aculty in East Tennessee State University’s College of Public Health and College of Business and Technology helped inform discussions leading to the recent passage of SB 2219/HB 2705 in the Tennessee legislature.
This bill, which took effect July 1 after receiving Gov. Bill Lee’s signature on June 1, removes preemption of tobacco regulation in the state and exemption of age-restricted venues, such as bars, from smoke-free policy. Removal of preemption allows local governments to regulate the use of smoking and vapor products in age-restricted venues that are not retail tobacco stores. Previous law allowed local governments to regulate the use of tobacco and vapor products in buildings owned or leased by the local government, but preempted them from regulating these products in age-restricted venues.
Dr. Hadii Mamudu, a professor in the Department of Health Services Management and Policy in the College of Public Health, has long advocated for an end to preemption. He says this bill essentially adopts policies outlined in a white paper titled “An Economic Assessment of Smokefree Policies in Tennessee.”
This paper, on which Mamudu was the lead author, was a collaborative effort by various ETSU entities. Co-authors Dr. Jon Smith, a professor of economics and director of the Bureau of Business and Economics and Research, and Dr. Prasun Bhattacharjee, an associate professor in the Department of Economics and Finance in the College of Business and Technology, said, “It is a major achievement when economic theory can pave the path for policy changes that have important implications for community health.”
The assessment made the case that such policy would be cost-effective and provide economic and health benefits for the population, achieve equal and equitable protection from dangerous health effects of second-hand smoke exposure, meet higher demand for smoke-free spaces, and more. Smith and Bhattacharjee executed the extensive economic data analysis that made the case for the policy change.
“This is a major policy change in tobacco control because until this law, Tennessee was one of the few remaining states with explicit preemption of tobacco regulation under a law enacted in 1994-95,” Mamudu said. He noted that removal of preemption is a key objective in the Healthy People 2030 program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
“Because this is a Healthy People 2030 objective, this policy change has national implications, and it is an honor for our Public Health and Business and Technology faculty to have been part of the story,” he said. “This is an exciting moment, as it shows the reward of staying persistent.”
“Our college is proud of Dr. Mamudu and his team for their continual efforts to improve the health of the people of Tennessee and the nation in the realm of tobacco policy,” said Dr. Randy Wykoff, dean of the ETSU College of Public Health.
“Our college has been pleased to partner in this community-based research project,” said Dr. Tony Pittarese, dean of the College of Business and Technology (CBAT). “We expect a variety of important ongoing research activities to come from this partnership between CBAT and the College of Public Health and look forward to engaging in cross-disciplinary projects with other campus units.”
Mamudu is a noted researcher and author in the fields of global health, tobacco control, public health policy and more. He holds an MPA from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and both an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from West Virginia University. He was a Tennessee Board of Regents Maxine Smith Fellow in 2018.
Smith has participated in numerous funded research projects and engaged in research dealing with the Appalachian Highlands region. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of South Carolina and is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Applied Sciences of Bremen, Germany.
Bhattacharjee has published articles in the areas of international trade, health economics and industrial organization. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Virginia Tech.
Additional co-authors of the white paper include Dr. Kate L. Nolt, Interdisciplinary Studies, Creighton University; Christen Minnick, ETSU Center for Rural Health Research, College of Public Health; Dr. Valentine Nriagu, ETSU Center for Cardiovascular Risks Research; ETSU undergraduate student Kelli Greer; and Dr. Donley T. Studlar, Department of Political Science, West Virginia University, and adjunct faculty in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health, ETSU College of Public Health.
To learn more about the ETSU College of Public Health, visit etsu.edu/cph/, and visit etsu.edu/cbat/ to learn more about the ETSU College of Business and Technology.
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