Tennessee Highlights

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States and in Tennessee. To address this enormous toll, the American Lung Association calls for the following actions to be taken by Tennessee's elected officials:

The Lung Association and partner organizations made significant gains in tobacco prevention policy in Tennessee's 2025 legislative session, both proactively and defensively. Acting proactively, the Lung Association and partner organizations scored multiple budget victories. First, the budget directed $2.6 million in JUUL settlement funds to the Tennessee Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program and the program also received $2.5 million in supplemental funding, both non-recurring.

Separately, the budget included $2 million recurring for lung and colorectal cancer screening and, strongly supported by the Lung Association, biomarker testing coverage legislation advanced through two committees and will be taken up again in 2026.

In February 2025, Senate bill 763 was introduced to establish a state registry of vapor products and to tax open and closed vapor products at disparate rates. At the strong defensive urging of partner organizations, the House version of the bill (House bill 968) was amended, including taxing all vapor products at parity with the current cigarette tax. Significant penalties for underage sales and registry provisions were also included in the final version. The Senate concurred with the House version and the legislation was signed into law by Governor Bill Lee. The Lung Association took no position on the bill as passed. Also acting defensively, partners successfully blocked a bill to grant heated tobacco products, including IQOS preferential tax status.

Released in 2025, the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) conducted a study on the initiation of youth vapor product usage, the prevalence of vaping, demographic and use trends, health outcomes, enforcement of underage sales, best practices to address usage on school grounds, taxation, and access to cessation products and services.

Leveraging the TACIR report findings, the American Lung Association and its partners will prioritize passage of tobacco retail licensing in 2026. Tennessee is one of fewer than ten states that do not require retailers to be licensed, which makes it impossible for agencies to effectively enforce Tobacco 21 laws. TRL legislation would change that by identifying the physical locations of these businesses and subjecting them to regular compliance checks and escalating penalties for repeat violations of the law.

Other 2026 priorities will include protecting funding for the state tobacco control program and continuing work to close loopholes in the state's smokefree law. The Lung Association will continue its efforts to educate policymakers, business leaders and media on the importance of the Lung Association's goals to prevent and reduce all tobacco use, including e-cigarettes.