There has been a sharp increase in state-level legislative cancer control activity. Many state cancer-related laws and regulations are implemented by local governments, and many local governments are initiating their own cancer prevention and control laws, regulations and programs. These include clean indoor air laws, tobacco vending restrictions, workplace environmental regulations, stricter penalties for tobacco possession and use by minors, and tobacco education programs. The applicants state that no system currently exists to track local cancer prevention and control legislation, policies and programs. The applicants will work with a variety of national and state, public and private organizations with local government interests to design a system for tracking local cancer prevention and control activities. To design and develop a state-of-the-art system, the applicants will analyze existing systems that track activities at the state and local levels for both public and private purposes. The development of an effective system for tracking local cancer prevention and control activities will provide the framework for the establishment of an expanded system. This effective system will track local legislation, policies, programs and other activities in a broad range of areas. These areas include health and human services, environmental quality, education and other public policy areas which have excellent commercial potential.Awardee's statement of the potential commercial applications of the research: The research can provide the foundation for the development of a system to track local government legislation, policies and programs in a wide variety of areas. Some of the areas this research will provide for are health and human services, environmental quality, housing and economic development, education, intergovernmental cooperation, transportation, justice and taxation.National Cancer Institute (NCI)
