"By passing
a 70-cent tax increase on cigarettes, the General Assembly will provide much-needed
funds and protect the lives and health of our North Carolina children. Raising
this tax is a slam dunk for North Carolina." Dean Smith
The News and Observer,
June 1, 2003
This event has already occurred.
Come join North Carolina Prevention Partners for what promises
to be an exciting gathering of the cessation community in North Carolina
to celebrate the launch of Quit Now NC! NCPP is expecting 250 health care
providers, managed care and hospital quality and disease management personnel,
tobacco prevention and control, and public health personnel to attend.
The new Quit Now NC! tool kit will be distributed to all. The long-awaited
kit includes information about cessation resources, such as Quit Lines,
Quit web sites, and North Carolina local programs. Clinical and promotional
materials for use in N.C. health care and community settings will help start
the cessation conversation rolling. The day will include a media conference
and exhibits, a general session and break-out workshops.
The workshops are designed to help you do the following:
Set up a cessation network in your workplace or health
setting;
Determine how best to distribute and educate smokers about cessation
resources including Quit Lines, Quit web sites, the counseling
and screening tool, and local programs;
Learn about policies around cessation issues;
Receive clinical and promotional materials for use in N.C. health
care and community settings; and
Explore the latest protocols and recommendations for working with
different smoking population groups.
The conference is sponsored in part by a grant from the March of Dimes
North Carolina Chapter.
The conference is free and lunch will be provided. However, space is limited.
To secure your spot, complete the registration form found at - this event has already occurred..
For questions, please call Kalila Spain at (919) 966-9137 or Melva Fager
Okun at (919) 843-4455.
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27 Tobacco-Free School Systems!
We're on a Roll!
Since the last issue of Voice Box, distributed last month, six more
North Carolina school systems have adopted 100% Tobacco-Free School Policies.
These policies ban all tobacco use on campus and at school-related events
for everyone – students, staff and visitors.
The newest school systems to go tobacco-free include: Asheboro City,
Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Chatham County, Craven County, Jones County and Person
County.
According to Suzanne Depalma, Tobacco-Free Schools Director for the
Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, about 40 school systems are working
on developing similar policies. For information or help on developing your
own tobacco-free school policy, contact Suzanne DePalma at (919) 715-4409
or email.
You can access a list of all the tobacco-free school systems in North Carolina,
with contact information, at NC Tobacco Free Schools.
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N.C. House Chamber Bans Smoking
In a historic moment in North Carolina’s relationship with tobacco,
the N.C. House of Representatives this year banned smoking from its chamber
floor during the current session.
The original, temporary rule was introduced by Rep. Alma Adams (D) (Guilford).
Mrs. Adams serves on the Board of Directors of the American Legacy Foundation,
which was established to fund tobacco prevention work with the national
Master Settlement Agreement with the tobacco companies. The foundation is
responsible for the Truth Campaign.
Rep. Adams quit smoking shortly after being named to help run the foundation,
and did not want to continue being exposed to others’ tobacco smoked as
she serves her constituents in the House.
The temporary rules, which passed by a divided 71 to 43 vote, became
permanent around the first of May.
While smoking is not allowed in the House Chamber, it is still allowed
in the Senate Chamber and in all other places in the legislative building.
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Five-County Stadium Will Restrict
Smoking Next Season
The Five-County Stadium in Zebulon, N.C. – home of the Carolina Mudcats
minor league baseball team – will go smoke-free in its stands and concession
area at the start of next season, thanks to the Mudcats, stadium and management.
This important move will protect baseball fans and stadium employees from
the health hazards of secondhand smoke.
Minor league baseball has long participated in tobacco use prevention
across the state, with seven teams holding special tobacco prevention events
and participating in community and school tobacco prevention education.
The Wake County ASSIST Coalition has sponsored two tobacco use prevention
events with the Mudcats, and the team has been very enthusiastic about doing
educational sessions for Wake County young people.
Since Wake County is part-owner of the stadium, county health officials
worked with the stadium and team officials to locate an area to designate
for smoking next year -- away from the concourse or game seating.
“I’m glad that we’re going to offer the citizens of Eastern North Carolina
the opportunity to enjoy a baseball game away from tobacco smoke,” said
Deborah Cerrito, coordinator of the Wake County ASSIST Coalition.
So plan to visit Five-County Stadium next season and enjoy the competition
and the fresh, clean air.
For a schedule, ticket information and directions visit: www.gomudcats.com.
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State Games and Tobacco.Reality.Unfiltered.
Winston-Salem will host the Annual State Games of North Carolina (SGNC)
June 27-29, with the Games’ first ever tobacco-free venues. SGNC, in partnership
with the Tobacco.Reality.Unfiltered (T.R.U.) campaign, will target youth
in venues throughout the city with anti-tobacco messages.
The State Games tobacco free messages will reach more than 9,500 teen
athletes from more than 90 N.C. counties and more than 200 N.C. communities.
Teen competitors and spectators alike will benefit from the State Games
program as a result of education on the dangers of tobacco use and by being
encouraged to participate in sports for active and healthy living.
State Games of North Carolina and T.R.U. will send anti-tobacco messages
through customized radio spots airing on teen stations in Charlotte and
Raleigh. Included at the event are opportunities for the T.R.U. message to
be received through booth promotions, posters, and kids and teens pledging
not to use tobacco.
A tobacco-free message enhances the traditional SGNC goal of creating
a healthier North Carolina, by appealing to teen athletes across the state
with encouragement for them to choose a healthy tobacco-free lifestyle.
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Urban Legends Exposed: Secondhand
Smoke
As a regular feature in The Voice
Box, in each issue we will address urban legends about tobacco that
we hear circulating in North Carolina and give the real information to correct
it. So go ahead, ask a silly question, and let us know if you hear something
that you are not sure is true.
Myth: Being exposed to secondhand smoke is worse
for you than smoking.
Reality: Smoking is many times riskier for you than breathing
someone else’s smoke. This myth developed because it is a fact that sidestream
smoke is more toxic than smoke exhaled by the smoker. This is because smoker’s
smoke is filtered twice: once by the cigarette filter and once by the smoker’s
lungs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more
than 430,000 Americans die each year because they smoked cigarettes (CDC,
2002), while another 65,000 die because they breathed someone else’s cigarette
smoke (NCI, 1999). Both should be avoided to prevent morbidity and mortality
associated with tobacco.
Sources:
- CDC, 2002. Annual smoking-attributable mortality,
years of potential life lost, and economic costs—United States, 1995–1999.
MMWR;51:300–3. Available at: www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5114a2.htm
(accessed 6/10/03).
- National Cancer Institute, 1999. Health Effects of
Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke: The Report of the California Environmental
Protection Agency. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph no. 10. Bethesda,
MD. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of
Health, National Cancer Institute, NIH Pub. No. 99-4645. Available at: cancercontrol.cancer.gov/tcrb/monographs/10/m10_complete.pdf
(accessed 5/30/03).
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WEB
SITE OF THE MONTH
(A new feature
for Voice Box is a recommended web site for each month. If you have a web
site you would like to recommend, send it to Julie Helsabeck,
and we will consider it for a future issue.)
In celebration of the July 10th kick-off of the
NC Prevention Partners cessation network for North Carolina, the Tobacco
Prevention and Control Branch recommends that you check out their new web
site:
http://www.QuitNowNC.org
What will you find there?
- Immediate
links, a database (by county) of local cessation program, and downloadable
information (in English and Spanish) for smokers who are ready to quit Right
Now!
- Information
for health care professionals on the current clinical guidelines for helping
tobacco-using patients quit. Patient materials, phamacotherapy guidelines
and programs to refer patients to.
- Online resources:
The best of the web for tobacco users who need support quitting.
- Improvements
and additions will be coming soon!
Bookmark this site for future reference!
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FYI: Recommended Resources
1. "Tobacco Control for Clinicians Who Treat Adolescents," A Cancer
Journal for Clinicians
James D. Sargent, MD; Joseph R. DiFranza, MD. Volume 53, Number 2, March/April
2003. pages 102-123.
Recommended by Sally Herndon Malek, MPH, Branch Head, NC Tobacco Prevention
and Control Branch.
Follow link to read in entirety:
CAonline.AmCancerSoc.org
2. Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids: Updated "Saving Lives" Video
TPCB has just received an updated version of "Tobacco Prevention: Saving
Lives & Saving Money" CD. This CD contains an electronic version of
the video, which is a shorter version. It also contains updated brochures,
fliers, and fact sheets. For more/supplemental information and to request
a copy, please visit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids web site:
www.tobaccofreekids.org
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Upcoming Events:
June-August 2003
June 27-29, 2003
Annual State Games of North Carolina (SGNC)
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Contact
stategamesnc@mindspring.com
or http://www.ncsports.org/
July 10, 2003
Quit Now NC! Launch
Embassy Suites in Cary, NC 9:30 am-2:30 pm
Contact Kalila Spain at 919-966-9137
or kalila@ncpreventionpartners.org
July 10-11, 2003
Freedom from Smoking Clinic Leader Training
American Lung Association
Lung Health Education, Resource and Outreach Center,
Raleigh, NC
Contact Sarah Cox at 919-783-9541 or
scox@nchealthaction.org
July 17-20, 2003
Seventh African American Tobacco Use
Prevention Retreat
Brown Summit, N.C.
Contact Barbara Clark at 919-733-1355
July 21, 2003
N.C. Alliance for Health Meeting
American Heart Association
RTP, N.C.
Contact Pam Seaman's at 919-403-9204
or pamseamans@nc.rr.com
July 28-29, 2003
NOT/TATU Meeting
Burlington, NC
Contact Sarah Cox at 919-783-9541
or scox@nchealthaction.org
July 29, 2003
Health & Wellness Trust Fund Commission
PTS Training
Eastern Region
Location to be announced
Contact Sandra Colt at 828-678-9886
or email.
August 1, 2003
Health & Wellness Trust Fund Commission
PTS Training
Central Region
Location to be announced
Contact Sandra Colt at 828-678-9886
or email.
August 8, 2003
Health & Wellness Trust Fund Commission
PTS Training
Western Region
Location to be announced
Contact Sandra Colt at 828-678-9886
or email.
August 18, 2003
NC Alliance for Health Meeting
American Heart Association
RTP, N.C.
Contact Pam Seamans at 919-403-9204
or pamseamans@nc.rr.com
Table of Contents
"When you see a turtle
on a fence post, you know he didn't get there by himself."
Dr. Red Duke
If you have feedback or comments please let us know,
OR you can contribute your own story about tobacco prevention and control
in N.C. Please send to Julie Helsabeck.
