Defining the Utah Indoor Clean Air Act

This is old news… but good news!!  House Bill 245 passed, which means that The Indoor Clean Air Act was amended to include e-cigarettes and hookahs.  Now these items are banned in public places along with conventional cigarettes.

There are some certain exceptions for business who have their business based on it, such as a hookah bar, but as far as the general public areas go- we’re clear!

For more information read here.

 

 

Tobacco Social Marketing

What social marketing efforts are being made toward smoking cessation and prevention?  What is out there as far as “spreading the word” and encouraging people to quit smoking?  Here are a few examples of smoking cessation campaigns/posters:

 

 

 

Whether using a ‘tear-jerker’, humor, or the scare tactic, these ad campaigns give you a taste of what’s out there as far as tobacco cessation in social marketing.  Studies are showing that these are actually quite effective and show improvement in the tobacco usage rates.

Here is an example of a social marketing video used in anti-smoking.  These videos have also shown to be quite effective.

 

Pregnancy Tobacco Use

Just how harmful is smoking while pregnant?  Do the harmful effects fall mostly on the mother or the child?  Here is an article explaining the effects on both the mother and the child.

 

 

 

Here is a very good article on smoking, pregnancy, and the fetus.  The “tear-jerker” approach is often used in social marketing in order to education and encourage mothers to quit smoking while pregnant.  If used in the right way, these advertisements can produce a shock factor that encourages smoking cessation.  Is this enough?  Is it the best approach?

Tobacco Demographics

Which group of people are smoking most?  And who is it that we need to target more as health educators in order to reduce the use of tobacco?  Here is a link explaining some of the demographics.

 

 

 

 

Is our Social Marketing targeting these areas?  I would hope that in addition to the right demographics, our efforts are driven towards prevention just as much as quitting.

Here is a link to some more smoking statistics according to demographics.

When to Stop Smoking?

I have never smoked myself, and never will, but the majority of people who are trying to quit say that the reason it is so difficult to begin the process of quitting is because it seems so far away, with the benefits just as far in the future.

What Happens to You when you quit smoking NOW:

* In 20 minutes your blood pressure will drop back down to normal.
* In 8 hours the carbon monoxide (a toxic gas) levels in your blood stream will drop by half, and oxygen levels will return to normal.
* In 48 hours your chance of having a heart attack will have decreased. All nicotine will have left your body. Your sense of taste and smell will return to a normal level.
* In 72 hours your bronchial tubes will relax, and your energy levels will increase.
* In 2 weeks your circulation will increase, and it will continue to improve for the next 10 weeks.
* In three to nine months coughs, wheezing and breathing problems will dissipate as your lung capacity improves by 10%.
* In 1 year your risk of having a heart attack will have dropped by half.
* In 5 years your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker.
* In 10 years your risk of lung cancer will have returned to that of a non-smoker.
* In 15 years your risk of heart attack will have returned to that of a non-smoker.

 

How amazing that all these effects of smoking are reversible!  Maybe more efforts should be focused on spreading the word at how quickly some of the symptoms and effects disappear in order to help motivate people.

 

Center for Disease Control and Prevention

The CDC has come out with many resources and reports on Tobacco prevention and control.  Here is the Website that explains many of the tools used by the CDC.

 

 

It is interesting to me sometimes that even with all that we know about smoking and the direct link between negative health effects, that there is still so much use and especially first-time use.  The Surgeon General’s report tells us how tobacco smoke causes disease, encouraging us to quit, or else prevent us from starting in the first place.

Electronic Cigarette

The Electronic Cigarette is an electrical device that produces a mist resembling the appearance and flavor of a cigarette.  This was produced as a smoking cessation tool, but there has been some proposed bills aiming to put restrictions on the electronic cigarette.

Here is the proposed Bill which explains some of the measures being taken to restrict the electronic cigarette.  Is this a helpful tool in reducing the use of tobacco, or is it doing more damage than help?

Anti-Smoking Commercials

We have all seen a few anti-smoking commercials, which approach is most effective?  Scare Tactics, Tear-jerkers, Purely informational, Guilt-inducing?  A study from the JSTOR researches what kind of effect that television, commercials in particular have on influencing behavior.

 

Whether its beneficial or not, the fact is that Americans in particular are highly influenced by the things that they see on television.  Are we sending the right messages?

Here is a video that shows the tear-jerker tactic.  Is this a good approach to influencing the behavior of Americans?  If you were a smoker, would this influence your decision?  These are all things we need to take into consideration when determining the influences we want in our environment.

Prevention Efforts-Children

It is interesting to me the strategies that cartoon creators use to prevent children from smoking.  If you look at this video, decide whether you think that this is a good way to discourage children from using cigarettes. Is introducing it in this way effective?

In addition to these messages, there are cartoons shown by the same cartoon network (Disney) that are portrayed smoking.  Are we sending mixed messages?

 

What are the things that deter children from smoking?  Are we incorporating those things into our children’s environment?  Here is some research concerning this issue.

Teen Targeted Marketing

If there is something more frustrating than the number of teens taking up smoking, its the number of cases that might be prevented if tobacco marketing was reduced.  According to the facts from THE TRUTH website, there is about $12.5 billion dollars spent each year on tabacco marketing.  This combination of moldable teens and strong advertisements is not a recipe for low tobacco rates.

 

Just like the production of these flavored tobacco products, tobacco advertisers target teenagers in order to get them hooked at an early age.  Last year there was an FDA restriction passed that limited tobacco companies in their advertising tactics and procedures