In 2000, the Maryland General Assembly created the Cigarette Restitution Fund (CRF) Program with funds derived from the 1998 Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement with the tobacco industry. The goal of the CRF Program is to implement strategies to reduce the burden of tobacco related disease in Maryland, with a specific emphasis on tobacco use prevention and cessation and cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment. As a result of the CRF Program, Maryland has created focused tobacco-use prevention and cessation programs, cancer prevention, education, and screening programs, cancer research programs, and a strong statewide network of cancer and tobacco local community health coalitions.

The CRF Program is administered by the Family Health Administration within the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The two main components of the CRF Program are the Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation Program and the Cancer Prevention, Education, Screening, and Treatment Program. The enabling statute for the CRF Program is Health-General, Title 13, Subtitles 10 and 11.​