(a) Except as otherwise specifically provided, the tobacco prevention and treatment program shall be administered and coordinated statewide by the Department of Health, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. The program shall be comprehensive and research-based.

(b) The Department shall establish goals for reducing adult and youth smoking rates, including performance measures for each goal in conjunction with the Substance Misuse Prevention Oversight and Advisory Council established pursuant to section 4803 of this title. The services provided by a quitline approved by the Department of Health shall be offered and made available to any minor, upon his or her consent, who is a smoker or user of tobacco products as defined in 7 V.S.A. § 1001.

(c) The Department of Liquor and Lottery shall administer the component of the program that relates to enforcement activities.

(d) The Agency of Education shall administer school-based programs.

(e) The Department shall pay all fees and costs of the surveillance and evaluation activities, including the costs associated with hiring a contractor to conduct an independent evaluation of the program.

(f) [Repealed.]  (Added 1999, No. 152 (Adj. Sess.), § 271, eff. May 29, 2000; amended 2007, No. 26, § 1; 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 258, eff. Feb. 14, 2014; 2019, No. 73, § 26; 2019, No. 82, § 4.)