The Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program (MTCP) is the Commonwealth's tobacco control program, located within the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Tobacco Free Mass fights for funding for MTCP because, as the state's tobacco control program, MTCP is critical to the fight against tobacco in Massachusetts. It implements and enforces laws, funds local boards of health and community organizations to do enforcement and education, runs the state’s quitline, produces ads and materials educating about tobacco and nicotine, and provides surveillance and evaluation for tobacco issues, all with a focus on racial equity and social justice.

Over the past several years, the Massachusetts Legislature has increased the program’s funding to its highest level in a decade, reversing a trend of slow decline.  This is an excellent first step.

Now it’s time to fund MTCP at a level where it can launch and sustain the large-scale campaigns needed to educate young people about the hazards of vaping, help tobacco users quit, and address racial health inequities caused by the tobacco industry’s use of menthol products.

The Legislature has passed landmark tobacco control laws, and to maximize the effectiveness of the legislation, the tobacco control program needs to be able to conduct education, outreach, and enforcement around them.  We are committed to increasing funding to the program.

The Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program was created through an initiative petition passed by Massachusetts voters in 1993 as part of the Commonwealth's first tobacco tax.  The Massachusetts Coalition for a Healthy Future, now Tobacco Free Mass, spearheaded the effort.

Tobacco Free Mass is an independently-funded organization and does not receive funding from the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program.