GRASSROOTS
NEWSLETTER
September-October
2004
Volume 3 Number 2
Cessation Leader Certification
Seminar
Please mark your calendar! Saturday
18 September, Robert H. Shipley, PhD, director of the Duke University Medical
Center Stop Smoking Clinic will be conducting a tobacco
cessation Leader Certification Seminar (QuitSmart),
from
This Leadership
Certification Seminar is underwritten by a grant from the Arkansas Tobacco
Settlement Commission and hosted by the Baxter,
We are excited to be able
to offer this $175.00 training FREE to those who are willing to help others
kick the tobacco habit in
Please forward this invitation to anyone who may be interested. Thank you.
Other Local Happenings
1
TFMC has
distributed information about the dangers of secondhand smoke exposure through
the local Ozark Opportunities Head Start programs at Flippin,
Yellville-Summit, and Bruno-Pyatt. Thanks are owed to those teachers and family
service workers who distributed these packets which include information about
the free ADH Quit Line service * in the new parent take-home
packets.
2
We developed a
specialized fact sheet for senior citizens and their caregivers, which is being
distributed through Marion County Home Health and Health Unit programs. Thanks Melba and staff. Copies of this large-print formatted fact
sheet are available from our office upon request.
3
Vicky at the
Health Unit is facilitating a long-term project of monitoring maternal exposure
to tobacco among WIC and family planning clients by collecting anonymous
questionnaires on this topic and also providing ADH Quit Line *
information and local cessation resources to each new client. Thanks!
4
TFMC staff is
operating the Ozark Youth Media Institute this term at the
5
Thanks to Renee
Myers with the UA Cooperative Extension Service for helping us
settle in at the County Fair in late August.
Hollis Melton and Jenna DeSpain were the
raffle winners. Congratulations!
* Free Quit Line service staffed by Mayo
Clinic trained counselors for all
Studies
show quit-support programs double the chances for successfully kicking the
tobacco habit! Give your smoking or
dipping friends another reason not to put it off another day: 866-NOW-QUIT or
866-669-7848.
The FDA can regulate lipstick and chicken pot pies
but not tobacco
Congress will resume
consideration of FDA regulation of tobacco after Labor Day. It is important to know just what strong FDA
authority really means. Tobacco
addiction is considered a pediatric disease because 90% of smokers are addicted
before the age of 18. FDA authority over
tobacco products will permit unbiased scientific research to determine how best
to reduce risk and access to all information about the ingredients in tobacco
products and tobacco smoke. Meaningful warning labels would result from
scientific accuracy. Effective
regulation of the tobacco industry would limit marketing tactics that today
addict 2,000 kids daily. It is amusing
that the greatest voice opposing the DeWine-Kennedy amendment to the FSC bill
is the convenience store mouth piece for the tobacco cartel. Their solution to kid’s nicotine addiction is
to impose criminal penalties on minors possessing tobacco. Now, they say, kids pay no penalty for
smoking. As if a death sentence wasn’t
enough!
Smoke free advocates would
benefit from paying close attention to their Senators’ and Representatives’
position on this issue. A weak FDA
authority is probably worse than none at all.
It should be noted that partisan manipulation of the rules precluded FDA
authority in the House FSC bill. The
Senate bill, including the strong regulatory language in the DeWine-Kennedy
amendment, passed overwhelmingly 78 to 15.
Fall Events
Look for TFMC at Bull
Shoals’ Hillbilly Chili Cook Off, Turkey Trot in Yellville, and other events
this fall. Our booth this year promises
to be more informative and educational that ever. TFMC engineers are hard at work on a smoking
butthead cowboy hat. This you do not
want to miss.
TFMC Honored with Invitation to
Host Regional Youth Meeting
Though
dates and speaker schedules have not been finalized, TFMC has been honored by a
request from the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas to host a regional youth
tobacco prevention advocates’ meeting this autumn. Tentatively we will focus on the newly formed
Tobacco-Free Marion County PO
Box 188 / Pyatt, AR 72672
(870) 427-2620 / tfmc@marioncounty.com