PETS
Policy Evaluation Tracking System
This site is currently under redesign, which began in January 2025. Available data includes policy matrices and policy briefs, which were last updated October 2024.
Welcome to the Policy Evaluation Tracking System (PETS) database. PETS is a policy surveillance database of tobacco control policies in local jurisdictions in California.
PETS is a project of the
California Tobacco Prevention Program (CTPP) to meet its tobacco control policy
evaluation needs in the areas of
Comprehensive Sales/Tobacco Retail Licensing (SALES),
Comprehensive Secondhand Smoke (SHS),
Multi-Unit Housing (MUH), and
Flavored Tobacco (FLA).
- To assess the strength of local tobacco control policies and track their changes over time.
- To assess city and county-level progress on CTPP's Communities of Excellence (CX) indicators.
- To provide lists, reports, and other data on CTPP's four tobacco control priority areas.
- To provide data and tools to support the education and policy change work of CTPP-funded grantees and projects.
- To reduce secondhand smoke exposure in multi-unit housing and outdoor areas.
- To reduce the impact of tobacco product sales, including the sale of flavored tobacco products, in communities.
Please note:PETS is undergoing a redesign. New data/materials will be provided by the Public Health Institute. However, the site redesign and comprehensive data updates will only be completed in 2026. Until that time, data may not fully capture all local tobacco control laws. In the interim, existing content that Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights developed will remain available.
The View Jurisdictions, County Details, and Policy Type Searches tabs (at left) show policy data last updated in March 2021 as part of the 2021 CX process. These tabs do not include data for more recently adopted policies. Please do not use these tabs to search for current data.
More current data include policy matrices and policy briefs, last updated October 2024, available under the Reports tab at Matrices and Lists.
What's next? As of January 2025, the new PETS team is initiating a needs assessment with users and a PETS advisory committee to inform the site design, scoring rubrics, and new analysis procedures. The goal is to complete the analyses of all current tobacco prevention policies, at least in the 4 focus areas. The data will be updated as it becomes available. Previously, 192 jurisdictions were analyzed and are available under the Policy Type Searches tab. A full list of currently scored policies is available under the View Jurisdiction tab. The Documentation section will share the updated policy rubrics in the coming months. Until this process is complete, please use the data available in the materials at Matrices and Lists.
For assistance with using PETS, please see the Using PETS page or contact PHI at jsoroosh@phi.org.
If your community has adopted a new or updated policy, please email the policy to PHI at jsoroosh@phi.org.
