To learn more about the Tobacco Education Network and tobacco control activities in Humboldt County you may contact the Humboldt County DHHS Tobacco-Free Humboldt program at 707-268-2132.
Attend this meeting tonight, & plan to participate in virtual Town Hall (follow links on document for more information).
Communities across California are adopting comprehensive smoke-free policies, including the largest cities. Smoke-Free policies reduce public exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. Secondhand smoke (SHS) is the third leading cause of preventable death. The U.S. Surgeon General has determined that secondhand tobacco smoke is toxic, and there is no safe level of exposure. The only way to fully protect yourself is to stay in a 100% smoke-free environment. Currently there are no protections in the City of Fortuna beyond the state smoke-free workplace law. A policy update in Fortuna could include:
Smoke-Free Entryways. This policy affects high density housing and business areas. Smoking near doorways and windows can expose people to toxic secondhand smoke indoors and outdoors. The vast majority of people are non-smokers, and toxic air may prevent people from patronizing businesses. SHS is especially damaging to children and people with asthma or heart disease. The model policy eliminates smoking within 30 feet of an opening to a building.
Smoke-Free Recreation Areas & Public Events. Some cities that now have smoke-free entryways allow people to smoke if just passing by. However, this provision may not work when there are many people grouped in an area away from buildings, such as a community plaza or picnic area. By making recreation areas and community events smoke-free, non-smokers are protected. This policy is especially important for family-oriented places like Rohner Park or where young people attend events such as Fireworks displays or Parades along Main Street.
Smoke-Free Multi-Unit Housing. People need protections in the places they live. Sometimes smoke is seeping through walls and attic spaces. Other times smoke can come from a common hallway or through windows. People have been forced to move, sell their property, or suffer ill health because of secondhand tobacco smoke in their home. Smoke-free multi-unit housing includes all units with adjoining walls, common areas, and decks and patios where smoke can drift into neighboring units. Any apartment owner can declare the property entirely non-smoking, which often reduces insurance and cleaning costs. Finally, declaring SHS a public nuisance can help non-smokers clear the air where enforcement is lacking or specific policy provisions do not apply.
Public support is strong. For example, 73% of California voters support a comprehensive ban on smoking in all public spaces. 71% of rural and small town voters in Northern California support a smoking ban at outdoor events. Often surprising to many, local and statewide surveys have shown that the majority of smokers support these types of clean air policies. This is because they know the policy will help them cut down or quit. And, smokers often feel very strongly about preventing young people from ever becoming addicted to nicotine.
Stay informed about what is happening in YOUR COMMUNITY. Call the Tobacco Free Humboldt program: 707-268-2132.
Nina, Hanna, Molly, Kristy, Cory, Paul and Desert (not in photo) conducted a tobacco-litter cleanup on the Arcata Plaza to raise awareness about smoke-free laws in the city and the impact of cigarette pollution on our streets and in Humboldt Bay. More than 1,000 cigarette butts were cleaned from the streets and sidewalks. The number of butts collected this year was 44 percent less than the number of littered butts since last year, and only about one-quarter of the butts collected in 2012, the year before Arcata adopted their smoke-free downtown policy. The project was organized by students with the Eureka High School and Arcata High School chapters of Friday Night Live, a student-run service club.
Here is an article from the Times-Standard for our recent survey results of the Healthy Stores for a Healthy Community project:
You can view the entire state's results county by county here:
http://www.healthystoreshealthycommunity.com/
The City of Blue Lake (2007) joined approximately 25 other cities in
California and adopted a comprehensive tobacco control ordinance based in the
model policy from the American Lung Association Technical Assistance Legal
Center (TALC).
The City of Eureka (2010) joined approximately 33 other cities in California and adopted a comprehensive tobacco control ordinance based in the model policy from the American Lung Association Technical Assistance Legal Center (TALC). The policy protects non-smokers and offers relief for many people who were exposed in their homes on multi-unit residential properties by eliminating smoking in indoor and outdoor common areas including decks and patios within 30-feet of a non-smoking area.
More than 19,700 cigarette butts have been collected in the first half of 2012 by TFH working with other groups and local volunteers at tobacco litter cleanup surveys throughout the Humboldt Bay area. Hot spots include the Arcata Plaza, Old Town Eureka, HSU and CR, and Cooper Gulch Park. TFH has run tobacco litter prevention advertisements on local radio stations and distributed more than 950 personal ashtrays.
The Eureka Housing Authority will be making all their properties 100% smoke-free (with some designated smoking areas outdoors) as of January 2013. This has been the result of collaboration between the Authority, Tobacco Free Humboldt, and Project SHARE with the Health and Social Policy Institute.
Local tobacco cessation is promoted on an ongoing basis. Tobacco Free Humboldt works with TEN and American Cancer Society to provide for free monthly cessation classes in Eureka and provider training in the Ask Advise Refer methods for helping patients quit by referring to local and state-wide quit resources. During Great American Smokeout (third Thursday in November) TEN works with local employers and providers to encourage tobacco users to quit.
· Current efforts include:
- Legislated Smoke-Free outdoor areas policy in Arcata and all jurisdictions.
- Legislated Smoke-Free Multi-Unit Housing (MUH) policy in Arcata.
- Voluntary Smoke-Free MUH policy with owners and residents in Fortuna.
- Reducing tobacco litter in public places such as parks and sports fields.
- Helping smokers quit by supporting free cessation materials and classes.
- Building a strong and sustainable tobacco control coalition.
- Support evidenced-based tobacco prevention classes for 7th grade students.
The mission of the Tobacco Education Network is to create a healthier Humboldt County by preventing and reducing nicotine addiction.
Background:
In November 1988, California voters approved the Tobacco Tax and Health Promotion Act of 1988 (Proposition 99). Twenty percent of the taxes support health education efforts to prevent and reduce tobacco use. A tobacco control coalition was initially established in March of 1990 by the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors as required by Proposition 99. Similar tobacco control coalitions have been established in all counties in California.
What does the TEN do?
The mission of the Tobacco Education Network is to create a healthier Humboldt County by preventing and reducing nicotine addiction. The TEN is an informal group of Humboldt County residents and organizations which serves to prevent and reduce tobacco abuse in Humboldt County by creating a strong and diverse network of people who will educate the community; educate policy-makers; address and support advocacy activities, and strengthen enforcement of existing tobacco-use laws.
Who can join?
People in Humboldt County with an interest in preventing and reducing tobacco use can join the TEN. This includes private citizens, medical professionals, educators, businesspeople, workers, policy-makers, students, the media and others.
When does the TEN meet?
The TEN meets monthly; ten times per year. Call the Tobacco Free Humboldt program at (707) 268-2132 to find out the time and location.
TEN Objectives:
- Create a forum for community sharing and coordination of efforts, ideas, and needs around the issue of tobacco use prevention and education.
- Reduce the availability of tobacco to minors.
- Guarantee everyone's right to a smoke-free environment.
- Encourage and support smoke-free businesses and public agencies. Increase public support for smoke-free environments.
- Encourage and assist employers with their efforts to provide smoke-free worksites.
- Support health-care professionals in assisting tobacco users who want to quit.
- Increase the availability of resources to help people stop smoking and/or chewing tobacco.
- Increase public awareness of the health risks of using tobacco products.
- Educate, support, and encourage parents to keep their children's breathing space smoke-free.
- Support the creation of anti-tobacco education and advocacy programs in the schools and in the community.