Tobacco News
Study: Smoking Cessation Can Improve Lung Condition in Asthma Patients
December 2009 – According to new findings, smoking cessation can reverse some of the lung damage that occurs among asthma sufferers from smoking cigarettes. Martine Broekema, Ph.D., the lead author of the study says that stopping smoking can reverse thickness in the airways of asthma patients, leading to less mucous production and inflammation. Read More.
Study: Menthol Cigarettes More Addicitive to U.S. Minorities
(HealthDay News) December 2009 — Menthol cigarettes appear to be more addictive for black and Hispanic smokers than regular cigarettes, a U.S. study has found. Among adults who smoked menthol cigarettes, just 44 percent of blacks and 48 percent of Hispanics were able to kick the habit. But blacks and Hispanics who smoked regular cigarettes had higher quit rates — 62 percent and 61 percent, respectively. Those rates were similar to quit rates for white adults. Read More.
Study: Low SES Women Face Unique Challenges Related to Smoking, Smoking Ban
August 31, 2009 – While smoking bans are a critical element to reducing exposure to secondhand smoke and overall tobacco control, they also have some inadvertent consequences for women of low socio-economic status (SES). 
According to a supplement published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, entitled, Unintended Consequences of Tobacco Policies, low SES women are particularly stigmatized as it relates to smoke free environments. The report shows that women living in urban areas may have safety concerns about smoking outdoors, while having similar concerns about leaving their children unattended to smoke outdoors.
In addition, tobacco control messages which warn women about the adverse effects of secondhand smoke exposure on their children cause low SES women to feel ashamed and less likely discuss their addiction with healthcare providers.
“Women of low socio-economic status have elevated challenges across-the-board when it comes to smoking and access to quit-smoking resources,” said Dr. Pebbles Fagan, Health Scientist for the National Cancer Institute. “Unfortunately, the articles in this issue find that this group also faces a unique set of consequences related to the evolving policy of context of smoking worldwide.”
The negative consequences that smoke-free policies present for this group can also extend to the workplace.
“[The study] draws attention to the need for lawmakers to consider how the policies they enact may differentially affect less powerful groups in our society. For example, weak provisions for enforcing smoke-free workplaces may result in low SES female bartenders being obliged to breathe secondhand smoke in order to work,” said supplement editor, Roland Moore, Ph.D. of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.
A recent study conducted at the University of California, Davis entitled, Smoke-Free Policies Among Asian-American Women: Comparisons by Education Status, found similar consequences among low SES Asian-American women. The study reports that that this group has greater secondhand smoke exposure at home or at the workplace than their high SES counterparts, and may need to be empowered to assert and enforce their right to smoke-free environments.
Remedies in the supplement’s forward are recommended for practitioners to help reduce the unintended burden on the population groups outlined:
- Ensure that secondhand smoke-related messages target PARENTS, not just mothers, and are delivered in culturally appropriate ways
- Focus smoking-cessation messages to an individual woman’s health, as well as the health of her children and family
- Build acceptance and trust within the patient-provider relationship to facilitate treatment initiation among women and mothers who smoke
- Underscore the need for smoke-free policy initiatives to be coupled with increased access to smoking cessation programs
- Develop strategies for women who work in bars and restaurants where smoking is still allowed and/or where smoke-free laws are not enforced.
“Tobacco control policies have made a significant contribution toward reducing tobacco use in the U.S. and worldwide,” said Cheryl G. Healton, Ph.D., president and CEO of the American Legacy Foundation. “We hope that with greater effort, the groups of women studied will also benefit from the positive effects without the burden of unintended consequences.”
Longtime HIV Doc Named New Tobacco Regulator at FDA
August 24, 2009 – Lawrence “Bopper” Deyton, MD, MSPH, for many years one of the greatest advocates for research and care for veterans living with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV), has been named by President Obama to the newly created post of director of the Center for Tobacco Products at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to reporting by The New York Times. More.
University of Florida to Go Tobacco Free in November
August 5, 2009 – The University of Florida Health Science Center and Shands HealthCare facilities will become 100% tobacco free campuses on November 1, 2009. A message on UF’s website announced the decision to go tobacco free.
The University of Florida’s main campus is expected to go tobacco free in July 2010.
FDA and Public Health Experts Warn About E-Cigarettes
Electronic cigarettes, also called “e-cigarettes,” are battery-operated devices that generally contain cartridges filled with nicotine, flavor and other chemicals. The electronic cigarette turns nicotine, which is highly addictive, and other chemicals into a vapor that is inhaled by the user. Read More from the Food and Drug Administration.
Pentagon Rejects Smoking Ban for U.S. Soldiers
July 16, 2009 – A recent study sponsored by the Pentagon and Department of Veteran’s affairs recommends banning all smoking by all U.S. soldiers including those serving in the battlefield. The proposed ban suggests phasing out smoking over time to a point that in ten years no smoking would be allowed at all. Currently the military bans smoking for troops during basic training and while they are indoors. The Pentagon recently announced it will not implement a total ban but will still try to encourage a smoke-free military. The reasoning for the proposed ban on smoking included reducing the cost of treating smoking-based illness within the military. Read more .
New FDA Warnings for Both Chantix and Zyban
July 1, 2009 – FDA has required the manufacturers of the smoking cessation aids varenicline (Chantix) and bupropion (Zyban and generics) to add new Boxed Warnings and develop patient Medication Guides highlighting the risk of serious neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients using these products. Read More.
President Obama Signs Historic Tobacco Bill into Law
June 22, 2009 – President Obama has signed into law the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco 
Control Act into law, granting the Food and Drug Administration regulatory power over the manufacture, sale and marketing of tobacco products. This historic bill marks a turning point in the fight to keep Big Tobacco from luring kids into becoming the next generation of lifelong smokers. Learn More.
Cigarette Use At All-Time Low in the District
District Taxpayers to Save Millions in Tobacco-Related Health Care Costs
June 17, 2009 – Smoking prevalence in the District is 20 percent lower today than three years ago, according to the latest Behavioral and Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS). Current prevalence is down to 16 percent, an objective the DC Tobacco Free Families Campaign set out to reach by 2010.
This is good news for the District of Columbia, since nearly 20,000 DC residents quit smoking in the last 3 years, which will save the District $175 million in future tobacco-related health care expenses, including $20 million in Medicaid coverage
Every year, tobacco use kills 720 DC residents and accounts for $243 million in tobacco related health care expenditures to the District government. For the last 3 years, DCTFF has provided counseling and nicotine replacement therapy free to residents through the DC Quitline, 1-800-QUIT-NOW.
DOH, DC Tobacco Free Families Team Up With Anacostia Students to Fight Tobacco Use
June 17, 2009 – Washington, DC – The District of Columbia Department of Health (DOH) released a new music video “Nasty” about the many reasons not to use tobacco. The video, created as a teaching tool for teenagers, students from Anacostia Senior High School and was put together through a project of the DC Tobacco Free Families (DCTFF) Campaign, a partnership of DOH, the American Lung Association of DC and the American Cancer Society. DOH funds DCTFF with the District’s tobacco settlement funds. Read More.
Congress Sends Historic Tobacco Regulation Bill to President Obama
Statement of Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
June 12, 2009 - Washington, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives sealed an historic victory for America’s children and health by giving overwhelming final approval to legislation to grant the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority over tobacco products. This long overdue bill now goes to President Obama who is eager to sign it into law. Forty-five years after the first U.S. Surgeon General’s report linking cigarette smoking to lung cancer, the most deadly product sold in America will no longer be the least regulated product sold in America. Read entire statement.
BREAKING NEWS!!! – Quitline Calls Record Number in April!!!
June 1, 2009 – In April, 389 calls were made to the Quitline. The average number of monthly calls is around 180; DC smokers are clearly motivated by the increase in the cost of purchasing cigarettes.
Two New Hospitals to go Tobacco Free Campus
July 1 and July 27, 2009!
Federal Tobacco Tax Increase Will Encourage Smokers to Quit
DC Tobacco Free Coalition (DCTFC) Endorses ALADC to Continue DC Tobacco Free Families Campaign
New Federal Tobacco Taxes to Save Millions of Lives
February 19, 2009 – Earlier this month President Obama signed into law the SCHIP legislation, which includes a 61.66 cent increase in the federal tax on cigarettes (to just over $1 per pack), with significant increases to the federal tax rates on all other tobacco products. This is a tremendous victory for public health and tobacco control.
The impact on the District: 2,000 fewer District children will become addicted to tobacco; 1,500 fewer adult smokers; 1,000 tobacco-related deaths prevented; $49.3 million saved in healthcare costs; and $5.5 million saved in Medicaid costs.
This victory would not have occurred without the work of tobacco control advocates across the country year after year. Today is the culmination of years of work from the local to the national level by advocates, program leaders, researchers, and funders. It is the result of local advocates and state programs educating their communities, the media, and policy makers about the deadly toll of tobacco and the solutions to the problem. It is the result of work by the research community producing the evidence base for tobacco taxes. It is the result of local, state, and national advocacy groups who have educated and pressured policy makers to buck the tobacco industry and do what’s right for public health. Together, we have convinced policy makers from local councils to the White House that they can and should increase tobacco taxes. Hundreds of thousands of lives and and billions of health care dollars will be saved as a result. Thank you to everyone for all you have done to make this happen!
It is estimated that the resulting increase in price will produce the following public health benefits nationwide:
- Increase in total number of kids alive today who will not become smokers: 1,992,000
- Number of current adult smokers in the US who will quit: 1,020,000
- Number of smoking-affected births avoided over next five years: 248,000
- Number of total smokers saved from future smoking-caused death: 905,000
- 5-year health care savings from fewer smoking-affected pregnancies & births: $423.2 million
- 5-year health care savings from fewer smoking-caused heart attacks & strokes: $493.3 million
- Long-term healthcare savings in the US from adult & youth smoking declines: $44.5 billion
- Share of healthcare savings in federal-state Medicaid program: $7.5 billion
- Share of healthcare savings in federal Medicare program: $8.6
By decreasing consumption nationally, the increase in the federal tax will reduce state tobacco tax revenues unless the state increases its tobacco tax rate. This can be used as yet another reason to increase state cigarette and other tobacco product taxes. The decrease in consumption (and related revenue loss) for any state will depend on the state’s current pack prices and tax rates.
It’s important to note that the federal tax also applies to sales on tribal lands. Just as the current federal tax is paid on tribal lands, this increase will be as well.
Other Tobacco Products
Of important significance is that the taxes on small cigars, which are really just thinly disguised cigarettes designed to avoid the cigarette tax, and RYO (roll your own) tobacco are not only getting the 61 cent or equivalent increase but will also now be taxed at a rate that parallels cigarettes. Previously, these products were taxed at a much lower rate. This was a big fight, but with the help of Senators Blanche Lincoln (AR) and Richard Durbin (IL), special interests were overcome to avoid a provision that would have phased in the tax for little cigars over a six year period.
The taxes on smokeless and regular cigars are also increasing, but are still at levels much lower than the tax on cigarettes. State advocates can continue to work to increase state taxes on all of these OTP’s to equal the state rate on cigarettes.
Promoting Cessation Around the Tobacco Tax
The federal tax increase will be effective March 31, 2009. This provides a great opportunity to promote quitting. Several states have developed resources to promote quitting around state tobacco tax increases. We will be sharing those moving forward and would appreciate hearing how other states have done this. States will obviously have to prepare for a surge in demand for quitline and other cessation services. It would have course have been extremely helpful had the bill included funding for cessation services, but it does not. We must continue to work every avenue at the state and national level to try to secure additional funds for our programs to help smokers quit.
Excerpted from statement by Danny McGoldrick, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids
FOUR DC HOSPITALS TO PROHIBIT TOBACCO USE ON CAMPUS BEGINNING NOVEMBER 20
Washington, D.C., November 19, 2008 – Four District hospitals will institute 100% tobacco free campus policies this Thursday, November 20, in honor of the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smoke Out (GASO). The use of tobacco has been prohibited for several years inside Georgetown University Hospital, Washington Hospital Center and the Specialty Hospitals of Washington at Hadley and Capitol Hill. The tobacco-free policies will now prohibit any use of tobacco products outside on all campus grounds, including the parking areas. This includes smoking in vehicles parked in the hospital parking lots. Read press release.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH UNVEILS NEW DC QUIT LINE MEDIA CAMPAIGN FEATURING NFL HALL OF FAMER DARRELL GREEN
Darrell Green, Caron Butler, Nakia Sanford, Mambo Sauce and Justine Love Urge DC Residents to Live Tobacco Free Lives in New Campaign
(Washington, DC) - Today the DC Tobacco Free Families Campaign (DCTFF) unveiled its new quit line media campaign starring former Washington Redskin and NFL Hall of Famer Darrell Green. The new campaign includes television, radio, metro and print ads that also feature DC’s own go-go band, Mambo Sauce; Nakia Sanford of the Washington Mystics; Caron Butler of the Washington Wizards; and WPGC radio personality, Justine Love. DCTFF is committed to ensuring that all DC residents who smoke have access to the latest evidence-based smoking cessation treatments to ensure long-term success at remaining tobacco free. Read press release.
DC Tobacco Free Families Launches Historic Campaign Urging Hispanic Community to Quit Smoking
DC Tobacco Free Families launches historic campaign urging Hispanic community to quit smoking. Local help line available for the first time.
Washington, DC (July 21, 2008) – The DC Tobacco Free Families Campaign (DCTFF) today launched a historic initiative urging Latinos to quit smoking by alerting them to the dangers that tobacco addiction poses to their health and that of their families. The Campaign unveiled a new local line (202)-333-4488, connected to the national federal help line, with a message from Dr. Elmer Huerta, a highly regarded authority on cancer in the Latino community. Smokers calling the help line will obtain information about how to quit smoking and what programs are available for them to join. Read press release.
Latest Report Shows Alarming Increase in Youth Access, Tobacco Use
D.C., June 2008 – More DC children are buying their own tobacco products, according to a recent study. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), shows a significant increase from recent years in the number of youth in the District who have purchased their own cigarettes at a local store or gas station. Read press release.
Willard Intercontinental Hotel Employees First Graduating Class of the D.C. Tobacco Free Families Campaign
March 7, 2006. Washington, D.C. — The Tobacco Free Families Campaign announces the first graduating class of its Freedom From Smoking support group program to help smokers quit for good. The employees quit smoking using the behavior modification program and the nicotine withdrawal therapies made available through Campaign resources.
Quitting smoking is the single, most important thing you can do to improve the quality of your life and the chances for a longer, healthier life, said Rolando Andrewn, Chief Executive Officer of the American Lung Association of D.C., the organization responsible for the Campaign. We are delighted for these individuals, many of whom have families that I know must be happy and proud of them for such a great achievement, because tobacco use really does impact the entire family.
Washington DC’s Willard InterContinental Hotel contacted the Campaign about helping their smokers quit as part of an overall project it has to help improve the health of its employees. Since January it has changed its employee smoking lounge into a smoke free relaxation room and has barred smoking in most public areas of the hotel.
We took these measures after our research indicated that it was what both our employees and our customers wanted, said Paul Hurst, Director of Facilities. We have had an overall positive response from our employees, and I believe the support they received from the Campaign was a big part of their personal decision to find ultimate success in quitting smoking from this well-conceived program.
According to program participant and Willard employee, Jesse Williams, I didn’t know how to quit, but I wanted to. This program taught me what to do and I learned things that I really didn’t know, like all the terrible chemicals in tobacco smoke that can kill you. That highly motivated me to be successful.
Tobacco use kills about 700 D.C. residents each year and costs the District $224 million in annual health care cost, with the District’s Medicaid program paying out about $72 million from tobacco-related illness. Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death and illness in the District, as well as for the rest of the country.
The Tobacco Free Families Campaign, a project of the American Lung Association of D.C., and funded by the D.C. Department of Health, was launched in January of this year and provides resources to D.C. residents for tobacco cessation assistance. For more information about the Campaign, check our website at www.tobaccofreefamilies.org.
[Download this press release in Word DOC format.]
The American Lung Association Of The District Of Columbia Launches Tobacco Free Families Campaign To Help Local Residents Quit Smoking
More Than 170 D.C. Residents Seek Counseling to Quit Smoking at NBC4 Health Expo
Washington, DC, January 23, 2006 –The D.C. Tobacco Free Families Campaign, a comprehensive smoking cessation program created by the American Lung Association of the District of Columbia and funded by the D.C. Department of Health’s Tobacco Control program, counseled more than 170 D.C. residents at the NBC4 Health Expo. Many of the residents who came seeking support in quitting smoking also received free nicotine withdrawal therapies, which would otherwise not be available to them because of the high cost. Each resident was given a fifteen minute counseling session from trained tobacco cessation specialists, and will be followed up with further assistance if needed.
The campaign will continue to provide help to D.C. residents in the form of counseling, community support groups, and free NicodermCQ patches and Commit lozenges, while supplies last.
“Quitting smoking is the single most important step individuals can make in improving the quality of their lives and in improving health outcomes,” said Rolando Andrewn, CEO of the American Lung Association of D.C.
A website, www.tobaccofreefamilies.org, has been created for D.C. residents to obtain more information about the campaign. The website contains information about the smoking cessation program, print materials that can be downloaded, and dates and locations of all Tobacco Free Families programs available in the District to assist smokers. Smokers interested in quitting can also call 1-800-QUIT NOW to talk to cessation counselors to access information about the campaign’s programs.
About the Campaign
The Tobacco Free Families Campaign is designed to provide a multi-faceted approach to help District residents quit smoking. The campaign activities include providing group support programs, training of health care providers to provide brief counseling interventions, distribution of free Nicoderm CQ patches and Commit lozenges on a limited basis, and promotion of the National Cancer Institute’s 1-800-QUIT NOW quitline that will provide information to callers about how to quit smoking.
Smoking Prevalence and Effect on Community
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disease for D.C. residents, killing more than 700 residents every year. Each year, more than 60 percent of D.C. smokers attempt to quit demonstrating the need for this kind of cessation support. Given the city’s demographics and the high rate of smokers among African Americans and
Hispanics, the program will have a special focus on helping these families learn and understand the benefits of smoking cessation.
Department of Health Director Dr. Gregory A. Pane states, “This is a much needed smoking cessation program to help reduce the mortality and morbidity rates of residents in the District of Columbia from tobacco use.”
The D.C. Tobacco Free Families Campaign aims to provide resources to increase each smoker’s potential to quit for good. Counseling and support groups used in conjunction with nicotine replacement products like NicodermCQ patch and Commit lozenge, can further increase the likelihood of a successful quit attempt.
Campaign Partners
Partners include the D.C. Tobacco Control Program, NBC4, GlaxoSmithKline, Unity Health Care, Inc., the National Cancer Institute, the Agency for Healthcare, Research and Quality, Providence Hospital, La Clinical del Pueblo, and the Spanish Catholic Center.
For more information about the Tobacco Free Families campaign, residents can call 202-682-5864 or visit www.tobaccofreefamilies.org.
