in 2000, the program shifted its focus to policy change only with a focus on comprehensive clean indoor air laws and tobacco tax increases, and expanded Medicaid coverage for tobacco dependence treae to find matching funds which were used to support lobbying activities focused on policy change. No RWJF funds were used for these activities.

Key Results

• Coalition policy campaigns, underwritten by their matching funds, led to increased excise taxes in 35 SmokeLess States (see Appendix 7 for details), clean indoor air legislation in 10 states and ordinances to restrict youth access to tobacco products in 13 states.
• Eight coalitions defeated or blocked preemption bills and four states repealed or partially repealed preemption.
• The SmokeLess States grantees secured funds (at least $10 million) for comprehensive tobacco prevention and control programs from the $206 billion Master Settlement Agreement with the tobacco industry signed in 1998.

See the Project List for a list of funded coalitions. Coalitions in Arkansas, Delaware, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire and Wisconsin are profiled in Grant Results that are linked to the Project List. Two tables highlighting the states' policy accomplishments from 1994 through 2004 are available online under "SmokeLess States Accomplishments."

Administration
To oversee the projects, RWJF established the SmokeLess States national program office at the American Medical Association (AMA) in Chicago. Thomas P. Houston, M.D., director of the AMA's Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health, served as national program director. The first deputy director was Kathleen C. Harty, M.Ed. She was succeeded by Donna Grande, M.G.A., who was promoted to program co-director in 2000.

Funding
RWJF's Board of Trustees authorized a total of approximately $88 million for the 11-year program, which concluded in June 2004. RWJF supported the national program office at the American Medical Association with an additional $10 million in RWJF grants, which fell outside the authorized amount for program activities.