Answers About Tobacco

Tobacco Free Nebraska E-News Update/ February 2016

February is American Heart Month

Heart disease and stroke are major causes of death and disability in the United States. Many people are at high risk for these diseases and don’t know it. The good news is that many risk factors for heart disease and stroke can be prevented or controlled, including quitting tobacco.

 The current CDC TIPS Campaign features Brian, age 60, a heavy smoker for more than 35 years. He had his first heart attack at age 35 while he was stationed in England. An Air Force veteran, Brian experienced several heart problems throughout his military career. In July 2012, he received a heart transplant after quitting smoking for good. “If I’m around after everything I’ve been through, other people can have hope, too.”

Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) Key Facts

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) recently released a detailed infographic on what is currently known about e-cigarettes, trends, and more. Highlights include:

  • In 2014, about 1 in 7 high school students were past 30-day e-cigarette users.
  • Most adult ENDS users also smoke conventional cigarettes, which is referred to as “dual use.”
  • Youth use of nicotine in any form, including ENDS, is unsafe.
  • ENDS are not an FDA-approved quit aid.
  • ENDS aerosol is NOT harmless “water vapor” and is NOT as safe as clean air.
  • ENDS are aggressively marketed using similar tactics as those proven to lead to youth cigarette smoking.

Kick Butts Day March 16

Kick Butts Day is a national day of activism, organized by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, that empowers youth to stand out, speak up and seize control against Big Tobacco. The next Kick Butts Day is March 16, 2016.

The first Kick Butts Day was held in 1996. Organizers expect more than 1,000 events in schools and communities across the United States and even around the world.

In Nebraska

No Limits, a youth-led tobacco prevention movement, will organize and lead a Kick Butts Day event in Nebraska. During the evening of March 15, about 100 youth from across the state will gather in Lincoln for training and rally preparation. On March 16, the students will meet with their senators to discuss tobacco issues impacting teens, march around downtown Lincoln and end with a rally on the steps of the Capitol. For more information, visit Kick Butts Day 2016.

Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights Updates

The Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) Foundation has tracked, collected, and analyzed tobacco control laws around the country since the early 1980s, and the lists below represent only a small percentage of the data. Learn more about ANR’s comprehensive collection of state and local laws, covering:

  • clean air
  • e-cigarettes
  • restrictions on youth access to tobacco, including age to purchase
  • restrictions on sales and distribution, including in pharmacies
  • tobacco advertising and promotion restrictions
  • tobacco excise taxes, and
  • conditional use permits

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Updates

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has updated many of its national and state-specific fact sheets. Check them out at the links below:

Key State-Specific Tobacco-Related Data and Rankingsincludes data on youth and adult prevalence, new youth smokers per year, deaths, health care costs and more.

 Tobacco’s Toll in the USA

 Tobacco use and harm among kids(including several fact sheets on tobacco marketing to kids)

 Resources on tobacco tax issues

Resources on State Tobacco Prevention Programs

Smoke-Free Movies: From Evidence to Action

The World Health Organization (WHO) released a bulletinFeb. 1, providing an update to a 2011 WHO report, calling on film authorities to give adult ratings (R-rating in the United States) to movies with tobacco imagery.  The bulletin cites growing evidence that links exposure to on-screen smoking with youth smoking initiation. “Studies show that 37% of all new young smokers in the U.S. start smoking as a result of their exposure to on-screen smoking,” says tobacco control advocate Professor Stanton Glantz, who leads the Smoke Free Movies initiative at the University of California, San Francisco.

Point-of-Sale Crash Course

Training encourages tobacco policy, systems, and environmental change at the retail level. March 21-23, 2016 in Atlanta. For more information, click here.

8th National Summit on Smokeless and Spit Tobacco

Albuquerque, NM, April 18-20, 2016. Updates on agenda available here.

Tobacco Free Nebraska State Conference

Tobacco Free Nebraska State Conference will be April 21, 2016 at the Cornhusker Marriott in Lincoln. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

10th Clearing the Air Institute in New Orleans April 2016

Clearing the Air: An Institute for Policy Advocacy. New Orleans April 19-22. Check the Institute website for details.

Reduce Tobacco Use 2016

The National Reduce Tobacco Use Conference sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth. April 25-26, 2016, Arlington, VA.  Learn more here.

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