The state of North Carolina Teachers' and State Employees' Comprehensive Major Medical Plan (the State Health Plan) has launched an exciting and unique tobacco cessation pilot project called Quit for Life. The goal of the project is to assist state employees to quit using tobacco and to gather data to support incorporating tobacco cessation benefits permanently into the Plan's benefit design in the future.

The State Health Plan, in conjunction with N.C. Prevention Partners and the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, is partnering with the North Carolina Departments of Insurance (DOI) and Correction (DOC), as well as Person County and Chatham County schools to offer cessation benefits to participating employees.

Each participating agency has a worksite wellness committee that recruits tobacco users who want to quit to the study. The wellness committees also advocate for policy changes and develop tobacco cessation support activities at the worksite.

In one arm of the study, employees will receive materials to help them quit along with referral to free telephone quitlines and websites. In the other arm of the study, employees will receive these materials and referral to the same quitlines and websites plus one free round of nicotine replacement therapy to assist with quitting, and a free membership to an online cessation website (QuitNet). Participants in both of these arms will have access to cessation counseling from their health care provider.

A third arm of the study will measure rates of tobacco cessation among employees who have received no intervention. All employees in these worksites have access to the educational materials and work-based support, but only State Health Plan members receive financial incentives and access to QuitNet services.

Congratulations to the State Health Plan and its partners for putting effective tobacco cessation methods into practice and evaluating results in order to set the standard for tobacco cessation intervention insurance coverage. These efforts will save lives and help curb the growing cost of tobacco-related disease.

If you are an employee of any of the participating agencies and use tobacco, be sure to ask your wellness committee representative about this project and how it can help you quit!

For more information about the Quit For Life pilot project, please contact Jennifer Hastings, MS, MPH, Quit for Life Program Coordinator and Communications Manager, N.C. Prevention Partners, at 919-969-7022 extension 4# or by e-mail at jennifer@ncpreventionpartners.org.

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New N.C. Funds for Tobacco Prevention

The Health and Wellness Trust Fund (HWTF) Commission recently voted to allocate an additional $4.1 million per year to its statewide Teen Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation initiative.

The Commission, chaired by Lieutenant Governor Beverly Perdue, has now increased annual funding for this initiative to $15 million per year through 2008. The Teen Tobacco Task Force, chaired by Commissioner Carol Bruce, will develop a proposal and methods for allocating the new funds. This plan will require approval by the full Commission.

This new additional spending takes North Carolina from 33rd to 21st in the nation in funding for tobacco use prevention. The increase of funding devoted to tobacco prevention drew recognition from two national organizations, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the American Lung Association.

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The goal of the campaign is to offer each county a low-cost way of protecting its population from secondhand smoke by visibly promoting smoke-free dining opportunities to all citizens.

This logo, visibly displayed on the doors of restaurants and other public places will let citizens know it is free of secondhand smoke. it will give those who have concerns about the health effects of cigarette smoke a simple way to avoid it when they dine out.

Why Participate?

Tobacco smoke is known to cause health problems in non-smokers, such as heart disease and lung cancer. Infants and young children are especially vulnerable, and increase their risk of developing asthma, upper respiratory infections and ear infections with exposure to secondhand smoke.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued a warning to heart patients to avoid ALL exposure to tobacco smoke because of the increased risk of heart attack. This risk has been confirmed in recent studies and shows that even brief exposures to smoky enclosed areas can increase the risk of heart attack in those with heart disease.

How Does the Smoke-Free Dining Campaign Work?

The local health department of local coalition develops a list of restaurants in the county that provide smoke-free dining and posts the list on the web, promoting the website through paid and earned media.

Participating restaurants receive a sticker to place on their door or window and a certificate to post near their sanitation grade. They also receive the benefits of being listed on the website that is being promoted throughout the county.

Want to Know More?

If you want to order a disc containing decal order information and supporting materials, please contact Julie Helsabeck or (919) 744-1342.

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Is your child's school 100 percent tobacco-free? A 100% tobacco-free school district bans all tobacco use by everyone everywhere on campus. This means no staff smoking areas and no tobacco use on buses, at athletic events and on field trips.

The logic behind 100 percent tobacco-free schools is clear. Eliminating access to tobacco products and opportunities for peers and adults on campus to "role model" smoking or chewing tobacco means that fewer students will start using tobacco products. If fact, research shows that school districts with this policy in place have a twenty percent to forty percent decrease in youth tobacco use.

Keeping kids from starting smoking or chewing tobacco, and diminishing exposure to secondhand smoke, leads to healthier students. healthier students learn better. It just makes sense.

Currently forty-nine N.C. School districts have this policy in place.  Thirty-five school districts have adopted the policy in the past two years alone - a 246 percent increase. It is indeed a grassroots phenomenon - driven by concerned parents, school staff, public health leaders and youth - that continues to build momentum across N.C. communities. More and more worksites, shopping malls, recreational venues and restaurants in N.C. are adopting tobacco-free policies. Isn't it time that ALL N.C. schools are 100 percent tobacco-free?

For more information on ways that you can work with your school district to adopt a 100 percent tobacco-free school policy, visit nctobaccofreeschools.dph.ncdhhs.gov or call Suzanne DePalma, Tobacco-Free Schools Director, at (919) 715-4409.

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Question: Using the Advocacy Institute's definition, what does it mean to be a leader in tobacco control?

Answer: We have no formal definition of leadership. Rather, we think of leadership as a process which develops from an appreciation of the "big picture" in tobacco control as well as an appreciation of ourselves. There are many pieces that make up this process:

• appreciate a specific issue from all of its angles
• discern what is needed or what strategy should be considered
• know the value of collaboration
• respect the importance of diverse participation and multicultural competency
• assess and access resources
• build on the strength of others
• know our own limitations
• know when and how to take care of ourselves
• have an appreciation for risk taking; don't fear failure and learn from our mistakes
• be life-long learners, sharing our knowledge and learning from peers and colleagues
• stay adaptable

Reprinted from the TTAC Exchange, June, 2004

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Marijuana Causes Same Respiratory Symptoms as Tobacco

New Haven, Conn.

Smoking marijuana is associated with increased risk of many of the same symptoms as smoking cigarettes -- chronic bronchitis, coughing on most days, phlegm production, shortness of breath and wheezing, according to a Yale study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

"In addition, marijuana smoking may increase risk of respiratory exposure by infectious organisms, such as fungi and molds, since cannabis plants are contaminated with a range of fungal spores," said Brent Moore, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and lead author of the study.

"Because more than two million adult Americans are heavy marijuana smokers, these risks represent a potentially large health burden," Moore said. "Marijuana smokers use more medical services for respiratory problems, and these demands are likely to increase as the population of heavy marijuana smokers age."

The findings were based on 6,728 questionnaires completed by adult men and women, ages 20 to 59 years old, in 1988 and 1994. The data was from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and was thought to provide the broadest snapshot to date of marijuana use and its effect on the lungs in a sample of U.S. citizens.

Current marijuana use was defined as self reported lifetime use and use at least on day in the prior month. Seventy seven percent of marijuana smokers also smoked tobacco. The analysis statistically controlled for the number of cigarettes smoked per day. Individuals who smoked both marijuana and tobacco had increased rates of respiratory symptoms compared to those who smoked tobacco only.

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The Health and Wellness Trust Fund (HWTF) developed the TRU Toolkit website to support its teen tobacco use prevention and cessation grantees across the state. Many elements of the TRU Campaign are posted there, along with tips and guidelines to make getting the message out in the local community easier.

What you will find:

• You will find a section devoted to campaign support materials. Visitors can order give-away items and download print ads, a tobacco-free pledge and high resolution logos for TRU and HWTF.
• There is an earned media section with the HWTF's media guidelines as well as tips on writing news releases and working with local news media.
• There is also a calendar where visitors can view upcoming teen tobacco prevention and cessation events around the state.

If you are working against teen tobacco use and you haven't visited this site, you may be missing great resources that can help you in your work.

To visit the TRU Toolkit website, go to: www.trutoolkit.com

Bookmark it for future reference!

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(If you have read a book you would like to review, contact Julie Helsabeck)

The Burning Truth by Rick Stoddard

Most of you know Rick Stoddard, but you may not know his name. Rick is the star of several anti-tobacco ads produced by the Massachusetts tobacco control program, in which he talks about the death of his wife, Marie, from smoking. The ads are a heart breaking testimony to love lost due to tobacco use, as Marie died at only age 46. His ads are highly evaluated as effective with teens and adults.

Rick went from being a Harley-riding regular guy to a nationally known tobacco control speaker after putting in his wife's obituary that she had died of "cancer caused by cigarette smoking."

The Burning Truth is Rick's account of this transition. It is made up of unedited journal entries (his and Marie's) and correspondence.

Rick's grief at the loss of Marie is profound, but has lead Rick onto a path that includes speaking to thousands upon thousands of young people around the country about his loss and the real dangers of tobacco - to one's life and one's family.

Because it is made up of journal entries, letters and e-mails (even spelling errors have not been corrected), the book is disjointed and a little difficult to read. I encourage tobacco control advocates to read the first section, then flip through the rest of the book, picking out interesting letters and notes to read. If you are interested in having Rick talk to schools in North Carolina, visit his website and discuss it with your regional coordinators.

Rick's website: http://www.rickstoddard.com/

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