The
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
Jan/Feb 2001
Note: This publication has been individually transmitted to state tobacco program managers, ASTHO affiliates, and other tobacco prevention professionals. You are encouraged to forward all or part of this publication to STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS, COALITION MEMBERS, and OTHER PARTNERS. The Tobacco Free Press is produced by ASTHO under Cooperative Agreement N.U50/CCU306138-07 with the CDC Office on Smoking and Health. _____________________________________________________________________________________________
CONTENTS:
·
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT – INCREASES IN
TOBACCO TAXES
The Smokefree
Anchorage Ordinance went into effect on December 31, 2000. Before the ordinance was in effect for an
entire week, a new opposition group had formed to lead the repeal effort. ACHRRA - the Anchorage Cabaret, Hotel,
Restaurant and Retailer’s Association - placed an ad in the Anchorage Daily
News (costing more than $5,000) to announce its first meeting, which drew about
fifty people. The group has lobbyists
in both Anchorage and Juneau (where it will also be fighting against a proposed
alcohol tax increase). On a brighter note,
there has been a flood of calls to both the coalition and the city about the
ordinance since the effective date, and about 80-90% of these calls have been
positive.
For more information, please contact Nikki Haars, Smokefree Anchorage Coalition
Coordinator at the American Cancer Society 907-263-2068.
Arkansas
At
least three bills have been introduced into the Arkansas State
Legislature which, if passed, would ease anti-tobacco legislation. House Bill 1150, sponsored by Rep. D.
Elliot, would prohibit the Arkansas
State Board of Health from regulating smoking in small eating establishments
(defined as seating capacity fewer than 25).
Rep. Sandra Rodgers (D-Hope) introduced
legislation that would allow smoking in the state Capitol and on public school
campuses. House Bill 1429 would allow
smoking in "rooms which are ventilated directly to the outside" of
the Capitol. Smoking would still be
prohibited in common areas of the Capitol.
House Bill 1430 would amend a 1999 law that banned smoking on school
campuses. The bill would allow school
boards to designate "one or more areas on school property in which area
smoking will be permitted." The
law applies to "any property owned or leased by a public school district
including school buses.”
Governor Mike Huckabee opposes the
bills.
On the other hand, Senator Bisbee introduced SB412, which
would ban smoking in all public and private hospital facilities and grounds.
For
more information, contact Jennifer Oyler,
Coalition Coordinator or Teresa Conner, Advocacy Director at the American Lung
Association at 501-224-5864.
California
The northern city of Arcata,
California approved an ordinance in the first week of January banning drinking
and smoking in the downtown business district.
The City Council voted 5-0 banning alcohol and smoking on public
streets, sidewalks, or parks. The ordinance
does not apply to private property.
The Santa Barbara City Council
voted 6-0 to
step up police patrols and increase enforcement of the state law banning
smoking in bars or restaurants. The
Santa Barbara County Health Department will provide $5,000 for officers to work
overtime to enforce the law, which took effect Jan. 1, 1998.
Idaho
On January 31st,
the Idaho House State Affair Committee voted 9 to 9 on giving cities and
counties authority to restrict smoking in public places. The bill was killed and the committee
refused to introduce the proposal for further discussion.
Maryland
A citizen has brought a
lawsuit against the village of Friendship Heights for it's smoking ban in
public places. The lawsuit challenges
the village's authority as a special taxing district, rather than a county or
municipality, to pass such a law. On
January 26th, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Nelson Rupp issued the
temporary restraining order against the village of Friendship Heights for the
ban. A full hearing on the ban is
scheduled for February 15th.
For
more information, contact Julian
Mansfield at 301-656-2797 or Dr. Alfred Muller, Mayor of Friendship Heights at
202-362-3563.
In addition, the Carroll
County Recreational Council, comprised of 18 separate councils, unanimously
approved a ban on tobacco products within 50 yards of a public or private
playing field when children are playing organized sports. An estimated 24,000 children in the county
are involved in recreational council sports.
For more information, contact
the Tobacco Prevention and Control
program at the Carroll County Health Department at 410-876-4429.
Massachusetts
The Gloucester Board of Health
banned smoking in Gloucester restaurants.
Bars may allow smoking and restaurants with bars can allow it as long as
they are completely separated by a physical barrier and have a separate
ventilation system.
In addition, the Medon Board
of Health, working with the Blackstone Valley Tobacco Control Program, enacted
the town's first set of regulations on ETS on January 22nd. The regulations go into effect March 1,
2002. It limits smoking to a single,
designated room in restaurants and workplaces.
This room must be physically separated from non-smoking areas and have a
separate ventilation system. It also
allows restaurant employees to refuse to work in the smoking area. Smoking will be banned in all public
gathering places and all municipal buildings, grounds and vehicles.
Violators will be fined $50
for the first violation, $100 for the second violation and $150 for three or
more violations within one year. The
Board of Health plans to schedule a workshop on the ventilation requirements
for businesses.
Nebraska
Nebraska state Senator Nancy
Thompson introduced Legislative Bill
227, amending the Nebraska Clean Indoor
Air Act. The legislation would ban
designated smoking areas in restaurant dining rooms. While it would permit smoking in restaurant bars and lounges,
these areas would have to be separated from restaurant dining rooms. Smoking would also be allowed in private
party rooms. The Health and Human Services Committee voted 5-2 on February 1st
to send the measure to the full Legislature for debate.
Thompson introduced another
bill (LB 423) that would precisely determine where smoking is currently banned
and would expand enforcement powers.
For more information, contact Doug Koebernick at dkoebernick@unicam.state.ne.us
New Mexico
The Las Cruces City Council voted 4-2 in early February to amend
the city’s Clean Indoor Air Act, by banning smoking in all bingo parlors,
bowling allies, and public transportation stops. Youth from SHOUT, a new student
organization that advocates for a smoke-free environment, spoke at the
Council’s hearing.
New York
New York City Council Speaker
Pete Vallone (D-Astoria) introduced legislation to expand New York City's 1995
Smoke-Free Air Act. The 1995 law banned
smoking in nearly all public places, including restaurants with more than 35
seats, hotel lobbies and stadiums.
Smoking is currently allowed in restaurants if the bar is at least 6
feet from the dining area, or separated by a floor-to-ceiling partition. Speaker Vallone's proposal would close many
of the current loopholes. The new
legislation would demarcate smoking areas to a separate, enclosed smoking
room. Twenty five percent of seas in
outdoor cafes would be reserved for smokers.
The bill would not affect taverns or other establishments that make less
than 40 percent of their annual revenue from selling food.
The proposed bill would also
ban smoking in all city government cars and in private offices. A special task force would be created to
research new ways to limit ETS. There
is possible opposition from Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
For more information, contact the American Cancer Society's New York City Office at 212-586-8700 or go to
http://www2.cancer.org/states/index.cfm?id=35&doc_id=12415
In addition, the Government
Services and Cultural Affairs Committee of the Dutchess County Legislature have
been or will be considering 3 proposals dealing with tobacco:
¨ A
county law that would expand the state's Clean Indoor Air Act to prohibit
children 12 and under from public places where smoking is allowed.
¨ Eliminate
the county's 3 percent sales tax for restaurants that agree to make their
dining areas smoke-free.
¨ A
county law allowing Boards of Health to regulate smoking, approved by the
county Board of Health in 1999, but struck down by a federal judge. The judge ruled that such power resides
with legislators and not the health board.
The first two proposals have
been defeated. The third proposal is
scheduled to be heard in March.
Also, Albany County will be
running a $130,000 settlement funded ETS media campaign. The ads will air on television and on
Capitol Region buses. The campaign will
run from February 5th to March 25th, 2001.
Oregon
Lake Oswego City Council voted
5-1 to ban smoking in all its restaurants, most workplaces and some bars. The law also bans stores from selling
tobacco in self-service displays. The
law will rely on employees or patrons of the business to report violations, not
city staff or police. Violators will be
issued warnings and educational materials for the first and second
offense. Thereafter, fines will range
from $100 to $500 for additional offenses.
Smoking will be allowed in bars that are separated from the restaurant
with four walls, an independent door and an independent ventilation system.
For more information,
contact Robyn Christie, Deputy City
Recorder at 503-675-3984 or e-mail RobynC@ci.oswego.or.us.
Texas
In a vote of 5 to 1, the New
Braunfels City Council approved a smoking ban that will go into effect March
2001. The ban will apply to most indoor public places but will exclude bars,
outdoor patios, tobacco shops, private clubs and homes.
On January 23, The American Legacy Foundation
awarded nearly $8 million in grants to establish and support tobacco cessation
or prevention efforts in disadvantaged and underserved communities. The funds will support the W.K. Kellogg
Foundation's Community Voices learning laboratories, which works to improve
health care in underserved communities.
The ten Community Voices sites will receive awards distributed over a
four-year period. Legacy expects an additional
three sites to be approved for awards in the coming month, with funding for all
demonstration projects totaling nearly $8 million.
One of the grantees, the California Rural Indian
Health Board, plans to create local tobacco prevention planning groups that
will develop and implement tobacco control activities for 33 American Indian
communities in rural California. In
addition, the Denver Health Community Voices Tobacco Use Cessation and
Prevention will target high-risk neighborhoods with a comprehensive education,
counseling and cessation campaign to reduce pediatric exposure to ETS. The eight other states that were chosen are
Florida, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, North and South Carolina, Texas, and
West Virginia.
For
more information on Legacy award, contact Adin
Miller at 202-454-5555.
For
more information on Community Voices, contact Paul DelPonte at 202-872-4860.
African
American Teens
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) released
a study in the December 2000 issue of the Journal of the National Medical
Association, which found that African American teens are at a greater risk of
tobacco addiction. Researchers found that African American teens tend to smoke
at older ages and smoked less on the weekend and on average fewer cigarettes
each day than their non-African American counterparts. Yet, their smoking histories and motivation
scores were similar, and both groups experienced asthma, allergies, and
depression at similar rates.
The
research team is calling for culturally-appropriate prevention and treatment
programs to reduce disparities.
For
more information, contact Michelle Muth
at 301-594-6141 or mm488g@nih.gov.
American
Indian
Lawrence Shorty, a
graduate student at University of New Mexico, was awarded a $75,000 grant from
the Developing Leadership in Reducing Substance Abuse program out of the Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation. The grant will
be used to encourage American Indians to stop smoking outside of ceremonies and
to explain the differences between traditional and manufactured tobacco. A portion of the funds will be utilized to
create anti-tobacco industry commercials for American Indians. The current project is focused around
designing communication strategies to help develop or change opinion of tribal
leaders to develop tobacco control policies: youth access and ETS, primarily.
For more information, contact Lawrence Shorty at lshorty@unm.edu.
For more information on Developing Leadership in Reducing Substance Abuse program, go to http://www.saleaders.org.
California
The Black American Political
Association of California received a mini-grant from the Central Valley
Regional Tobacco Prevention Team to conduct outreach efforts to 10
African-American churches in 3 counties. The outreach will focus on reducing environmental tobacco smoke on
church property, establishing smoke-free Sundays, publishing anti-tobacco
messages in church bulletins, training a youth coalition to educate minors and
obtaining pledges from church pastors to speak out against the dangers of
tobacco use.
Florida
The Florida Department of Health will sponsor a
booth at Fiesta Pueblo Latino, the first week of March, where information will
be distributed to the public on the effects of ETS on children and adults. The
grassroots campaign includes the distribution of Spanish-language brochures and
posters to Hispanic health clinics in Miami, Orlando and Tampa. The brochures
contain information on the dangers of ETS and on smoking cessation programs
The ETS campaign has also released two radio spots
"Counting" and "Protection," which remind parents to
protect their children from second hand smoke.
In January 2001, two TV commercials targeting Hispanics began airing,
which depict parents smoking around their children without thinking about the
impact of second hand smoke.
For more information, contact Frank Penela at 850-245-4112.
Minnesota
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation awarded a $15,000 grant to the Vietnamese Minnesotans Association (VMA) to launch the VMA’s Tobacco Reduction and Prevention to the Asian Community program. The organization plans to use the funds to educate the Asian community on the health risks and implication of tobacco use and ETS, organize outreach efforts to enroll clients into VMA’s cessation program, and conduct home visits and follow-up support to evaluate cessation efforts.
The Alabaster City Council voted to ban vending
machines that distribute tobacco products on January 15th and goes
into effect 5 days later. This measure
will curb youth access to tobacco.
Suggestions and questions from the audience included allowing
adult-oriented entertainment businesses to have machines and also infringing on
adult's legal right to purchase tobacco products. However the Council decided to pass the full ban.
Arizona
The Arizona Department of Health Services’ (DHS) Tobacco Education and Prevention Program and the Arizona Diamondbacks launched a campaign in late January, entitled “Kick the Can” campaign led by baseball legend Joe Garagiola, Sr. This campaign targets youth to prevent initiation of smokeless tobacco. The campaign provides educational materials to schools and Little League teams about ways to prevent the use of smokeless tobacco by children. Garagiola and the Diamondbacks conducted clinics across the state to educate coaches about the dangers of spit tobacco. The clinic gives coaches tips on how to condition players and how to build a better team. DHS also established a “Can Kickers Hotline” to reach Arizona youth.
As a part of a related initiative, DHS sponsored
“Ash Kicker Racing Team” by sending 2 race car drivers to schools across the
state to preach against the dangers of tobacco.
For
more information, contact Susan Heck at 602-870-3145.
California
The San Francisco Health
Department launched a powerful media campaign targeting youth on February 7th. The $900,000 campaign is funded with
settlement dollars. The eight different
30-second ads will air for three months during television programs favored by
youth. The ads depict various scenes
such as a nicotine-ravaged aorta and smoke damaged lungs, real San Francisco
teens who are trying to quit smoking, a youth whose father died from tobacco
use, and a young Mexican girl dying of pesticide poisoning from picking tobacco
in the fields.
For more information, contact Alma Avila, MPH, Tobacco Free
Project at 415-437-4656 or
Florida and
Iowa
Iowa City and Coralville, Iowa along with
Tallahassee, Florida have been selected for a nationwide study where alcohol
and tobacco retailers will be given electronic age verification scanners to use
for up to six months. The study is
coordinated by Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts and is funded by
Phillip Morris and Miller Brewing Company.
The age verification scanners can detect IDs that have been altered by
reading the magnetic stripe. Training
for retailers will begin in February.
Stores in the study will receive free scanners for duration of the
study, with the option of buying the scanners at a discount. Scanners cost between $500 to $800.
Florida
Local chapters of Students Working Against Tobacco
(SWAT) are participating in a statewide public awareness campaign against Big
Tobacco called "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is." The campaign is in response to Big Tobacco's
public relations campaigns, advertising their charity work. The corporation spends more on the
advertisements, building their image, than on the actual charitable
donations. SWAT has circulated a
petition. The campaign will close with
a press conference in Tallahassee on February 23rd.
SWAT
also launched its "SWAT Without Borders" campaign. The objective is to raise awareness of the
tobacco industry's marketing strategies in foreign countries. Members in each
county were assigned a country.
SWAT plans to relay its message through Internet pals in those countries after first researching the area's marketing practices. There will be a bulletin board on the SWAT Web site, http://www.wholetruth.com. Here members can post messages and precautions for youth around the globe.
For more information, contact Kim Newsome, Youth
Development Program Manager, at
850-245-4444 X2478 or kimberly_newsome@doh.state.fl.us.
Idaho
A bill sponsored by two North Idaho legislators,
Rep. Meyer and Rep. Pischner, would decrease the number of inspections of retailers
aimed to curb youth access to tobacco.
The bill was introduced on January 29th by a unanimous vote
of the Senate State Affairs Committee.
The bill reduces the number of surprise inspections from two to one a
year per store. More inspections could
occur on the basis of violations. The
bill also reduces fines for retailers and allows the stores a warning on their
first violation. Some fines could be
waived if retailers train their clerks about the issue.
Governor Dirk Kempthorne proposed to expand the
number of checks in his 2001 budget.
Illinois
On January 9th, the
Elk Grove Village Board approved fines and possible license suspension for
stores that sell tobacco products to minors.
Vendors will receive a warning for the first offense and receive
graduated fines for repeat offenses, ranging from $25 to $500. Chronic offenders could lose their license
to sell tobacco. The village is using a
$7,500 grant from the Illinois Liquor Commission to conduct sting operations in
testing compliance. While a past sting
showed 100% compliance, the most recent sting in November showed a 65%
compliance rate.
In addition, Kane County
Health Department launched a peer-led smoking prevention program called Y-Not
(Youth Notifying Other Teens). The
group of 50 is seeking to change norms of smoking as socially acceptable. The teens wear neon green shirts and have a
brightly colored "Tobacco Van" that transports them to different teen
hangouts to spread their anti-tobacco message.
Indiana
On January 16th,
Purdue University declared university residence halls and graduate houses
smoke-free beginning with the 2001 fall semester. The university currently provides non-smoking floors in each hall
and has five halls that are entirely smoke-free.
Minnesota
Four Minnesota communities,
Grand Rapids, Marshall, Scott/Carver Counties and St. Cloud, will be working
with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation to combat teen
smoking at the grassroots level. The
communities will take part in Minnesota Acts, a public health model tailored
for specific community needs. They
will develop a comprehensive plan of community action to prevent and reduce
teen smoking and chewing tobacco.
In addition, Target Market (TM) youth leaders held a news conference at the end of February and called for young people across Minnesota to tear out tobacco ads from the magazines they read and send them to Target Market. The ads from youth magazines will be used to form a mural at the State Capitol this spring to expose the fact that the industry is still targeting young people to replace dead smokers. The "Rip It Out" campaign is being launched at the same time as two new TM television ads focused on magazine advertising are being aired. One ad called "Bigger than Ever" focuses on teens using tobacco ads to make a mural that spells out "They're Still Targeting Us." The other ad, entitled "Light Up," focuses on teens burning magazine ads in a large wire structure shaped like a cowboy. "Light Up" began airing the week of February 20th and "Bigger than Ever" began airing the first week in February.
For
more information, contact Joe Loveland of
the Minnesota Department of Health at 651-281-9794.
Mississippi
The Partnership for a Healthy
Mississippi sponsored "The Scoop," a tobacco-free marketing
campaign. Children in grades 6-9 from
12 schools created their own mock product to fight tobacco use. They designed a campaign, created news
releases, made 60-second video commercials, and 30-second radio announcements
to educate their peers on the dangers of tobacco. The first place winner received $1,000 cash for their classroom,
second place received $750, and third place received $500.
The first place winner for the
ninth-grade division, created Nic-O-Time
Anti-Smoking Medicated Watch. The
watch worked as a patch on the back of the timepiece to curb nicotine
cravings. Other creative products
included Cig-Away soap, Future mouth spray, Trash Tobacco trash cans and Ashless accessories.
For more information, contact Liz Carroll at 601-362-0740 or go to http://www.healthy-miss.org/.
Missouri
The Residence Halls
Association of the University of Missouri - Columbia voted 13-9 to ban smoking
in the campus dormitories on January 30th. Two additional measures that did not pass were to ban smoking on
dorm balconies and to support more smoke-free dorms. Current policy allows
students to smoke on room balconies and in their rooms if roommates agree.
The ban is not final however.
The university’s office of Residential Life, which oversees all MU housing, has
the final say. The ban has been
promoted by Breathe Easy MU, a student subcommittee of the Student Health
Advisory Council. The council is overseen by the Student Health Center and
operates under a grant from the CDC.
Nebraska
Do you Know (DUK) is a new
program educating Nebraskans of all ages on the dangers of tobacco in
Plattsmouth. The program's motto is
"Don't be a sitting duck for tobacco companies." Students will work on creative ways to
counter the advertising of Big Tobacco and will lead the education effort among
their peers and adults. Complete with a
DUK mobile and mascot, the program also plans to build a DUK pond, where
children can pull out a duck, answer a tobacco-related question, and receive a
prize if correct.
Four schools have received
grants from the Nebraska Department of Health ranging from $80,000 to $100,000
to implement the program. The grants are paid for with settlement dollars.
New Jersey
Over 700 youth attended a youth rally at the Liberty
Science Center in Jersey City to launch the “Not For Sale” anti-tobacco youth
advertising campaign on February 16th. Commissioner Grant of the New Jersey Department of Health and
Senior Services, Acting
Governor Donald DiFrancesco as well as
members of REBEL, NJ’s youth led movement, spoke at the rally. The ads
focus on manipulation by tobacco companies and the importance of young people
making decisions that are informed. The advertisements, which have been airing
since the beginning of February, can be seen in a variety of 15-second and
30-second commercials on MTV, the WB network, NBC, and also through radio,
billboards, movie theatres, and will soon appear on special sports utility
vehicles that will travel around the state. The advertisements can also be
viewed on the new REBEL website at http://www.njrebel.com.
South Carolina
The South Carolina State
Division of Motor Vehicles will issue color-coded licenses to all people under
21 in effort to curb the sale of tobacco and alcohol to youth. Licenses issued to children under 18 will
have a red background. Those between
the ages of 18 and 21 will be issued a license with a blue background. The licenses will enable retail clerks to
determine at a glance whether customers are of legal age to purchase tobacco
and alcohol.
Texas
One hundred teenagers from all
over Texas gathered at the Capitol on February 8th in their “Up in
Smoke” campaign, to ask lawmakers to dedicate more of the state’s tobacco
settlement fund to tobacco prevention.
The youth want to expand the state’s successful pilot tobacco prevention
program to include the entire state.
West Virginia
West Virginia
University is reaching youth through communicating tailored anti-tobacco
messages in hospital emergency waiting rooms.
Counselors from the
university’s departments of community medicine and emergency medicine will
target an estimated 2000 teen smokers ages 14-19. Teens who are counseled will
receive a self-help workbook to take home. The workbook to be developed by West
Virginia University will parallel the American Lung Association’s Not On
Tobacco (NOT) program. The successful
NOT program was developed at the university. The study is operating on a four
year grant of about $1.4 million from DHHS, Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality.
For more information,
contact Dr. Kimberly Horn, Director of
the Office of Drug Abuse Intervention Studies at khorn@hsc.wvu.edu
Utah
The
“Tobacco Wall of Truth” was displayed at the Utah State Capitol on Utah Public
Health Day, February 8th. The 8 ft by
40 ft display was created to encourage legislators to spend more time
considering public health issues. The
Wall contained more than 100 drawings and letters from public school children
urging both people to quit smoking and the legislature to support anti-tobacco
programs. The wall will be moved around
the state, put on display mainly in shopping malls.
For more information, contact Joy M. Erickson, Director of
Advocacy and Communication at the American Heart Association, at 801-484-3838
or joye@heart.org.
Vermont
Four hundred 5th-8th graders, representing 40 school
groups throughout Vermont gathered in Montpelier on February 7th for
a rally at Montpelier High School. The
students then marched to the Statehouse in the March Against Tobacco and met
with the Governor, legislators and Health Commissioner Dr. Jan K. Carney. The students presented the latest findings
from “Operation Store Front” for compliance checks. Of the 171 stores surveyed around the state, 15 percent had
illegal self-service tobacco displays and 27 percent placed tobacco near candy. The survey was intended to make students
aware that their age group is targeted by the tobacco industry and turn them
into anti-tobacco advocates.
The students represented Vermont Kids Against Tobacco (VKAT), which is a growing movement of middle-school age kids devoted to keeping themselves and their peers tobacco-free. VKATs groups are supported by the Vermont Department of Health's Tobacco Control program.
For more information, contact Christine Bourque, Youth Tobacco
Control Specialist, at 802-865-7706 or cbourqu@vdh.state.vt.us.
The Great Lakes Naval Training Center, where more
than 50,000 recruits join at the Navy's sole recruit training center, operates
a health education program entitled R.E.A.C.H. or Recruit Education to Achieve
Health. Navy Captain Larry Williams and
Commander John McGinley lead efforts of the seventy military and civilian
dentists to deliver evening
anti-tobacco lectures to recruits who are finishing their eight-week training
program. During these eight weeks,
recruits are prohibited from smoking.
Smoking aboard ships is limited to certain areas, mostly outdoors. Some submarines are limited to non-smoking
crews.
Delaware
The Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) has
contracted with Optum to provide a toll-free quitline, QuitPower, for
Delawarans. The quitline is Delaware’s first major project funded by DPH’s
portion of the Master Tobacco Settlement. Callers, serviced by trained tobacco
specialists, will be offered several options of support such as educational
materials, online resources and interpersonal support sessions. Face-to-face
counseling will be available from trained pharmacists, recruited by the
Delaware Pharmacists Society and certified in tobacco cessation through the
University of Pittsburgh. In conjunction with QuitPower, DPH also will be
providing a voucher program to help low-income residents gain access to
effective pharmaceutical smoking-cessation aids. QuitPower is being advertised through a media campaign.
For more information, contact Fred Gatto, Tobacco Program Manager, at 302-739-4724 or
fgatto@state.de.us.
Minnesota
A toll-free telephone tobacco
cessation referral and counseling line will be in operation by April 30th. The quitline will be funded through settlement dollars. The Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco (MPAAT), a
non-profit established through the Minnesota settlement, has contracted with
Group Health Cooperative, a Seattle managed care organization, to provide the
service for two years for up to $1 million. The quitline will be coordinated
with Minnesota health plans; members
will be transferred to cessation services provided by their health plan. Services include a free Quit Kit and a
series of proactive phone calls timed to typical relapse points.
For more information, contact Howard Epstein, Intervention Program Officer, at 651-312-3912.
New York
Also, Monroe County introduced an innovative and
free cessation tool for teens from between the ages of 14 and 18 on the Web
site http://www.GottaQuit.com. The county's $500,000 anti-smoking campaign,
including the website, advertising campaign and hotline, is being paid for with
master settlement dollars. The site
includes a coaching center offering instant message counseling to stop smoking
and daily e-mail reminders of the deadline the kids have set for
themselves. Smoking cessation coaches
work out of the University of Rochester Medical Center. The county is advertising use of the
cessation site through TV/radio/print ads.
Vermont
Vermont launched a
toll-free statewide quitline on February 16, funded with settlement
dollars. The Quit Line is operated 24
hours a day, 365 days a year, by the American Cancer Society’s National Cancer
Information Center in Austin, Texas.
Vermonters will get personal help in the form of factual information,
quitting strategies, a series of phone counseling sessions and referrals to
local services.
The Vermont Department of Health is working
with the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems to bring smoking
cessation classes to more communities around the state and to make nicotine
patches available to Vermont’s uninsured and VHAP insured populations.
OTHER NEWS
FDA legislation
Senator Lincoln
Chafee (R-RI), Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Senator Bob Graham (D-FL) introduced
bipartisan legislation to give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the
authority to regulate tobacco products and curb marketing to youth. Under the legislation, nicotine would be
classified as a drug and tobacco products as drug delivery devices. The FDA would be allowed to implement a
"public health" standard in its review and regulation of tobacco
products and authorize the federal government to ban cigarette vending
machines. In addition, the legislation
would set limits of tobacco advertising, such as a ban on all outdoor ads
within 1,000 feet if schools and playgrounds.
The Supreme Court
ruled last year that the FDA had overstepped its authority in 1996 when it
issued curbs on cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. It made clear that the authority lies within Congress.
A poll conducted for
the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids last year shows that, by a three to one
margin (75 percent to 22 percent), voters want Congress to pass a bill that
would give the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products. This support
crosses all geographic, demographic, gender, and political lines, with
majorities of voters in every region, age bracket, income group, education
level and political party favoring FDA regulation.