The
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
November/December 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
– State funding
b
Alaska
A poll commissioned by the Alaska Native Health
Board found public support for the Anchorage smoking ban. A year after the ban’s inception, nearly 80
percent of Alaskans support the ban and almost 22 percent patronize restaurants
more because they are smoke-free. Only 6.8 percent of respondents said that
they stopped going to some restaurants as much because they went smoke-free.
For more information, contact Annette Marley, MPH, at the Trampling Tobacco Project, Alaska Native Health Board, at 907-743-6110.
Arizona
The Oro Valley Town Council voted in favor of overturning an ordinance, which would give restaurants the choice of becoming smoke-free. Smoking will be banned in all restaurants, unless they provide areas for smokers separated by physical barriers with separate ventilation systems.
Arkansas
Governor Bob Holden rejected the Arkansas Board of Health’s statewide restaurant smoking ban. The proposed ban was passed by the state Board of Health by a 15 to 4 vote on October 25, 2001. The ban was to affect restaurants with more than 70 percent of revenue from food sales. It exempted bars, bowling alleys and restaurant patios.
Colorado
Two Colorado communities approved banning smoking in
public places, through voter referendums.
Fifty-six percent of residents in Alamosa approved Referendum 2F, which bans smoking in all public
places, excluding bars. The Alamosa
City Council banned smoking by a 4 to 3 vote in September 2001.
Voters in Montrose
upheld a 7-month old smoking ban by a 60 percent vote. The ban was originally passed in April
2001.
Minnesota
Sixty percent of
voters in Duluth rejected a ballot initiative to repeal the city's smokefree
ordinance enacted by its City Council earlier this year. Duluth voters also approved amendments to
strengthen the smokefree ordinance by removing exemptions and holding business
owners responsible for enforcement.
The Olmsted Board of County Commissioners (which
includes Rochester, MN) passed a smoke-free restaurant ordinance in November
2001. The ordinance exempts bars. Bars are defined as establishments with more
than 50 percent of total revenue derived from alcoholic beverages.
To view the ordinance, go to http://www.olmstedcounty.com/publichealth/Smoke%20Free%20Ord%20Adopted%2011-13-01.htm
In addition, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has published a set of proposed changes to state rules that govern smoking in public places and places of work, and opened a 30-day period for public comment on the new rules. The proposed changes would affect restaurants, hotels and motels, retail stores and worksites. Among the proposed changes, new restaurants would choose to either go completely smoke free, or physically separate smoking sections.
For more information, go to http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/aialr/iair/mciaarule/index.html.
Missouri
Communities in Missouri are busy working on secondhand smoke initiatives. Two restaurants in St. Louis became smokefree this fall on a voluntary basis. In addition, the Springfield coalition continues to proceed with their smoke-free dining campaign. Since publishing a "smoke-free honor roll" of smoke free restaurants, several additional establishments became smoke-free and will be included on the next honor roll. One particular restaurant went smoke-free and "has not noticed any decline in business" according to the general manager. The Coalition worked with the local media and the public to recognize this restaurant during the Great American Smokeout.
For more information, contact Lori Buchanan, Missouri Depart. of Health and Human Services, buchal@dhss.state.mo.us.
Ohio
Bowling Green residents
voted to ban smoking in public places by a 62 percent vote. The ban exempts
restaurants with completely enclosed bar areas that are designated as smoking
rooms, as well as bars that derive less than 35 percent of their annual gross
income from the sale of food. The
regulation went into effect November 25,2001.
West Virginia
The Cabell-Huntington Board of Health unanimously passed a smoking ban in public places, including restaurants, restaurants with outdoor patios, sports arenas (including bowling alleys), and offices. The ban exempts bars, which are defined as an establishment with more than 80 percent of revenue from alcoholic beverages. The ban goes into effect January 11, 2002.
For more information, contact the Cabell-Huntington Health Department at 304-532-6483.
Wisconsin
The Madison City Council voted 13 to 5 to ban smoking in
private workplaces. The ordinance goes
into effect March 1, 2002. Small
businesses will have to comply by December 31, 2002. Bars, hotels, motels and outdoor workplaces are exempt from the
ordinance. Current regulations ban
smoking in restaurants.
Florida
The Florida Department of Health launched the new “truth” commercial in
40 AMC Movie Theaters on 640 screens throughout the state. The 2-minute commercial, “Focus on the
Positive” featured dancing tobacco executives asking teens to be more positive
about the tobacco industry in a spoof that exposes Big Tobacco for deceiving
the public. Participating theaters
aired the commercial during the months of November and December 2001 and
promoted the campaign with tobacco trivia movie screen slides. “Truth trucks,” a mobile lounge that gives
youth a place to hang out, play video games and receive free truth T- shirts
and other gear, made stops at the theaters. A one-minute version of the
commercial aired on television commercials in November.
To view the new commercial, go to http://www.wholetruth.com/focus.
Maine
Results from Maine’s 2001 Youth Risk Behavior Survey
found that tobacco use among Maine’s high school students has declined a
dramatic 36 percent since 1997, falling from 39.2 percent to 25 percent.
Minnesota
Just over a year after the
Minnesota Youth Tobacco Prevention Initiative came online, two survey’s
released this past fall are exciting indicators that Initiative efforts are indeed
having a positive impact on Minnesota youth.
The surveys, the Target Market campaign evaluation and the 2001
Minnesota Student Survey, suggest that for the first time in almost a decade,
youth tobacco use in Minnesota is on the way down.
The September release of a
survey evaluation of the Target Market media campaign indicated that
Minnesota’s Youth Tobacco Prevention Initiative, of which Target Market is a
part, changing attitudes and impacting youths’ decisions around tobacco
use. The survey, conducted by the Twin
Cities-based Market Solutions, showed that 93 percent of Minnesota teens are
aware of advertising about tobacco companies manipulating teens, Target
Market’s central message, and that 87 percent of Minnesota teens are aware of
Target Market specifically. Awareness,
the survey showed, has translated into changes in attitudes and behaviors as
well. Eighty-six percent of the one
thousand Minnesota teens who participated in the phone survey said that they
now felt they have the power to fight back against the tobacco industry. In comparing a pre-test done before the
Target Market campaign began in 2000 and one conducted in June 2001, the survey
reported a 25 percent drop in the number of teens who had used tobacco in the
last 21 days.
Two months later, the release of the Minnesota Department of Children Families and Learning’s Minnesota Student Survey confirmed the trend and provided yet another indication that Initiative funded activities in schools and on the community level are doing exactly what they were designed to do. Youth smoking, as reported in the Student Survey, dipped to levels as low or lower than they have ever been since the survey began asking about tobacco use in 1992. After skyrocketing by a third or more between 1992-98, tobacco use among ninth and 12th graders dropped 38 and 16 percent, respectively, between 1998 and 2001. When compared with the Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey conducted in the winter of 2000, before Initiative activities began, the ninth grade data suggests that while tobacco use decreased by 18 percent over two pre-Initiative years between 1998 and 2000, it dropped an even more dramatic 24 percent in just the first year of the Initiative impacting.
Minnesota’s Youth Tobacco
Prevention Initiative is a broad-based multi-strategy approach to decreasing
youth tobacco use in Minnesota. The
Initiative combines a counter-marketing and advertising campaign documenting
the activity of the Target Market youth movement with community level activity
to change the social context around tobacco use. Grantees focus on youth access, secondhand smoke, in-school
education, youth development and linking Minnesota youth to cessation
options. The Initiative is administered
by the Minnesota Department of Health and is part of a larger comprehensive
plan that is emerging from MDH’s partnership with other organizations including
the Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco.
While no survey can predict
with any certainty what will happen in the future, they do give us a better
view of the road ahead. One of the
things that these surveys demonstrate is that youth smoking rates are volatile
and highly responsive to the social climate and context. Early success with ninth grade students, for
example, will require a sustained effort to “make it stick” as they grow older
and become tomorrow’s 11th and 12th graders. At the same time a whole new group of youth
will age into the Initiative’s 12-17 year old targeted audience. Just as the presence of Initiative activities
in schools and communities throughout the state has helped to bring rates back
down, their absence may well be an invitation to higher rates that undo these
initial successes. So, while the news
of these surveys is good, and its fair to anticipate more good news with next
Fall’s release of the second Youth Tobacco Survey, it comes with the cautionary
note that there is still much to do.
To view the Minnesota Youth
Tobacco Survey, go to http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/chs/data/youthtob.pdf
To view the 2001 Minnesota Student Survey, go to http://cfl.state.mn.us/studentsurvey/.
Missouri
The St. Louis Steamers Soccer Team presented, “Real
Athletes Don’t Use Tobacco” at 18 schools, reaching approximately 7,500
students. The Steamers teach other
youth about the dangers of tobacco use and that it isn’t “cool to smoke or
chew.”
Northwest Missouri State University was honored
during a pre-game at their November 10, 2001 football game in honor of their
new smoke-free residence hall policy.
The University announced last spring that their residence halls would
become smoke-free for the fall 2001 school year.
The Northeast Cancer Control Coalition’s Smokebusters sponsored four “Busting Big Tobacco” youth trainings for area high school youth. The trainings involved over 220 youth, mentors, and health professionals in the northern region. The focus included interactive educational activities that students can use in their communities, issues on how tobacco affects their lives, how the tobacco companies’ tactics affect youth, and tobacco legislation. Students also wrote letters to their legislators about their concerns for tobacco legislation, and will hand deliver them on the first day of the new session.
For more information, contact Lori Buchanan, Missouri Department of Health and Human Services, at buchal@dhss.state.mo.us.
Nebraska
The Tobacco Free Nebraska program launched a $700,000 media campaign in the beginning on November 2001. The campaign includes ads in newspapers, magazines, billboards, radio, television and movie theaters. One group of ads will target adolescents with a prevention campaign called "Don't even get me started!" while another campaign will target young adults with the theme "Secondhand smoke is a first-rate killer." Approximately 300 children from McPhee Elementary School marched to the capitol, where they were greeted by Lt. Governor Heineman. The children carried a banner saying "Tobacco Free Nebraska," and pledged their support by placing stickers on the banner with their names.
For more information, contact Jean Stillwell, Tobacco Free Nebraska Program, 402-471-2101.
New Jersey
George T. DiFerdinando, Acting
Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS),
urged presidents of New Jersey’s colleges and universities to implement strong
tobacco control policies on their campuses.
Dr. DiFerdinando addressed the New Jersey Council of Presidents at their
regular fall meeting and emphasized results from the New
Jersey Higher Education Consortium Tobacco Social Norms Project. The study, funded by DHSS, tracked trends in
tobacco use by college students and analyzed New Jersey collegiate tobacco
policies. Research revealed most
college students overestimate tobacco use among their peers and underestimate
the health effects associated with smoking.
Dr. DiFerdinando concluded with a four-point call-to-action for the
presidents: First, to appoint a person at every college or university with the
authority to enforce tobacco control policies; second, to create smoke-free
dorms and restrict outdoor smoking to a few areas; third, to prohibit the sale
of tobacco products on campus; and fourth, to promote the cessation services
offered by DHSS to all residents of New Jersey: New Jersey's Quitnet, Quitline
and Quitcenters.
Oregon
The Ashland City Council passed an ordinance that license vendors to sell tobacco products and that increase youth access laws. The ordinance bans all self-service tobacco sales except in places taverns, cocktail lounges, industrial plants and hotels. The new regulation also fines the storeowner for selling tobacco to minors. It imposes fines ranging from $200 to $500 for violations of the ordinance and gives the city authority to revoke licenses for repeated infractions.
Pennsylvania
Smoking will be prohibited at all residence halls at West Chester University in the 2002-03 academic year. Approximately 26 percent of students who opted for smoke-free housing could not obtain it due to demand last year. The university will also promote smoking-cessation programs to students.
Texas
Lubbock City Council decided to put the city’s smoking ban ordinance up to the people in a voter referendum for May 4, 2002. An ordinance has been on the books since 1995. In July 2001, the city council voted to strengthen the ordinance by banning smoking in most public places, including restaurants and bowling alleys. Separate smoking sections with separate ventilation systems were required. A group, the Vote for Freedom Coalition, forced a referendum through a petition drive to return to the 1995 ordinance.
g
Colorado
The Colorado Department of Public Health and
Environment launched a statewide, 24-hour, toll-free quitline at the end of
October 2001. Tailored quitting plans including counseling sessions, with live
counselors, and self-help materials, are available. Callers are referred to local services.
The Department is also offering cessation services via the Internet through the QuitNet. The Web site has expert advice on quitting tailored to individual needs, online support from smokers who are currently quitting, and information on cessation therapies. It also includes a Quit Date Wizard, which calculates how much money and days of life the smoker has saved by quitting tobacco use.
Both services are available in English and Spanish.
For
more information on the Quitline, go to http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/pp/tobacco/quitline.asp.
For more information on the Quitnet, go to http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/pp/tobacco/quitnet.asp or go directly to the Quitnet at www.co.quitnet.com
Georgia
The Georgia Department of Public Health launched a statewide, toll-free Quit Line in November 2001. Callers have access to counselors and educational materials. They are also referred to local stop-smoking clinics.
Maine
The Maine Tobacco HelpLine is the new statewide tobacco treatment
component of the State of Maine's Bureau of Health, Department of Human
Service's Partnership For a Tobacco-Free Maine. Callers to 1-800-207-1230 speak to a trained professional who
assesses the caller's needs, and then connects the caller to a tobacco
treatment specialist who provides ongoing telephone counseling as they try to
quit. The HelpLine serves smokers seeking to end their dependence on tobacco
products as well as friends and family members who want to know how they can
support a family member or friend who is trying to quit. The Maine Tobacco
HelpLine is free and confidential.
"Every Mother's
Wish" is a program to provide support, encouragement and real help to
women of child-bearing age. This
program combines collateral support and outreach to physicians to assist in
getting the message out to
pregnant women who smoke. Coupled
with a media campaign the program encourages women to quit smoking and to stay
tobacco-free for good. Maine's high
rate of quality prenatal care coupled with the new Maine Tobacco HelpLine can
make "every mother's wish come true." By quitting while pregnant, mothers can give their babies a great
start on life, and by staying smoke-free, both mother and baby can enjoy better
health.
For more information, contact
Carol Coles, at Carol.R.Coles@state.me.us.
OTHER NEWS
IndusIndustry News
Philip Morris Companies Inc. announced it will ask
shareholders to approve changing its name to Altria Group, Inc. “According to Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer Geoffrey C. Bible, it is derived from the Latin word ‘altus,’ which
reflects the corporation’s desire for its family of companies to always “reach
higher” in striving to achieve greater financial strength and growth through
operational excellence, consumer brand expertise and a growing understanding of
corporate responsibility. The proposal
to clarify the parent company identity comes two years after a successful
effort to improve the image of the Philip Morris family of companies. Research
indicates that the companies are viewed as changing for the better and becoming
a more responsible corporate citizen, among other indicators of favorable
public opinion.” Philip Morris will ask
shareholders for their approval of the proposed new name at their annual
meeting in April 2002.
In addition, according to ACNielson study “Reaching the Billion Dollar Mark - A Review of Today's Global Brands,” four tobacco brands have a significant global presence (Benson & Hedges, Camel, L&M and Marlboro). The study defined global brands as products that bring in over $1 billion US dollars annually and have a geographic presence in all of the major regions of the world. None of the tobacco products fell in the top 10 products specifically for North America.
For more information, go to http://acnielsen.com/billion.
South Dakota
The South Dakota
Department of Health will pilot 4 comprehensive tobacco control programs at the
community level, which include the towns of Lower Brule, Parkston, Spearfish
and Watertown. The four towns represent
various sizes and geographic areas of the state, as well as its cultural
makeup. This will help the Department of Health evaluate different tobacco
control approaches to find out what is most effective for South Dakota.
Health Care Settings and Periodicals
Without Tobacco Ads
A joint project of The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and the Maryland State Medical Society (MedChi) seeks to collect as many online endorsements as possible for "Health Care Settings and Periodicals Without Tobacco Ads." The project seeks to address tobacco promotional messages in periodicals and health care settings where they undermine cessation and prevention efforts and normalize tobacco use. All advocates and any citizen, regardless of where they live, are requested to answer four questions in the form of a short Endorsement Form. The endorsement can come from individuals or organizations. This new national effort has received media coverage and support from medical societies in other states. The American Medical Association has officially supported this type of approach. The updated annotated list of hundreds of popular periodicals without (and with) tobacco industry ads is now available online.
To view the Endorsement Form, go to www.medchi.org/grants/tobaccoads/main.asp.
For more information, write to tobaccocontrol@earthlink.net.
Excise tax initiatives and successes
Through a voter initiative,
Washington State will have the highest excise tax on cigarettes at $1.425 per
pack, starting January 1, 2001.
Initiative 773 was supported by 64.71% of the voters, according to the Seattle Times.
An analysis on
Initiative 773 by the Economic Opportunity Institute found that the new revenue
will generate $160 million in FY 2003, $159 million in FY 2004 and more than
$155 million in every fiscal year thereafter.
Ten percent of the money would be used for a statewide
anti-tobacco campaign, and 90 percent would go to expand the state's Basic
Health Plan for low-income individuals.
Revenue from the increased tax will fund an additional 50,000 slots for
the Basic Health Plan and will fully fund the state’s tobacco control program. Initiative 773 will save 10,600 kids from
premature death from smoking and will save $630 million in long-term health
spending from avoided tobacco-related health care.
For more information on the
policy brief, go to http://www.eoionline.org/Policy-HealthCare.htm#PolicyBriefs
New Director of the National Cancer
Institute
President Bush
announced the appointment of Andrew C. von Eschenbach, MD as the Director of
the National Cancer Institute, one of the 27 Institutes and Centers comprising
the National Institutes of Health. Dr. von Eschenbach formerly served as
Executive Vice President of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer
Center and as an officer of the American Cancer Society. He was also a major force in establishing
the National Dialogue on Cancer.
For more information,
go to http://newscenter.cancer.gov/pressreleases/AVEappoint.html
University of Maryland School of Law new Legal
Resource Center on Tobacco
On December 11th, 2001, the University of Maryland
School of Law formally announced its new Legal
Resource Center for Tobacco Regulation, Litigation and Advocacy. The Center
will offer legal assistance to communities, community groups, employers, local
governments, and others working on tobacco prevention. During its first year,
the Center will work with the Maryland Attorney General’s office on tobacco
control and also conduct a needs assessment for local governments. Thereafter, the Center will expand its legal
services. The Center was established
with funding from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's Office
of Health Promotion, Education and Tobacco Use Prevention with funds from the
state's tobacco settlement.
For more information, go to http://www.law.umaryland.edu/tobacco.
Call for Abstracts
The American Public Health
Association will be accepting abstracts for the 2002 Annual Meeting until
February 4th or 8th, 2002 (depending on which Section,
Special Interest Group (SPIG) or Caucus you submit to). The meeting will be held in Philadelphia, PA
on November 9-13, 2001.
Abstracts are welcome in any
area of public health and tobacco control, including those that incorporate the
conference theme of "Putting the Public Back into Public
Health."
For more information, go to http://www.apha.org/meetings
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT
– State Funding
Funding for
state-based tobacco control is always a contenious issue. With this year’s budget deficit and Medicaid
shortfalls in the states, it has been a difficult struggle to maintain level
funding in many states. The following
is a snapshot of some of these challenges:
In Arizona, the
state Senate passed a budget which cut $15 million to the state's tobacco
education and prevention program (TEPP).
TEPP is currently funded at $34.5 million/year, by a tobacco excise tax
of which TEPP receives 23 cents from each dollar.
In Florida, Governor Jeb Bush weighed options for a $14.5 million cut (40% cut) to
the program. However the end result was
a 20%, or $7.5 million cut. The next legislative session
meets at the end of January 2002 and a fight is expected again.
In Massachusetts,
the House voted 147-9, and the Senate voted 30-6 to override an $11.1 million
reduction (from $37.8 million to $26.7 million) for the Massachusetts Tobacco
Control Program (MTCP). The
Legislature voted to increase the tobacco prevention budget to $48 million.
In Missouri,
Governor Bob Holden redirected $3.5 million out of the state’s tobacco
prevention program and a total of $63.5 million from the state’s settlement
funds to balance the budget.
In New Jersey,
Acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco froze $486 million of state spending,
including more than half of the state’s $30 million budget for tobacco
prevention. The spending freeze will be
reevaluated in January 2002.
In New York
City, the City Council cut the New York City Tobacco Control Program's
budget in half by $6.5 million.
In Ohio,
the state legislature passed a bill that would borrow $240 million from the Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation
Trust Fund, which funds the Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation. The Legislature plans to repay the trust fund in 2013 and 2014 without interest.
SAVE THE DATE
·
Under Construction: Building a Future for Tobacco-Free Kids
January 6-8, 2002; Jackson, Mississippi. This working conference, sponsored by the Partnership for a Healthy
Mississippi and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, was originally planned for
September 2001 and has been rescheduled for January 2002. It will examine how comprehensive tobacco
programs are developed and implemented in southern states. Workshops will
include opportunities for networking and technical assistance and sessions on
implementing and applying best practices, faith-based programs, youth
prevention, community programs, etc.
For more information, go to http://www.healthy-miss.org.
·
The First National
Hispanic/Latino Conference on Tobacco Control
February 14-15, 2002; Washington, DC. This conference was originally scheduled for September 26-28, 2001. Participants will learn how working with coalitions and networks, along with acquiring the appropriate resources, can be effective tools in the fight against the tobacco industry's targeting of the Latino/Hispanic community. It is sponsored by the National Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention.
For more information, call 202-265-8054 or email lcat@nlcatp.org.
·
6th National
Synar Workshop: A Decade of Progress –
Working Together for Change
March 12-14, 2002; Washington,
DC. Sponsored by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention,
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, this
conference will include useful
information for Substance Abuse Directors, Researchers, Policy Makers, Synar Coordinators and Enforcement Agencies.
FFor Y
FFor Youth
Prevention
· Resource for Colleges and Universities
The BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network produced “Road Rules: Your Travel Guide to a Tobacco Free Campus” under a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Guide shares programming ideas from colleges and universities around the country and provides policy information, including ways to increase smokefree places and cessation on campus. A sample assessment tool and sample marketing materials are included.
For more information,
contact Jan Gascoigne, Director of Health Promotion, at 303.871.0901 or email
at jgascoig@du.edu. To view the Guide, go to http://www.bacchusgamma.org/gaso3_01.asp .
Materials can be ordered
online at http://www.bacchusgamma.org or by calling 352-377-5228.