May/June 2002
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
– Tobacco Industry
b
Arizona
Fifty-three percent of voters in Tempe approved a ban on smoking in public places, including restaurants and bars, on May 22, 2002. The ban went into effect May 31, 2002.
For more information, contact Brenda Flattum,
Arizona Tobacco Education and Prevention Program, at 602-364-0839.
Connecticut
Connecticut Governor John Rowland signed legislation which bans smoking in dorms at all five state university and college. Enforcement is left up to each university.
Delaware
Governor Ruth Ann Minner signed legislation that bans smoking from most indoor public places, including restaurants and bars. The comprehensive clean indoor air act goes into effect November 27, 2002. It is one of the most comprehensive clean indoor laws in the country, along with California. Twelve days after the governor signed the legislation, a state legislator introduced a bill, which would weaken the clean indoor law by allowing smoking in bars, taverns, taprooms, casinos, and racetracks.
Iowa
Beginning July 1, 2002, tobacco will be banned at Newton school events. The Newton Community School District Board of Education recently approved the second reading of a smoke and tobacco-free policy at its monthly meeting. Over a dozen high school members of the anti-tobacco group Breath of Fresh Air gained support for a policy banning all uses of tobacco at school district facilities and grounds, owned or used by the district, regardless of whether school is in session. The policy does not provide for designating smoking areas at events open to the public.
For more information, contact Keven Arrowsmith, Information Specialist, Iowa Department of Public Health, at 515-281-4768 or karrowsm@idph.state.ia.us.
Kansas
The Salina County Commission has delayed implementation of the city-wide clean indoor air ordinance due to opposition from the Coalition for Reasonable People. The group is collecting petition signatures to repeal the ban. With enough signatures, the ban will be placed on the August 6, 2002 ballot. In May 2002, the Salina County Commissioners approved a city-wide ordinance to ban smoking in Salina restaurants between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. A restaurant is defined as having 11 or more seats with more than 30 percent of business coming from food. Bingo halls, bowling alleys and private clubs are exempt, but truck stops are included.
For more information,
contact Julia Francisco, Kansas Tobacco Use Prevention Program Director, at
316-337-6050.
Michigan
In May 2002, the Michigan Supreme Court would not hear the City of Marquette’s appeal of a the Michigan Court of Appeals decision which struck down the city’s clean indoor ordinance. In doing so, the court left the ruling intact, which states that the ordinance was preempted by state law.
To view the Court of Appeals decision or an analysis
from the Smoke-Free Environments Law Project, go to http://www.tcsg.org/sfelp/home.htm.
Missouri
Breathe Easy Springfield Coalition is working with area pediatricians to identify those patients whose caregivers are smokers and to educate them on secondhand smoke issues. This is part of an ongoing project by the Smoke-Free Homes and Cars Campaign. Smoke-free Homes and Cars magnets have been distributed to approximately 35 pediatricians as reminders to talk to their patients’ caregivers. Magnets are also given to the caregivers as reminders not to smoke around their children. In addition, approximately 895 letters were mailed to Springfield area childcare facilities asking for their participation in a voluntary campaign where participants agree to prohibit smoking in all areas of the facility. Currently, over 300 facilities are participating in the program. Once completed, a list of the participants will be submitted to Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies and made available to parents seeking a smokefree childcare facility. The program will also provide a kit with educational materials for providers, parents, and children.
In addition, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen passed an ordinance that prohibits smoking in all city owned buildings, as well as buildings occupied, but not owned, by the city.
For
more information, contact Jim McDonald, Missouri Tobacco Control Program, at mcdonj@dhss.state.mo.us.
Montana
Sixty-one percent of voters in Helena upheld the clean indoor air ordinance, which bans smoking in public places including restaurants, bars, and casinos. It is the strictest policy in Montana. The Helena City Council originally passed the ordinance by a 4 to 1 vote in June 2001. An opposition group formed and collected enough signatures to put the ordinance on the ballot.
Nevada
The Clark County Commission approved two advisory ballot measures for November 2002. One measure asks whether smoking should be banned in public places, including restaurants, and the second measure asks whether preemption should be reversed, allowing localities to pass legislation regarding tobacco.
Texas
In May 2002, 64 percent of Lubbock voters upheld an
ordinance that banned smoking in public places such as restaurants. The ordinance, passed by the Lubbock City
Council in July 2001, was challenged by members of the Libertarian party who
gathered enough signatures to put the issue on the May 2002 ballot.
In June 2002, the Waco City Council passed a clean indoor air ordinance by a 4 to 1 vote. The ordinance restricts smoking in public places, including restaurants. Smoking sections must be in separate rooms, with separate ventilation. Smoking is permitted in restaurants from 10pm to 2am. In addition, restaurants with fewer than eight employees and other business with less than 15 employees are exempt.
Wyoming
Campbell County Memorial Hospital, located in
Gillette, has once again shown its leadership in the community by passing a
comprehensive motion to eliminate secondhand smoke from its campus. The motion
was passed by the board of trustees on May 23, 2002, and will go into effect
January 1, 2003. The motion was approved after an employee interview was
conducted and the results showed an overwhelming support for a tobacco free
campus. The motion, which passed with a majority of 5 to 1, will also provide
cessation programs for employees interested in quitting.
For more information, contact Janell
Uhler, Campell County Tobacco Prevention Project Coordinator, at 307-685-3027.
Florida
Florida Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT)
launched “Out Of The Air” campaign to raise awareness on the dangers of
secondhand smoke during the Teen Tobacco Summit 5, held June 19-22, 2002 in
Clearwater, Florida. The campaign features television commercials starring
Florida native Victoria Jackson, a former Saturday Night Live comedienne, and
Ken Babel, a Florida actor.
For more information on the youth summit, go to http://www.nosmoking.fsu.edu/teensummit5/index.htm
Michigan
The Michigan Tobacco-Free College Initiative was
launched in Winter 2002. To date, trainings for college students and advisors
on "Steps on Working Towards a Tobacco-Free Campus" have been
conducted in the Upper Peninsula and at a regional Bacchus and Gamma conference
in Saginaw. The goal of the initiative is to conduct regional trainings, as
well as provide technical assistance and resources to Michigan colleges and
universities interested in making their campuses
tobacco-free. As an additional networking
channel, a statewide Listserv has been developed for college students and
advisors involved in the initiative.
The Michigan Tobacco Control Program is currently working on a cessation
guide for college students.
For more information, contact Mikelle Whitt, Program
Manager, Michigan Tobacco Control Program, at whittm@michigan.gov.
Nebraska
On
the weekend of April 12-14, 2002, Nebraska teens came together for a youth
summit and launched the "No Limits" youth empowerment campaign. Youth representing 34 communities learned
about the tobacco industry's deceptive marketing and started to plan a
Nebraska-based counter-attack. Of the
186 youth attending, 34 percent had used tobacco in the past, including 9
percent who were current or former tobacco users. Forty-nine percent of the participants were Caucasian and 51
percent were minorities, including 18 percent who were Native American. The
summit also launched the "No Limits" road tour. Through the spring and summer, "No
Limits" will take its message across the state with a road tour stopping
at local teen hangouts. The “No Limits”
website features a message board, youth generated local activity ideas, photos,
and a link to request a road tour stop at community events.
In
addition, Tobacco Free Nebraska (TFN) will sponsor three rodeos this summer in
an effort to educate on the dangers of chewing tobacco. Sponsorships include display of the TFN
banner, placement of ads in programs and some external publications, and
display of the TFN logo and link from the event's web site. TFN is also working on a media campaign
focusing on the dangers of chewing tobacco that will feature Nebraska’s head
baseball coach, Dave Van Horn. Focus
groups with 6th and 8th graders were recently conducted, and a future focus
group with high school aged youth is planned.
The ads will air in the summer 2002.
For more information, contact Monica Pribil, Tobacco
Free Nebraska, at or 402-471-2101 or monica.pribil@hhss.state.ne.us.
New Mexico
The Santa Fe County Commission unanimously passed a youth access ordinance to place all tobacco products behind the counter in retail stores in May 2002.
South Carolina
The South Carolina Department of
Health and Environment Control is sponsoring a youth-led tobacco prevention
movement, Rage Against The Haze.
The initial phase utilized radio and television ads to launch a
statewide media campaign. The second
phase took Rage on the road via a mobile marketing tour to recruit and
educate other teens. Rage youth and MTV celebrities were involved. Phase three was the Virtual RAGE
involving an interactive website. The final phase will bring Rage Against
the Haze to the Teen Institute, a weeklong youth summit, where over 100
young people from all over South Carolina will learn about leadership, peer
education, viral marketing, street marketing, advocating and planning the
future of Rage Against the Haze.
The battle cry is one that all South Carolinians know and
recognize: Dum Spiro Spero, which is
the state motto, “While I breathe, I hope.”
For more information, contact
Sharon Biggers, South Carolina Tobacco Control Program, at 803-898-0926.
Washington
The Department of Health’s “Unfiltered Forum” ran on statewide prime time television in early June 2002. The special consisted of segments of “Unfiltered,” a reality show about teens trying to quit smoking that runs on the department’s youth Web site Outrageavenue.com, followed by discussion among a group of teens in the studio. The “Unfiltered Forum” was produced by Seattle television station KOMO under contract with the Department of Health. KOMO promoted the forum by dedicating the full hour of its afternoon talk show, “Northwest Afternoon,” to further discussion with teen panelists, cast members of “Unfiltered,” and state Secretary of Health Mary Selecky.
For more information, contact Susan Zemek,
Washington Department of Health, at 360-236-3634 or susan.zemek@doh.wa.gov.
West Virginia
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) launched a youth-run, anti-tobacco movement called “RAZE: Tear Down the Lies.” Teens throughout the state worked with thembcgroup, DHHR's ad agency, to create the teen brand and advertising campaign. Two television ads were launched on May 13, 2002 and ran for 5 weeks as a part of RAZE. One ad focuses on the ingredients found in smokeless tobacco and the "4,200" ad highlights the number of West Virginians that die each year due to tobacco-related illnesses. RAZE is on the road this summer during the RAZE Summer Hummer tour and spreading its tobacco prevention message by visiting various in-state summer events. A teen summit will be held in August 2002.
For
more information, go to the RAZE web site at www.razewv.com.
Wisconsin
West Milwaukee Middle School students, in cooperation with the West Allis-West Milwaukee Tobacco Free Coalition, created an anti-tobacco magazine called "No Butts About It". The magazine contains student ideas on nicotine, addiction, secondhand smoke, tobacco laws, chewing tobacco, etc. and will be distributed to other middle school students and sixth grade elementary students in the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District.
For
a free copy of the magazine, contact Pat Sikorski at
psikorski@ci.west-allis.wi.us with your name and address. Quantities are limited.
Nebraska
The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska has launched a media campaign targeting Native American youth. The Native American smoking rate in Nebraska is nearly 58 percent, more than double the percentage of Nebraska adults who smoke. Billboards, movie theater ads, and a poster have been developed featuring Native American youth. Tobacco Free Nebraska, the statewide tobacco prevention program, is also reproducing the poster for use by all Nebraska tribes.
For more information, contact Monica Pribil,
Tobacco Free Nebraska, at or 402-471-2101 or monica.pribil@hhss.state.ne.us.
Iowa
"Quitline Iowa", Iowa's tobacco cessation
telephone hotline, helped almost 1,700 tobacco users quit during a three-month
span from January to March, 2002.
For more information, contact Keven Arrowsmith,
Information Specialist, Iowa Department of Public Health, 515-281-4768, or
e-mail, at karrowsm@idph.state.ia.us.
Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health
launched “QuitWorks,” a cessation program involving major health plans and
7,000 doctors. The program provides health care providers across the state with a simple turn-key approach to
treating their patients who smoke by linking them to the state’s full range of
effective tobacco treatment resources, including the state quitline, referrals
to community tobacco treatment services, and follow up to support the quit
attempt. Each doctor in the “QuitWorks”
network has access to the “QuitWorks”
kit, which contains all the tools a health care provider needs
including office systems tools, guidance referral forms and patient educational
information. “Quitworks” is the result
of a partnership between the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Blue
Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Boston Medical Center/HealthNet Plan,
Fallon Community Health Plan, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, MassHealth,
Neighborhood Health Plan, Network Health and Tufts Health Plan.
Missouri
The Kansas City Health Department launched a radio
and cable television media campaign urging listeners to quit smoking because of
the adverse health affects that smoking can have. Approximately 300 calls requesting stop smoking kits were
received over a six-week period.
Barnes Jewish Community Outreach and Youth Development is offering an eight-class cessation program to schools in the St. Louis area. During the 2002 spring semester 91 students were enrolled with a 54 percent quit rate.
Approximately 50 health educators from Kansas City,
St. Louis, and Northeast Missouri have been trained in the American Lung
Association’s Freedom from Smoking Cessation Program. The cessation programs will be implemented in schools, local
county health departments, factories, and other businesses to offer cessation
classes to their employees.
For
more information, contact Jim McDonald, Missouri Tobacco Control Program, at mcdonj@dhss.state.mo.us.
New Mexico
The New Mexico Medical Society and New Mexico Department of Health have operated a Clinical Prevention Initiative since 2000. Tobacco avoidance and cessation services in the medical and dental office setting are one
of the high priority topics. A handbook/continuing education program, exam room reference, and integrated patient education materials have been distributed to over 900 providers. Over 20 introductory educational sessions have been given to individual practices and professional meetings. New modules on motivational interviewing and oral tobacco use are under development. Materials are pragmatic and have been "reality-tested."
To
view materials, go to http://www.nmms.org
and click on CPI.
For
more information, contact Richard Kozoll, at 505-289-3326 or lospinos@unm.edu.
Washington
Because more smokers quit successfully when urged by
their doctors, local tobacco prevention programs are visiting doctors to ask
them to refer their patients to the statewide tobacco quit line. Local programs
provide doctors, dentists, and other health care providers with posters,
business cards, cardholders, and note cubes, listing the quit line number. The
materials are designed for use specifically by health care professionals, and are
provided by the state Department of Health. Additionally, representatives of
GlaxoSmithKline market the statewide quit line to doctors during their sales
visits. To avoid duplication of effort, representatives coordinate their
voluntary marketing of the quit line with local efforts.
For
further information, contact Tamatha Thomas-Haase at (360) 236-3722 or tamatha.thomashaase@doh.wa.gov.
Wisconsin
Through the Wisconsin Senior Patch Program, smokers aged 65 and older, who call the Wisconsin Tobacco Quitline, will receive free nicotine patches, in addition to counseling. The program will run from May 2002 to December 2002, or until supplies run out. The program is in response to the high number of seniors who call the Wisconsin Tobacco Quitline and the lack of coverage for services (Medicare does not cover smoking cessation therapies or counseling). The initiative is sponsored by the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, the Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation, The Wisconsin Tobacco Control Board and the Wisconsin Tobacco Quitline.
For
more information, go the factsheet online at http://www.ctri.wisc.edu/main_dept/outreach/senior%20patch%20fs.pdf.
Example of a State Training
A “Community of Excellence in Tobacco Control Plus”
training sponsored by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services,
American Cancer Society, the Tobacco Technical Assistance Consortium, and the
Missouri Department of Mental Health was held June 12-13, 2002 in Jefferson
City. This “Train the Trainer” Workshop
was designed to help conduct effective tobacco use prevention planning at the
community level by providing skills to facilitate/deliver technical assistance
in the assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation of evidenced-based
tobacco use prevention for planning teams comprised of staff from local public
health agencies, schools, community agencies, organizations, coalitions, and
others working to reduce tobacco use.
For more information,
contact Jim McDonald, Missouri Tobacco Control Program, at mcdonj@dhss.state.mo.us.
Southwest
Border Issues
In 2003, Mexico will ban all tobacco advertising on radio and television as part of a campaign to reduce smoking in the country. Other tobacco control measures include a gradual elimination of cigarette sales in pharmacies and placement of health warnings on the front of cigarette packs, instead of on the side of packs. The tobacco control initiatives were announced on the World Health Organization's annual World No Tobacco Day.
Staffing Changes
Cathy Callaway,
Director of the Iowa Department of Public Health’s Division of Tobacco Use
Prevention and Control, has accepted a position as Project Manager for the
Special Opportunities Grant Program at the SmokeLess States National Program
Office in Chicago. Cathy will begin her duties there on July 1, 2002.
Priority Populations Grants
On May 21, 2002, the American
Legacy Foundation announced the grant recipients for tobacco prevention among
racial/ethnic minorities or underserved populations, known as priority
populations. This second round of
funding included $10.5 million in grants to 49 organizations in 29 states.
For more information about
the Legacy Priority Populations Program and to view grant recipients, go to http://www.americanlegacy.org/section.asp?Page=15.
Snapshot Update on Tobacco
Excise Tax
·
California Governor Gray Davis supports a $0.50 increase in the cigarette excise
tax, with revenue dedicated to the general fund. State tobacco control advocates are encouraging the state to pass
a $0.65 increase, with $0.15 dedicated to the state tobacco control program.
·
The
Hawaii state Legislature approved a graduated cigarette excise tax, which
would increase the tax from $1.00 to $1.20 in October 2002. The tax would increase to $1.30 in 2003 and
$1.40 in 2004. The legislation includes
a sunset clause in which the tax would revert to $1.00 in 2006. Funds are dedicated to the general fund. Governor Cayetano has not yet signed the
legislation.
·
Illinois Governor George Ryan signed legislation, which increases the cigarette
excise tax by $0.40, to total $0.98.
Revenue will be deposited into the general fund. The increase goes into effect July 1, 2002.
·
Kansas Governor Bill Graves signed legislation which increases the cigarette
excise tax on a graduated basis. On
July 1, 2002, the excise tax will increase from $0.24 to $0.70. An additional $0.09 will be added as of
January 1, 2003, for a total of $0.79.
The tax is part of a $252 million revenue enhancement package geared to
taking care of part of the state's budgetary crisis. This is the first cigarette excise tax increase passed since
1985.
·
Pennsylvania Governor Mike Schweiker proposed a $0.69 increase in the cigarette
excise tax, to total $1.00, and also to tax smokeless tobacco for the first
time. A public opinion poll found that
75 percent of Pennsylvania voters support a $1.00 increase in the cigarette
excise tax in an effort to reduce tobacco use.
·
Ohio
Governor Bob Taft signed a bill to balance the budget, which included a $0.31
increase in the cigarette excise tax and a three percent increase in the state
minimum price of cigarettes. One
percent will go to the wholesalers and two percent to the retailers. The effective increase is approximately
$0.37/pack, to total $0.61. Revenue will be dedicated to the general fund.
·
Two
Texas state Senators have announced their intention to introduce
legislation which would increase the cigarette excise tax from $0.41 to
$1.41. The legislature reconvenes in
January 2003. A public opinion poll
found that 70 percent of Texas voters support a $1.00 per pack increase in the
state's cigarette tax, with part of the revenue dedicated to a program to
reduce tobacco use and another part of the revenue used to help address the state's
budget shortfall.
· Vermont Governor Howard Dean signed legislation, which increases the cigarette excise tax by $0.75 over two years. The tax will rise from the current $0.44 to $0.93 in July 2002, and then to $1.13 in July 2003. Generated funds will be dedicated to health care programs for the poor and disabled.
Snapshot
Update on State Tobacco Control Funding for FY 2003
·
The Alaska Tobacco Prevention Program will
receive $5 million in settlement funds according to the proposed FY 2003
budget. Governor Knowles has not signed
the bill yet. The CDC minimum
investment for Alaska is $8 million.
·
California Governor Gray Davis’s 2002-2003 budget proposed a $60 million cut to
the California Tobacco Control Section.
This includes a $35 million cut for local programs targeting high school
and college-age population. The CDC
minimum investment for California is $165 million.
·
Florida’s final FY 2003 budget includes
$39.1 million for the Florida state tobacco control program. Program funding had been cut to $29.8
million in FY2002. The CDC minimum
investment for Florida is $78 million.
·
Illinois Tobacco Free Communities, the statewide tobacco prevention program,
had funding cut for FY 2003 from $46 million to $12 million. The CDC minimum investment for Illinois is
$64 million.
·
The
finalized FY 2003 budget cuts the Iowa Division of Tobacco Use
Prevention and Control from $9.3 million to $5 million. Funding for the
division’s high profile anti-tobacco ads was cut to $966,000 from $3.3
million. The CDC minimum investment for Iowa is $19.3
million.
·
The
Alliance for a Healthy Montana, a coalition of health organizations, is
sponsoring Initiative 146, which would dedicate $9.1 million or 49 percent of
settlement funds to the statewide tobacco prevention program. $4.9 million would be allocated for health
insurance for children and low-income individuals. Advocates must collect over 20,000 signatures by June 21, 2002
for the initiative to appear on the November 2002 ballot. The CDC minimum
investment for Montana is $9 million.
·
Minnesota legislators adjourned on May 20, 2001 having, for the second year in a
row, maintained the endowment that funds the Minnesota Youth Tobacco Prevention
Initiative. Minnesota funds its Youth
Tobacco Prevention Initiative using 5 percent of the fair market value of an
endowment, valued at roughly $521 million, which was established with a portion
of Minnesota’s 1998 settlement with the tobacco industry.
Throughout most of the
session, some legislators viewed the tobacco endowment as a funding source to
help balance the state’s $2 billion deficit.
One proposal would have used nearly $350 million from the endowment
making it nearly impossible to maintain grants to populations with tobacco
related health disparities, organizations providing statewide technical
support, and Minnesota’s Target Market campaign. However, in the end, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH),
tobacco control partner organizations and public health professionals across
the state made a strong case for keeping the endowment intact so that
Minnesota’s youth tobacco prevention efforts could continue.
Legislators did make the changes to the endowment that make the principle of the endowment available for borrowing to address the state’s cash-flow needs. The measures adopted stipulate that any money borrowed from the endowment must be paid back with interest and that any “outstanding loans” from the endowment will be considered part of the total endowment when the value is set to determine the annual allocation from the endowment.