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Dixie County Tobacco Prevention Newsletter
Volume 7, Issue 3 / July - September, 2013
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Dixie County High School Students Working Against Tobacco Share Information on Flavored Tobacco in Horseshoe Beach
September 14, 2013
On Saturday, September 14, 2013, the Dixie County High School Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Club presented the to residents and visitors of Horseshoe Beach, Florida about Flavored Tobacco
The SWAT youth shared how the tobacco industry has used these products to target kids. The students set up a display booth at the first annual Florida Cracker Seafood Festival with props and visuals designed to highlight the various techniques that big tobacco uses to grab kids attention. The display included information on tobacco products such as Snus, flavored spit tobacco, and cigarillos and other small cigars. The SWAT students also handed out Strange Candy pamphlets to the many people that passed by the booth during the event.
Students, parents and grandparents that stopped to learn more at the SWAT booth were surprised at the many fruit and candy flavors such as Blue Berry Blast, Cotton Candy, Orange, Peach and Grape available in kid-friendly packaging that big tobacco uses to attract kids.
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Frequently-Asked Questions About E-Cigarettes
By Tracy DeCubellis, M.S., Gilchrist County Tobacco Prevention Specialist
September 20, 2013
Recently, many people have come to me with questions about an emerging product on the market called e-cigarettes. There has been a lot of confusion about e-cigarettes, and most people have limited information gathered from advertisements or word of mouth from friends. I have put together the most frequently asked questions about e-cigarettes, along with the answers, to inform communities with currently updated information.
What is an e-cigarette? An e-cigarette is a battery-powered nicotine delivery device that contains a cartridge filled with what the manufacturers often call “liquidâ€. This “liquid†often includes candy flavoring, nicotine, and chemicals to create a “vaporâ€. Most e-cigarette companies offer cartridges of differing nicotine levels, although no testing has been conducted to verify those claims.
Are e-cigarettes considered tobacco? The FDA has jurisdiction over tobacco products under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009, and has stated the intent to regulate e-cigarettes as a tobacco product.
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Fewer Florida Teens are Smokers
By Marni Jameson, Orlando Sentinel
Fewer Florida teens are lighting up cigarettes today than they were six years ago, according to data released this week from the Florida Department of Health’s 2013 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey.
Among Florida high school students, 40.7 percent fewer are current cigarette smokers compared to 2007.
Not only are there 70,000 fewer young smokers, but 272,0002 fewer youths are being exposed to secondhand smoke, said health officials.
The progress seen in Florida is consistent with a downward trend in cigarette use and an increase in smoke-free policies around the country, said health officials.
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FDA To Address Flavored Cigars, Tobacco Products That Appeal To Children
CBS, Washington DC
The Food and Drug Administration is planning to address the creation and sale of flavored cigars and cigarellos, which health experts say make smoking more appealing and accessible to children.
According to United Press International, the FDA has announced that they will regulate flavoring in cigars, as well as in other tobacco products, though they have reportedly not said when or how they plan to do so.
The FDA previously banned the creation and sale of flavored cigarettes in September of 2009, a matter the Administration addresses on its website.
The FDA decreed, “This special rule for cigarettes prohibits a cigarette or any of its component parts … from containing, as a constituent … or additive, an artificial or natural flavor...â€
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Butt Out! The Fight to Ban Smoking Moves Outdoors to Beaches, Playgrounds and Parks
By Ron Word
State Sen. Rob Bradley remembers the disgust he felt a few years ago when he took his three children to a public playground, only to have them encounter secondhand smoke and deal with cigarette butts littering the ground.
His children are older now, but he still remembers that experience, and in the last session of the Florida Legislature, he attempted to pass a bill that would allow cities and towns to restrict smoking at beaches, playgrounds, public parks and recreation areas to protect residents from outdoor secondhand smoke.
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How a Secretive Trade Deal Could Help American Tobacco Companies Hook New Smokers
By Lydia DePillis
Pretty soon, if U.S. representatives negotiating a secretive trade deal get their way, tariffs on tobacco in poor Asian countries will sink to zero — and those countries will have a hard time protecting their citizens against a tidal wave of cheaper cigarettes.
Over several decades, the U.S. has relentlessly fought tobacco use. Anti-smoking ad campaigns, prominent warning labels, smoking bans and high taxes have had their desired effect: The smoking rate has been dropping for decades and this year reached a new low of 18 percent among people over age 18.
Now, the U.S. is pushing to help tobacco companies find new customers overseas, by allowing them easier access to developing countries in Asia through a sweeping trade deal that originally enhanced their ability to protect citizens, and may now do very little.
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E-cigarettes Used for Illegal Purposes
By: Adam Walser
TAMPA -- Seemingly out of nowhere, e-cigarettes have become a multi-billion-dollar industry.
Even though most people use them as what they believe is a safer alternative to cigarettes, I-Team investigator Adam Walser has discovered some are using the devices for illegal purposes.
E-cigarettes and similar devices called vaporizer pens are turning up in convenience stores and smoke shops throughout Tampa Bay.
They are marketed as an alternative to cigarettes.
“The flavor's better. Everything's better,†said Jim Langford, who has been using E-Cigarettes for the past several months after decades of smoking.
But others are using similar devices to break the law.
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Electronic Cigarette Use Rises Among Teens
By Amanda L. Chan, Huffington Post
Electronic cigarette use among teens more than doubled in the last year, according to a new government study, prompting concern from health officials who say the effects of long-term use of the products is still unknown.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 4.7 percent of high-schoolers said they had used an e-cigarette in 2011, and that number rose to 10 percent in 2012.
E-cigarettes are controversial. Some say they can be a useful tool for smokers looking to quit cigarettes because they provide vaporized nicotine to the user without the toxic chemicals that come from real cigarette smoke. But public health experts point out that there's no evidence of the safety of using electronic cigarettes. They also worry that e-cigarettes could be a "gateway" to using traditional tobacco products.
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