December 2017 Volume 6, Issue 12

A Closer Look Inside This Issue:

Airing Big Tobacco’s Dirty Laundry

1

There’s No Place Like (a Smoke-Free) Home for the Holidays

2

Use of Electronic Cigarettes and

Similar Devices Among NYS

Youth, 2014‐2016

2

Tobacco Companies Must Run

Court-Ordered Ads Telling the

Truth about Their Lethal Products

3

* Contact STTAC and get FREE

signage for your worksite when

you develop a new tobacco-free

grounds or entryway policy for

your business, while supplies last!

a healthy bottom line

STTAC Staff:

Stacy Hills, MS, MCHES STTAC Director shills@co.chemung.ny.us

Sarah Robbins, BS

Community Engagement Coordinator

sarahrobbins@co.chemung.ny.us

Sunnie Smith, MS

Reality Check Coordinator

sunniesmith@co.chemung.ny.us

Samantha White, BA

Program Assistant

spwhite@co.chemung.ny.us

1

Airing Big Tobacco’s Dirty Laundry

Reality Check youth of Chemung, Schuyler, and Steuben counties, along with the Southern Tier Tobacco Awareness Coalition (STTAC) teamed up with Elmira College on Friday, November 17, 2017 at the Women’s Ice Hockey game at the Murray Athletic Center in recognition of the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout. Every year, on the third Thursday of November, smokers across the nation take part in the Great American Smokeout by making a plan to quit or planning in advance to quit. Ac-cording to the American Cancer Society, “By quitting – even for 1 day – smokers will be taking an important step toward a healthier life and reducing their cancer risk.” On a local level, Reality Check youth obtained signatures for support of a tobacco-free Elmira

College campus. The youth also created a display of t-shirts depicting tobacco industry quotes. For example, a quote by R.J. Reynolds in 1973 that stated, “If our company is to strive and prosper over the long term, we must get our share of the youth market…thus we need new brands de-signed to be particularly attractive to the young smoker.” The display was created to raise aware-ness about the deceptive and manipulative mar-keting practices of the tobacco industry. For more information about tobacco related issues and Reality Check, contact the Southern Tier Tobacco Awareness Coalition by email, sunniesmith@co.chemung.ny.us or by calling 607-737-2858.

Sources: http://www.realitycheckofny.com/what-they-do/ https://www.cancer.org/healthy/stay-away-from-tobacco/great-american-smokeout.html

There’s No Place Like (a Smoke-Free) Home for the Holidays

2

Use of Electronic Cigarettes and Similar Devices Among NYS Youth, 2014‐2016

This holiday, don’t let your home be filled with

secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke is

known to contain over 250 toxic or cancer-

causing chemicals. Exposure can cause children

to develop ear infections, bronchitis and even

trigger asthma attacks. Non-smoking adults reg-

ularly exposed to secondhand smoke can also

develop tobacco-related illnesses, such as em-

physema. New Yorkers are well aware that living

in a smoke-free home is one of the best things

they can do for their family’s health and to pro-

tect their property; the vast majority do not al-

low smoking in the home. Unfortunately, for

residents of apartments and other multi-unit

housing, the decision to have a smoke-free home

is not theirs alone. Secondhand smoke drifts

from neighboring apartments and creates un-

healthy living conditions for everyone in the

building.

If you rent and are exposed to unwanted

secondhand smoke from a neighboring tenant,

you have the right to ask your landlord to pro-

tect you and your family. No-smoking policies

benefit both tenants and landlords. An increas-

ing number of apartment owners are choosing to

go smoke-free to reduce fire risk, save on

maintenance costs and to improve tenant health.

The Southern Tier Tobacco Awareness Coalition

(STTAC) is a local organization that can provide

free resources for both tenants and landlords. If

you have unwanted secondhand smoke in your

home, contact STTAC at (607)737-2858 or

SarahRobbins@co.chemung.ny.us for help talk-

ing about smoke-free policies with your landlord.

Source: www.smokefreehousingny.org

SMOKE FREE

MEDIA Smoking On Screen

Smoking in youth rated

movies (G, PG and PG-13)

is both common and a

primary recruiter of teen

smokers, one third of whom

will die prematurely from a

tobacco related illness.

A 2012 study published in

the August issue of journal

Pediatrics, states that

“PG-13 films account for

nearly two-thirds of the

smoking scenes adolescents

see on the big screen.”

RateSmokingR #

Electronic cigarettes and similar devices are the most frequently used tobacco products among

NYS youth.1 According to data from the New York State Youth Tobacco Survey (NY‐YTS), the

percent of youth who have ever tried electronic cigarettes and similar devices (also referred to as

e‐cigarettes, Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems or ENDS) doubled from 2014 to 2016: among

middle school students, the rate increased from 6.9% to 14.1%, and among high school students,

the rate increased from 21.6% to 43.8%. The percent of youth who currently use e‐cigarettes and

similar devices, defined as past‐30‐day use, also doubled from 2014 to 2016: among middle school

students, the rate increased from 3.2% to 6.4%, and among high school students it increased from

10.5% to 20.6%.

E‐cigarette use among youth is a major public health concern. It is well established that nicotine is

addictive and has lasting consequences for youth brain development including impaired cognitive

functioning and the development of addiction pathways in the brain.2,3 Almost all e‐cigarette prod-

ucts sold in convenience stores and similar retail outlets contain nicotine.4 With or without nicotine,

e‐cigarettes are not hazard‐free and the inhaled emission may contain heavy metals, volatile organic

compounds, and other toxic chemicals. Lastly, studies confirm that e‐cigarette use among youth is

associated with both intention to smoke cigarettes and subsequent cigarette smoking among adoles-

cents and young adults.5,6

Ever and Current Use of E-Cigarettes and Similar Devices among

NYS Middle and High School Youth, NY‐YTS 2014-2016

Source: New York State Youth Tobacco Survey 2014‐2016,

https://www.health.ny.gov/prevention/tobacco_control/reports/statshots/volume10/n5_ends_use_doubles.pdf

The Southern Tier Tobacco Awareness Coalition (STTAC) seeks to build healthier communities through tobacco free living in Chemung, Schuyler, & Steuben, NY.

STTAC has 4 initiatives:

To reduce the impact of retail tobacco product marketing on youth, Point-of Sale (POS).

To increase the number of Tobacco Free Outdoor (TFO) policies, which includes tobacco free worksites, parks, vehicles, entryways and other public outdoor areas.

To increase the number of smoke-free multi-unit housing (SF-MUH) policies.

Eliminate pro-tobacco imagery from youth-rated movies and the internet, Smoke-Free Media (SFM).

Physical & Mailing Address:

103 Washington Street Elmira, NY 14901

Office Phone number:

Main Line: 607-737-2858

Director: 737-2028 ext.73482

Reality Check Coordinator: 737-2028 ext.73483

Community Engagement Coordinator: 737-2028 ext.73480

Program Assistant: 737-2028 ext.73481

We’re on the Web, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube! www.sttac.org www.facebook/sttac www.twitter/sttacny

STTAC Contact Information:

Tobacco Companies Must Run Court-Ordered Ads Telling the Truth about Their Lethal Products

3

Starting Nov. 26, the major U.S. tobacco compa-nies must run court-ordered newspaper and tele-vision advertisements that tell the American pub-lic the truth about the deadly consequences of smoking and secondhand smoke, as well as the companies’ intentional design of cigarettes to make them more addictive.

The ads are the culmination of a long-running lawsuit the U.S. Department of Justice filed against the tobacco companies in 1999. A federal court in 2006 ordered the tobacco companies to make these “corrective statements” after finding that they had violated civil racketeering laws (RICO) and engaged in a decades-long conspira-cy to deceive the American public about the health effects of smoking and how they marketed to children. The ads will finally run after 11 years of appeals by the tobacco companies aimed at delaying and weakening them.

View the full text of the corrective state-ments and details on when and where they will run.

Make no mistake: The tobacco companies are not running these ads voluntarily or because of a legal settlement. They were ordered to do so by a federal court that found they engaged in massive wrongdoing that has resulted in “a staggering number of deaths per year, an immeasurable amount of human suffering and economic loss, and a profound burden on our national health care system,” as U.S. District Judge Gladys Kess-ler wrote in her 2006 final opinion.

This case and the corrective statements are timely reminders both that tobacco use remains an enormous public health problem in the United States – it is the No. 1 cause of preventable dis-ease and death – and that tobacco’s horrific toll stems directly from the harmful practices of the tobacco industry.

For more information and the full press release please visit: https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/press-releases/2017_11_20_corrective_statements

Statement of the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Ameri-can Lung Association, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, National African American Tobacco Prevention Network and the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund (public health intervenors in the case)

Source: https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/press-releases/2017_11_20_corrective_statements

We Wish Everyone a Happy, Healthy, &

Smoke-Free Holiday Season!