Volume 8 | February 2019
#BreatheEasySutter
The mission of the Sutter County Tobacco Control Program is to improve the health of Sutter County residents by reducing chronic disease, illness and premature death attributable to the use of tobacco products through policy, systems and environmental changes.
Alarming New Trend
The FDA recently released their findings on youth e-cigarette use from the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey. The findings show alarming increases in e-cigarette use by middle and high school students in 2018. The findings include increases in:

·          Use of e-cigarettes by both groups
·          Frequency of use
·          Flavored e-cigarette use
·          Overall tobacco use


The CDC and the FDA analyzed the data from the report to assess reasons youth use e-cigarettes. The most commonly selected reasons for use were:

·          Use by “friend or family member” (30.9%)
·          Availability of “flavors such as mint, candy, fruit, or chocolate” (31.0%)
·          The belief that “they are less harmful than other forms of tobacco such as cigarettes” (17.1%).

 
The FDA has announced plans to implement certain restrictions on e-cigarettes sales, and while this is good news our cities and county should continue taking steps to protect youth and vulnerable populations from flavored tobacco. It can take years before federal decisions surrounding tobacco take effect. 

We cannot wait. We need to take action now. It is critically important that local decision-makers go above and beyond the proposed FDA regulations and not wait for the state or federal government to act. 

For information on how you can get involved contact Tammy Andersen, Sutter County Tobacco Control Program at tandersen@co.sutter.ca.us or call (530) 822-7215.  
Going Smokefree Matters

There is no safe amount of secondhand smoke exposure. The home is the main place many children and adults breathe in secondhand smoke. 

About 80 million (1 in 4) people in the US live in multi-unit housing such as apartments. Each year, an estimated 28 million multi-unit housing residents are exposed to secondhand smoke in their home or apartment that come from somewhere else in their building, like a nearby apartment.

A community member contacted me regarding the secondhand smoke in her apartment. This individual spoke to her manager and was informed that people have the right to smoke and refused to take action that would protect the tenant’s health and the health of her children from the secondhand smoke exposure.

The “right to smoke” is not a constitutional right. The Public Health Law & Policy technical assistance legal center produced a legal memo to explain why the right to smoke has no legal basis. You can read the memo here: https://www.changelabsolutions.org/sites/default/files/documents/B_ThereIsNoConstitutionalRighttoSmoke_CA_4_05.pdf  

Every person living in multi-unit housing deserves to breathe smokefree air. If you’re sharing a building, you’re sharing the air. Go to https://no-smoke.org/at-risk-places/homes/ to find additional resources about your options for protecting yourself and your family from drifting secondhand smoke.

                                                   
Contact Sutter County Tobacco Control Program at (530) 822-7215 for more information and for assistance with smoke free multi-unit housing. 
Healthy Stores for Healthy Communities

The Healthy and Safe Neighborhoods Coalition (HSNC) is dedicated to creating a healthy and safe community by reducing risk factors and increasing protective factors. Due to the alarming rise in e-cigarette use among young people the coalition's current priority issue is protecting youth from nicotine addiction.

 Tobacco advertising and promotions have a big effect on youth. 
·          Exposure increases the likelihood adolescents will start to smoke
·          Youth are 3X more sensitive than adults to tobacco advertising
·          Youth are more likely to be influenced by cigarette marketing than by peer pressure 

The HSNC will be participating in the 2019 Healthy Stores for Healthy Communities campaign. The campaign’s goal is to improve the health of Californians through changes to the retail environment. The tobacco industry spends 90% of their marketing dollars in the retail environment to recruit and retain tobacco users. 

This project focuses on the first stage of the process for community change, documenting the problem. Because what gets measured gets changed, members will be trained as data collectors to gather information regarding the retail environment in our local stores. The data collected will inform our community about tobacco industry marketing practices. The more attention that is brought to these issues, the more our community may be motivated to create positive changes. 

Contact HSNCoalition@gmail.com if you are interested in joining the coalition and/or participating in the Healthy Stores for Healthy Communities Campaign.
Visit the coalition’s website at HSNCoalition.org
2019 North State Youth Advocacy Summit

On January 19, 2019 seven (7) Student Advocates for Sutter County youth were able to attend the 4th annual North State Youth Advocacy Summit. The Sutter County youth joined other youth from around the North State Region to learn, how as young people they can be advocates for healthy changes in their communities. The youth listened to the key note speaker Mike Smith an entrepreneur and skateboarder who inspired them to be the “doers”.

The youth learned advocacy tips from an expert from the American Lung Associations Center for Policy, Stephanie Frazer. They enjoyed games that provided insight into the difference between equality and equity and they walked in the shoes of another to learn how various circumstances can lead to a life free of addiction or towards addiction. The day culminated in a zombie apocalyptic role play that exposed the youth to the social determinants of health concept.

Each youth in attendance received a shirt and bag, memories of learning and fun and most importantly skills that they can take back to their coalitions and communities to build a better, healthier community.
 
If you are or know of a young person high school aged who would be interested in participating in the Student Advocates for Sutter County, please contact Tammy Andersen, Project Director for the Tobacco Control Program at (530) 822-7215 or tandersen@co.sutter.ca.us
Sutter County Public Health | Tobacco Control Program | (530) 822-7215
1445 Veterans Memorial Circle Yuba City, CA | SutterCounty.org/tobacco
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