Issue of Concern: TOBACCO

Our Vision:      Smoke-free places for work and play.

To Reach Our Vision:

• Young people don’t start smoking.
• Pregnant women don’t smoke.
• People who want to quit are successful.
• Assure smoke-free environments for work and play.

 What we are doing now:

• Teens As Teachers:
• High school students work with elementary school students to prevent smoking.
• Operation Storefront:  Parents and citizens work with local stores to reduce tobacco advertising and access aimed at children.
• Compliance Checks:
• Teens identify stores that break the law by selling tobacco products to youths under age 18.
• Health Education in Schools:  School districts in Island County have tobacco education units for students.
• "Smoke and Croak":  Annual poster contest for students in Island County.
• School Board Non-Smoking Policies:  This school year two school districts reaffirmed commitment to limit access to tobacco on school grounds.
• Smoking Cessation Classes:  Whidbey General Hospital, NAS
• Your Health Care Provider:  Smoking cessation prescription aids

Conclusions:

• Similar to other adults in the state and nation, 21% of adults in Island County smoke. Decreasing numbers of adults are smoking and we will likely reach the Year 2000 Goal of 15%
• Teens in Island County smoke more than other Washington State teens. To meet the Year 2000 Goal of 10% of 12th graders who smoke, we must enhance our prevention efforts.
• Many workplaces and restaurants in our community are smoke-free. To reach our goals, we need to continue our efforts to provide smoke-free places to work and play.
• Year 2000 Goals from "Healthy People 2000: Health Objectives for the Nation"

References:
     1. Behavioral Risk Factor Survey of Island County Adults, 9/96
     2. Washington State Survey of Adolescent Health Behaviors
               —Coupeville and South Whidbey School Districts, 4/95 

"Not only is nicotine addicting, but just 1/500th of an ounce of pure nicotine is lethal to an adult. Nicotine is one of the most deadly poisons known to man. Why do we, as a society, continue to promote  its use?"  (Roger Case, MD, Island County Health Office)

Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Links:

Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department Tobacco Resources Page. Tips on finding and implementing a tobacco cessation program. Tobacco Advertising information. Tobacco-Free Kids Club.
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The county's largest (their words) non-government initiative ever launched to protect children from tobacco addiction. Covers tobacco prevention, cessation, advertising and legal and health issues involved with tobacco use and addiction.
Smoking and Tobacco Control from the American Lung Association. Contains information on nicotine addiction and cigarettes, smoking and pregnancy, secondhand smoke and your family, emphysema and lung cancer, and American Lung Association programs to quit smoking.
The Quit Net. From the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program. Contains help for quitting, a library of information on just about everything related to quitting smoking, an online support system, the latest news on tobacco issues, links to other tobacco related sites on the web, and more.