GRASSROOTS
NEWSLETTER
July-August
2005
Volume 4 Number 1
Commencing Our 4th Year of Tobacco Prevention Education TFMC started a new work plan on
July 1st. We follow the
Arkansas Department of Health’s fiscal calendar. In January we mapped out our community
outreach goals through June 2006 and submitted these plans to the ADH for
approval as part of our funding process.
Our grant money comes from the Tobacco Master Settlement dollars
Our
work falls under 5 headings and we have activities within each one. You are always welcome to join us at our
monthly coalition meetings (call our office for date and time – (870) 427-2620
– or send us an email at tfmc@marioncounty.com
) to find out what we are doing 1) to make sure our coalition represents and
reaches all Marion County residents, 2) to create smokefree
environments, 3) to reduce youth access to tobacco products, 4) to
counter-market tobacco prevention, and 5) to promote cessation.
The Tobacco Companies Never Sleep in
their quest to expand their market. We
told a recent 4-H County Council
meeting that the tobacco cartel spends $142 million a year in
Does
it surprise you that one of the most effective ways to prevent tobacco
initiation is the creation of smokefree public spaces
and workplaces? Clean indoor air sends a
message to teens, employees, customers, and residents that decision makers care
about your health and that secondhand smoke is a public health threat. We’d like to come to your club or meeting and
tell you more about what we can accomplish together!
We currently have 357 grassroots members and
are growing every month! If you are
receiving this newsletter by snail mail and also have an e-mail account, please
let us know your electronic address and save us a stamp! Last month we unfortunately put new software
right over the top of TFMC’s e-mail address book and
lost the whole thing. It had been way
too long since we had saved a back-up list, so don’t be shy about forwarding
this to others in the community because they may no longer be registered with
us. Postal mail readers are encouraged
to pass this on when you’re finished reading it; I’d be happy to add new
readers to our distribution list. When
more people know the facts about tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke,
our community will be able to make better informed decisions as individuals and
groups to improve health in
Why is secondhand smoke so dangerous? Only 5% - 15% of a cigarette’s effluent is inhaled
by a smoker. Secondhand smoke is a mixture of the smoke from the burning end of
a cigarette, pipe, or cigar, and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers.
The
active ingredient of tobacco smoke, nicotine, can affect nonsmokers in very
small doses. 5 minutes exposure to secondhand smoke compromises coronary
arteries. As little as 20 minutes of exposure causes the blood platelets to
thicken, and inhibits the body’s ability to handle cholesterol in a fashion
indistinguishable from regular smokers.
Even a small amount of nicotine in the bloodstream inhibits
vasodilatation, stiffening the arteries. Secondhand smoke exposure produces
biomarkers for inflammation that lead to acute coronary heart disease,
increasing the risk of death from stroke or heart attack. – info from Dr. HK Ginzel’s ETS Update 2005
The risk from cancer is a
matter of exposure to the over 60 Class A carcinogens including the nicotine
specific nitrosamine NNK, a potent lung carcinogen. Lung cancer is the leading killer of women,
but tobacco smoke is related to all manner of cancers and disease. U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona notes, “Here
and around the world everyone knows how bad smoking is. But you know what? It's
actually worse than we all think… The toxins from cigarette smoke go everywhere
the blood flows.”
Education Opportunities The Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Arkansas is sponsoring a
statewide conference, “Striking Out Tobacco in
Closer
to home, representatives from TFMC would love to attend one of your club or
group gatherings to make a short but fun and informative presentation. Thanks for your consideration!
In the News …Court
orders have been issued in 17 states prohibiting smoking in homes when children
are present, and sometimes as much as 48 hours before they arrive. In addition,
three states --
…
The Department of Justice is pursuing a RICO case against the tobacco companies
for their false and misleading
statements and deceptive marketing practices relating to smoking and
nicotine. The judge presiding over the
case is allowing health groups to intervene because the government’s own
lawyers recommended much more lenient remedies to support cessation and limit
marketing appealing to children than was outlined in their own closing statement.
www.tobacco-on-trial.com
…
“[I]t is imperative that workplace protection [from secondhand smoke] be
offered to pregnant women, or better, to women who might or intend to become
pregnant. This protection must also be provided in the home, where not only the
mother, but any other smoking members of the household should be encouraged to
quit for the duration of the pregnancy (or longer), or at least should not
smoke in the presence of the pregnant woman.” — Conclusion
of the Stephen G Grant study that found in utero
exposure to cigarette smoke either by the mother herself smoking or the mother
being exposed to others’ smoke causes
DNA mutagenesis, leading to “lifelong
repercussions for the exposed fetus, affecting survival, birth weight, and
susceptibility to both childhood and adult-onset diseases, such as cancer.” BioMed
“We All Deserve Smokefree
Air”
(870)
427-2620