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Dixie County Tobacco Prevention Newsletter
Volume 8, Issue 2 / April - June, 2014
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Dixie County High School SWAT Club Celebrates World No Tobacco Day by "Dunking the Dip"
May 20 , 2014
The Dixie County High School Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) club conducted an event for World No Tobacco Day on the Dixie County High School campus. The focus of World No Tobacco Day for Dixie County High School SWAT was “Dunk the Dip and Dip the Buttsâ€.
Every student at Dixie County High School attended, observed and/or participated in the events. A dunking booth was used to attract the students to information displayed near the booth. Fifteen teachers, staff and administrators were active participants during the event.
Steven Quaka, a SWAT Officer, read off tobacco facts and World No Tobacco Day information over the loud speakers. Sarah Hurst, Todd Pinner, Elizabeth Nunez and SWAT Advisor Lindsey Whittington all volunteered to be dunked in the dunking booth.
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Quit Doc Research and Education Foundation is Encouraging Local Residential Buildings to Go Smoke-Free
June 10, 2014
Cross City – Smoke-free multiunit housing, a growing trend throughout the country, is making its way to Florida. Across the state, there are more than 500 smoke-free multiunit housing properties and 73,000 smoke-free units.
Neighboring County, Marion County has had numerous facilities that have already implemented smoking-free policies. Michelle Crabtree, the Housing Manager at Heritage Oaks of Ocala, stated “the transition to Smoke Free Housing has been a true positive for Heritage Oaks of Ocala. Many of our residents who use tobacco took advantage of the free cessation programs offered by the Tobacco Free Partnership and have either quit smoking or significantly cut back. This is an added bonus since it helps improve their health! Some applicants have told me that a factor in choosing Heritage Oaks of Ocala is the fact that we are smoke free.â€
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Dixie County SWAT Students Create a SWAT Recruitment Campaign on WZCC Radio
April 29, 2014
Three of the Dixie County High School Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) members participated in a recording session at the Cross City studio for SunCoast Radio Inc., WZCC-1240 AM Cross City, 93.3 FM.
The SWAT members recorded four different spots for SWAT recruitment for the two Dixie County SWAT clubs. Sarah Hurst, SWAT President, Stephen Quaka, and Elizabeth Nunez worked with Mr. John Elliott of SunCoast to record the spots so that the messages were clear and strong.
One of the spots focused on a May Days Campaign highlighting how Big Tobacco targeted veterans in the past that led to the highest smoking rates in our country. Now big tobacco is targeting our youth.
The other three spots encourage teens to stand up to Big Tobacco, and not become a replacement customer for the 88 Floridians that die every day from their tobacco use. The spots focused on modern tactics used by Big Tobacco to recruit teens, including e-cigarettes, spit tobacco and flavored tobacco products.
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Florida Teens Win Top Awards Among
Youth Advocates Working Against Tobacco
May 22 , 2014
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Magi Linscott, a Santa Rosa County high school student and Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) youth advocate, was named the National Youth Advocate of the Year by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. This is the highest award among the country’s top youth advocates working against tobacco.
Chandler Ash from Gilchrist County was named the Southern Region Youth Advocate of the Year. Both Florida teens were honored in Washington, D.C., on May 15 along with three other U.S. regional winners and a group winner. More than 400 public health, political, civic and business leaders attended the 18th annual gala to recognize these young leaders.
The Youth Advocates of the Year Awards honor outstanding young people who are among today's most effective leaders in tobacco control. These youth have fought hard to protect their generation from the dangers of tobacco by promoting tobacco prevention legislation, exposing tobacco marketing to kids, and keeping their peers from using tobacco.
“Magi and Chandler are outstanding leaders in the state’s SWAT movement and among youth advocates across the country,†said Tobacco Free Florida Bureau Chief Shannon Hughes. “Their leadership exemplifies what it means to be a tobacco control activist and their hard work is helping to create a future free of tobacco.â€
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Florida Atlantic University Joins the Growing Ranks of Tobacco-Free College Campuses
May 9, 2014
Beginning Jan. 1, 2015, Florida Atlantic University will implement a tobacco-free policy, which also will prohibit the use of e-cigarettes. In an effort to create a healthier environment for all students, faculty, employees, vendors and visitors at Florida Atlantic University, the use of all tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars, pipes, smokeless tobacco, snuff, chewing tobacco, smokeless pouches and any other form of loose-leaf, smokeless tobacco) will be prohibited on all FAU campuses. This tobacco free policy will be in effect for all indoor spaces, outdoor locations and within cars on campus.
FAU will become the 24th university in Florida to implement a smoking or tobacco-free policy and the 926th tobacco-free campus location across the nation. There are at least 1,343 colleges and universities nationwide with similar smoking policies. In 2013, FAU launched a Healthy Campus 2020 Initiative to address a variety of health related issues that influence the overall health and wellness of university community members. This initiative is being led by guidelines established by the American College Health Association and tied to national Healthy People 2020 objectives from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/20/3949536/proposed-florida-law-would-ban.html#storylink=cp
Read More
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FDA Proposes to Extend its Tobacco Authority to Additional Tobacco Products, Including E-cigarettes
FDA News Release
April 24, 2014
Inquiries: Jenny Haliski
As part of its implementation of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act signed by the President in 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today proposed a new rule that would extend the agency’s tobacco authority to cover additional tobacco products.
Products that would be “deemed†to be subject to FDA regulation are those that meet the statutory definition of a tobacco product, including currently unregulated marketed products, such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), cigars, pipe tobacco, nicotine gels, waterpipe (or hookah) tobacco, and dissolvables not already under the FDA’s authority. The FDA currently regulates cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, and smokeless tobacco.
"This proposed rule is the latest step in our efforts to make the next generation tobacco-free," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
“Tobacco remains the leading cause of death and disease in this country. This is an important moment for consumer protection and a significant proposal that if finalized as written would bring FDA oversight to many new tobacco products,†said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. “Science-based product regulation is a powerful form of consumer protection that can help reduce the public health burden of tobacco use on the American public, including youth.â€
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Florida Legislature Passes Age Restrictions on Electronic Cigarettes, Liquid Nicotine
May 30, 2014
TALLAHASSEE — On June 13, 2014, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed into law a bill that would ban the sale of "nicotine dispensing devices" and liquid nicotine to minors under the age of 18.
There was some controversy surrounding the bill after the Florida House attempted to ad preemption language preventing local communities from passing local rules to further reduce youth access to all tobacco products. Under Rep. Frank Artiles proposed house bill, all existing local ordinances designed to protect youth from tobacco products were also in danger of being repealed.
That provision became a sticking point in a back-and-forth on the amendment in the Florida House. During the first reading of the bill on April 22, Rep. Bill Hager (R-Boca Raton) successfully pushed to remove language that would have required all restrictions on e-cigarette sales to come from Tallahassee.
Several representatives lauded bill sponsor Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami, who disagreed with Hager’s amendment but sought a compromise that would allow local regulations on nicotine products, but not e-cigarettes. Artiles argued the local regulations would become overwhelming for e-cigarette vendors.
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Children Don’t Belong in Tobacco Fields
By New York Times Editorial Board
May 17, 2014
A new report from Human Rights Watch paints a grim picture of child labor in the United States, something that most Americans probably believe was banned years ago. Children as young as 7 are working on tobacco farms in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, and many are said to suffer from the symptoms of acute nicotine poisoning.
There are no good estimates of how many youngsters work on tobacco farms, but Human Rights Watch said it interviewed 140 children, most of whom work alongside their parents, who are migrant farmworkers, during the summer and on weekends. Their stories, some recorded on video, highlight gaping flaws in how America regulates child labor on farms. Under federal laws and regulations, children can work on any farm, not just those owned by their families, outside school hours and in hazardous conditions if their parents let them. And there are no restrictions on how many hours they can work. By contrast, the government has far stricter rules for teenagers who work in retail stores and restaurants.
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Five Important Lessons From The Biggest E-Cigarette Study
By Anna Almendrala,
May 14, 2014
Those colorfully lit e-cigarettes are giving off way more than just "harmless water vapor," according to a comprehensive new study review by UC San Francisco's Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. Users could also be inhaling and exhaling low levels of chemicals such as formaldehyde, propylene glycol and acetaldehyde (to name a few), and this secondhand vapor could be a potentially toxic source of indoor air pollution.
While the levels of the toxins were still much lower compared to conventional cigarette emissions, the findings fly in the face of the e-cigarette industries' claims that the handheld devices are just as safe as any other smoking cessation tool.
E-cigarettes as we know them today were invented by a Chinese pharmacist, Hon Lik in the early 2000s as a smoking cessation aid. They are handheld nicotine vaporizers that deliver an aerosol made up of nicotine, flavorings and other chemicals to users. It's the chemicals in those vapors that are moving municipalities like Los Angeles, New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago and Boston to restrict "vaping" in some way.
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Is the World's Most Powerful Military Defenseless Against Big Tobacco?
Michael Mechanic, May 22, 2014
Suppose you wanted to quit drinking, but all the AA meetings in your town were held in the back of a bar with $2 well drinks?
That's basically the conundrum the US military faces when it comes to regulating tobacco. Smoking is a drain on the force, physically and financially, and over the years the brass has implemented all sorts of efforts to get soldiers and sailors to avoid it, with some success. But every time military officials make a move to stop offering cheap cigarettes to their personnel, they get shot down by the tobacco industry's allies in Congress. In the latest skirmish, earlier this month, Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee launched a preemptive strike to prevent the Navy from ending tobacco sales on Navy and Marine bases and ships.
By age, education, demographics, and circumstances (high-stress situations interspersed with long periods of boredom), soldiers are an ideal market for tobacco products, which have historically been sold on military installations and ships for as little as half of what civilians pay. For decades, tobacco lobbyists have worked with friendly legislators to maintain the cheap supply. In the early 1990s, for instance, the industry jumped into action after the commander of the USS Roosevelt declared his ship smoke-free. Two Democratic members of the House Armed Services Committee introduced an amendment to the defense funding bill requiring all ships to sell cigarettes, and the Navy caved.
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