Tobacco Control Policy is the third volume in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – Series on Health Policy. Volume Editor, Kenneth E. Warner, Ph.D. is Dean and Avedis Donabedian Distinguished University Professor of Public Health, at the School of Public Health, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He is well qualified, having been an intellectual force and leader in the field for the past several years.

This important text describes the genesis of tobacco control policies and their positive impact on public health over the last handful of decades. It provides a comprehensive review of the historical and contemporary use of tobacco products and of their health and social implications. Additionally, there are a few dozen reprints of some of the most influential articles in the emergent field of tobacco policy research. Over the last 15 years, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a leading philanthropic organization whose mission is to improve the health and healthcare of the American people, has fostered the development of a robust literature and through grant funding, harnessed the evolution of tobacco control policies for the betterment of public health and the human condition. Although we still struggle as a society to deal with the ravages that tobacco use has wrought, with smoking still claiming the lives of over 400,000 Americans every year, we are also witnessing the impact of tobacco control policy and the ongoing transition of population-based attitudes and behaviors that continue to contribute to reductions in smoking.

At the present time, research is expanding rapidly in areas such as genomics, proteomics, etc. – as the promise of tomorrow’s biologic/genetic tools enamors a rapt audience. While there have been some dramatic advances – let us not forget that in the field of tobacco control, evidence-based policy can impact public health today.

This book would make a good textbook/reader for graduate or undergraduate classes in public health, epidemiology, or health administration programs. It would also be an excellent reference book for faculty and public health practitioners. In particular, Chapter One, would be especially informative as an introduction to the field of tobacco policy research and develops an appreciation of the historical context. The article reprints selected by the Editor cover a broad swath of the effort that has been expended in the field, as well as some of the most influential research. Chapters cover history, elucidation of disease links, the impacts of taxation and price within the economic and political milieu, production of tobacco products, the global use of tobacco, clean indoor air laws, cessation methods, marketing/ advertising, ad bans, counter-advertising, lawsuits against the industry, the impacts of anti-tobacco policies, societal responses/industry responses, possession, use, and purchase (PUP) laws and sales to minors, comprehensive state laws, contemporary policy developments in the United States, and the future of tobacco use and tobacco control.

Finally, there is also a summary of the important and large leadership role that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has played as a funding entity in catalyzing and driving a major public health success story since the early 1990’s. However, because of a changing organizational focus, caused by the other pressing priorities of physical inactivity and obesity and their negative impact on health, funding dollars will shift away from tobacco control policy research. Thus, the text ends on somewhat of a somber note. The reduced emphasis on tobacco control has predictably raised concerns, because unfortunately the changing agenda comes at a time when States, because of budgetary problems, have been cutting back on their funding of anti-smoking efforts – causing a double whammy. It certainly will be a challenge maintaining the momentum, to keep the field advancing and moving forward.

About the Reviewer: Joseph E. Bauer, Ph.D. [Joseph.Bauer@cancer.org] is Director of Survey Research in the Statistics & Evaluation Center at the American Cancer Society – National Home Office/ Atlanta, Georgia 30303.