Tobacco Free Levy

The Tobacco Prevention Program at the Levy County Health Department is a comprehensive program that provides services to the community including:

• Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT)
• Youth Tobacco Citation Class (ASPIRE)
• School-based and community presentations
• Youth-based advocacy activities
• Coordination of local tobacco cessation classes
• Promotion of the Florida Toll-Free Tobacco Quitline
• Community policy changes for smoke-free environments
• Education about secondhand and third-hand smoke, promoting the dangers of smoking during pregnancy, tobacco cessation, and the tobacco industry.
• Supporting anti-tobacco curricula in schools

More Information

• General Information About Tobacco
• Smokeless Tobacco Information
• Florida Toll-Free Tobacco Quitline
• Local Classes for Quitting Tobacco
• Coalition Against Tobacco
• Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT)
• Youth Tobacco Citations: Anti-Tobacco Class (ASPIRE)
• Second-hand Smoke and Third-hand Smoke
• Dangers of Smoking During Pregnancy

Contact Information

Phone: 352-486-3406 or 352-486-3404
Fax: 352-486-3405

Links

Tobacco Free Florida
Suwannee River Area Health Education Center 1-866-341-2730
Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids
National Spit Tobacco Education Program
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 1-800-232-4636
American Lung Association1-800-586-4872
American Cancer Society 1-800-227-2345

General Information about Tobacco

Did you know...

• Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Every year, smoking and second-hand smoke kill about 440,000 people in the U.S. by causing lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease, and other illnesses.
• For 2007 in Levy county, 27.9% of the adult population reported that they were current smokers. Additionally, 61.7% of the population in Levy reported attempting to quit smoking at least once in the past year.
• For 2008 in Levy County, 16% of high school students and 8% of middle school students reported smoking cigarettes in the past 30 days. 7.9% of high school students and 7.7% of middle school students reported using smokeless tobacco in the past 30 days. Both smoking and smokeless tobacco use are higher than the state rates.
• 66.0% of high school students and 59.1% of middle school students in Levy reported being exposed to second-hand smoke during the past 7 days, also higher than the state rates for both groups.
• Tobacco use kills more people in the U.S. every year than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, murders, illegal drugs, fires, and suicides combined.
• Worldwide, tobacco use kills about 5 million people a year, and is projected to kill one billion people this century unless the current trends are reversed.
• Smoking decreases a person's life expectancy from 7 to 20 years.
• In the United States alone, the tobacco industry spends more than $15.4 billion a year on marketing their products.
• Tobacco marketing works, especially with youth: 83% of youth smokers in the U.S. prefer the three most heavily advertised brands, and 90% of current adult smokers began smoking before age 18.
• Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds, including at least 69 that cause cancer.
• Just a few common tobacco ingredients include: lead, cyanide (gas chamber poison), finger nail polish remover (acetone), urea, ammonia, chemicals to preserve dead bodies (formaldehyde), rat poison (arsenic), cadmium (used to recharge batteries), and lighter fluid (butane).
• Nicotine is the chemical in tobacco that mkaes it addictive. Nicotine affects the brain and the central nervous system, and is found in all tobacco products, including cigars, cigarettes, cloves, smokeless tobacco (dip), hookah pipes, and electronic cigarettes.
• Tobacco is the only product in the world that, when used as intended, will kill you.

Smokeless Tobacco Information

• Smokeless tobacco is not a safe alternative to smoking!
• The nicotine in smokeless tobacco is the same nicotine that is in cigarettes. Doctors believe that smokeless tobacco is actually more addictive and dangerous because a can of snuff/dip contains as much nicotine as 60 cigarettes. A 30-minute chew gives the user the same amount of nicotine as smoking three or four cigarettes. One pinch of smokeless tobacco containes enough nicotine to hook a first time user quickly.
• Smokeless tobacco comes in two forms: chewing tobacco and snuff. It can be called "chew", "dip", or "rub". Chewing tobacco is sold as leaf or plug tobacco, and users put it between their cheek and gum, and spit often. Snuff is ground-up tobacco, and comes in a can or tin. Users put a pinch of it between their lower lip and gum. Snus is a new form of stuff that is sold in the form of little pouches and is designed to be placed between the upper cheek and gums. Snus does not require spitting.
• Spit tobacco contains 28 known cancer-causing chemicals. Users who swallow tobacco juice are at higher risk for cancers of the stomach, pancreas, and prostate.
• Spit tobacco causes leathery white patches inside the mouth that can quickly lead to oral cancer. Using tobacco is the biggest risk factor for oral cancer. Seventy percent of smokeless tobacco users have the mouth sores that can lead to cancer. Half of all people who get oral cancer die within five years.
• More than 34,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral or pharyngeal cancer this year. These cancers will cause over 8,000 deaths, killing roughly 1 person per hour, 24 hours per day. Of those 34,000 newly diagnosed individuals, only half will be alive in 5 years.

Florida Toll-Free Tobacco Quitline: 1-877-U-CAN-NOW

Quitting smoking is important for your health and provides many benefits. Soon after you quit, your circulation begins to improve, and your blood pressure returns to normal. Your sense of smell and taste return and breathing starts to become easier. In the long term, giving up tobacco can help you live longer. Your risk of developing cancer decreases with each year that you stay smoke-free. One resource available to anyone in Florida is the Toll-Free Tobacco Quitline (1-877-U-CAN-NOW):

• Toll-free telephone-based counseling for quitting tobacco (cigarettes or smokeless) available to adults and youth age 13 and up.
• Available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 363 days of the year.
• 5 pro-active counseling sessions by phone (8 for pregnant women).
• Education and assistance with nicotine replacement therapy such as gum, patches, and lozenges.
• Counseling and materials in English and Spanish; translation services for other languages, and TDD service for the hearing impaired.
• Any person living in Florida that is ready to make a quit attempt can use the Quitline.
• All services are free!
• Call 1-877-U-CAN-NOW (1-877-822-6669)

Local Classes for Quitting Tobacco

Quit Smoking Now Program for smoking/tobacco cessation: Presented by the Suwannee River Area Health Education Center (SRAHEC) and the Levy County Health Department. The program includes the following:

• Free 6 week program, face-to-face support group style that teaches you how to quit using tobacco
• Education about Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)(patches, gum, lozenges, inhaler, etc.), coping with withdrawal, dealing with things that make you want to smoke (triggers), and staying smoke free
• Free carbon monoxide monitoring
• Free program materials and nicotine replacement therapy for program participants
• Convenient quarterly classes throughout Levy County
• To sign up for the next class call Toll-Free 1-866-341-2730 or visit SRAHEC for more information

Coalition Against Tobacco

The Coalition Against Tobacco is a county-wide, locally organized group of concerned citizens and young people, health care professionals and business people, elected officials and government agencies, educators and parents who are working toward a tobacco-free environment, advocating for policy change, and educating decision makers about the impact of tobacco use on Levy County.

• Coalition Against Tobacco mission: "To build communities where tobacco users will quit, young people will reject tobacco, and all will enjoy a tobacco-free environment"
• Coalition focus for 2009-2010:
  • Establishing local policy and community norm changes to prevent youth and young people from starting to use tobacco.
  • Eliminating exposure to secondhand and thirdhand smoke
  • Promoting cessation from tobacco use
• Membership: The Coalition regularly plans and sponsors tobacco awareness events in the community, so there are many opportunities to volunteer your time and your input as a Coalition member. There are leadership opportunities available. Membership is free and open to any interested community members who are impacted by or concerned about tobacco's impact on health in Levy County.
• Meetings: Coalition meetings are held quarterly (approximately every three months).
• Contact the Tobacco Prevention Program at 352-486-3406 for more information

Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT)

SWAT Mission for 2009: "To mobilize, educate, and equip Florida youth to revolt against and deglamorize Big Tobacco"

• Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) is a statewide united group of empowered youth who are working toward a tobacco-free future. Levy County has a locally organized group of SWAT youth who are working to educate their peers and the community about the tobacco marketing tactics that the tobacco industry uses to sell their deadly products.
• There are currently SWAT teams at the following schools in Levy County: Chiefland Middle and High, Bronson Middle and High, and Williston Middle and High, as well as a County SWAT team. If you are interested in joining or starting a SWAT team at your school, please conatct us at 352-486-3406!
• SWAT membership is open to all youth in the community who are between the ages of 11 and 18. By becoming a member you can earn volunteer time for graduation. SWAT members develop skills such as leadership, public speaking, community presentation, graphic design, event planning, media messaging, and connecting with other youth! SWAT participates in events that support the Tobacco Free Florida Campaign. There are advocacy positions available at the statewide level as a representative on the SWAT Youth Advocacy Board.
• To learn more visit: Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) or call 352-486-3406.

Youth Tobacco Citations: Anti-Tobacco Class (ASPIRE)

ASPIRE (A Smoking Prevention Interactive Experience) is a web-based anti-tobacco program that must be completed by any youth under age 18 who is issued a first-offense citation for possession or use of any tobacco product. ASPIRE educates and informs adolescents about the health risks associated with tobacco use.

The ASPIRE program was developed by the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. ASPIRE includes 5 modules that must be completed online and can be saved and completed in several sessions. ASPIRE uses animations, videos, and interactive activities to conmmunicate the facts abotu smoking and tobacco use, and offers skills to adopt a tobacco-free lifestyle. Once the ASPIRE program is completed, an online certificate of completion is generated by the program for the youth to print out and return to the Clerk of Court as proof of completion. With broadband internet access, ASPIRE may be used at home, in the classroom, the computer lab, the library, or accessed from any public computer. ASPIRE is evidence-based and available free of charge.

Florida Statute 386.212 states that it is illegal for any person under the age of eighteen (18) to possess or use tobacco on, in, or within one thousand (1,000) feet of school property. Any person under the age of eighteen (18) who violates the law will be:

• Required to appear at the office of the Clerk of Court at the Levy County Courthouse (355 S. Court St., Bronson, FL 32621) within thirty (30) days of the date of the offense.
• For the first offense, required to pay a thirty dollar ($30.00) fine OR complete community service through an approved agency (fifty [50] hours for violation of F.S. 386.212 and sixteen[16] hours for violation of F.S. 569.11) AND mandatory completion of an approved local anti-tobacco program (ASPIRE).
• For the second offense (if within 12 weeks of the first offense), required to pay a thirty ($30.00) dollar fine.
• For the third or subsequent offense (if within 12 weeks of the first offense), a mandatory appearance in court is required. The court must direct the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to withhold issuance of, or suspend, or revoke the person's driver's license or driving privilege (as provided in F.S. 322.056).

How to log into the ASPIRE website:

1. Go to the ASPIRE website
2. Click the "yes" button if it is your first time using the website. (Returning users will choose "no" and then enter their username and password to continue work on the modules)
3. Choose a username (at least 8 characters long)
4. Choose a password (must be at least 8 characters long, including capital and lower case letters, at least one number and one symbol). Write down your username and password so that you can return to the website if you choose to complete your modules in several sessions.
5. Choose a reminder question and answer - these are used to retrieve your password if you forget it.
6. Select your gender, what grade you are in, and how old you are.
7. From the next 4 drop-down boxes, select Florida, then select the school site that is in your town, it may not be the school you attend.
8. You are ready to go! Listen and read the directions for each module to complete them.
9. When you complete the five modules, print your completion certificate and turn it in to the Clerk of Court as proof that you have completed the required anti-tobacco program.

Secondhand Smoke and Third-hand Smoke

• Secondhand and third-hand smoke is dangerous to all living things, including unborn babies! Secondhand smoke is the smoke that smokers breathe out. It is also the smoke from the end of a burning cigarette, cigar, or pipe. Sometimes, secondhand smoke is referred to as Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS).
• Exposure to secondhand smoke is called involuntary smoking, or passive smoking. A smoker inhales only 15% of the smoke from a cigarette; the other 85% becomes secondhand smoke.
• Burning tobacco releases thousands of chemicals into the air. When nonsmokers breathe secondhand smoke,t hese chemicals get into their bodies. These chemicals can cause heart attacks, cancer, asthma, and other breathing problems in nonsmokers.
• Third-hand smoke is a new term that refers to the particles that are left after tobacco is smoked. These particles cling to surfaces such as curtains, couches, carpet, hair, clothes, and bedding. These particles are especially damaging to babies, who crawl and touch many surfaces, often putting items in their mouths. Third-hand smoke particles are also damaging to pets, and can accumulate over time, creating toxic surfaces in the home and car.

Secondhand smoke:

• Doubles the risk of a heart attack. Secondhand smoke causes about 37,000 deaths per year from heart disease in nonsmokers
• Increases the risk of cancer. Secondhand smoke causes about 3,000 deaths each year from lung cancer in people who don't smoke.
• Irritates the eyes, nose and throat
• Causes headaches and nausea
• Irritates the lungs, leading to coughing, excessive phlegm, and chest discomfort
• Reduces Vitamin C in the body
• Adds to allergies, asthma and bronchitis
• Puts carbon monoxide, a poison gas, into the air

Secondhand smoke exposure is especially dangerous for infants and children:

• Causes bronchitis, pneumonia, and other lung diseases
• Causes asthma and makes it worse
• Sends thousands of children to the hospital every year with serious lung infections and asthma
• Increases school absences (and work absences for child's caregiver)
• Increases ear infections
• Seriously harms an unborn baby, contributing to low birth weight and infant mortality
• Hurts newborn babies - they are more likely to die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
• Infants and young children have smaller lungs and they breathe faster so they inhale more toxic chemicals when they are near secondhand smoke

Protect Yourself

• Don't allow smoking in your home and car
• Don't visit homes or ride in cars where smoking is allowed
• Never smoke around pregnant women!
• Make sure your children's day-care, school, and after school programs are smoke free
• Don't spend a lot of time in nightclubs that allow smoking inside
• Support smoke free legislation in the community
• Ask others not to smoke around you or your children
• If you can smell smoke, you are close enough for damage to be done to your body - move to a place with fresher air!

Dangers of Smoking During Pregnancy

• Smoking during and after pregnancy can have significant health effects for both the baby and the mother!
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of infant mortality and low birth weight
• The chemicals in tobacco are passed to the baby through the mother's blood stream. So, when mom smokes, so does her baby!
• Mothers who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have children who develop tobacco addictions during adolescence
• Teens of mothers who smoked during pregnancy are at risk for memory problems and other cognitive difficulties
• Infants are three times more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) if their mothers smoke during and after pregnancy. Infants are twice as likely to die from SIDS if their mothers stop smoking during pregnancy and then resume smoking following birth
• Smoking mothers produce less breast milk
• Smoking during pregnancy accounts for an estimated 10% of all infant deaths in the United States
• Infants that are just 102 days old have higher scores on measures of stress and excitability if mom smoked during pregnancy
• Smoking during pregnancy can cause birth defects such as cleft lip or palate
• Toddlers are at increased risk for aggressive behavior, negativity, and hyper activity if mom smoked during pregnancy.
• One study found that children of mothers who daily smoked a half-pack of cigarettes or more during pregnancy had lower IQ scores than children whose mothers had not smoked
• Ask your healthcare provider for resources to help you quit smoking, call the Florida Quitline (1-877-U-CAN-NOW), or contact the Tobacco Prevention Office (352-486-3406) for more resources!