News and Events

The Negative Effects of Menthol Cigarettes in Our Community
March 15, 2024

Menthol has been an ingredient added to cigarettes for the last 100 years and is one of the main reasons new smokers get addicted to cigarettes so quickly. Menthol is a cooling agent added to cigarettes that allows the usual burning sensation in a smoker’s throat from the cigarette combustion to ease off with the addition of menthol, that burning sensation is virtually none and allows the smoking of cigarettes to be a much more pleasurable experience for the user. Thus, menthol cigarettes are considered a greater risk to public health than non-menthol cigarettes due to these cooling properties that reduce the harshness of these products.

In addition to the cooling effects of menthol in cigarettes it also has another main effect that aids in the addiction to these products for new users. Flavoring found in menthol allows the lungs to expand further than they usually would during an inhale, which in turn allows for more toxic addictive chemicals to be absorbed into the body. Menthol’s many properties makes it easier, more enjoyable, and more addictive which explains why among middle and high school aged students who smoke 1 in 4 are using menthol products.      

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Gilchrist SWAT Clubs take on Through With Chew Week!
February 24, 2024

On the third week of February this year our local Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Club supported the annual tobacco free holiday Through with Chew Week. The goal of this nationwide campaign is to raise awareness about the dangers of smokeless tobacco to the public.

Smokeless tobacco may seem like a less threatening form of tobacco due to users not actually lighting and inhaling the product, but smokeless tobacco also leads to addiction and possible life changing affects in the future with constant use of these products. Smokeless tobacco today still contains a minimum of 28 cancer-causing chemicals in the product, that could lead to many things such as gum disease, tooth loss, and multiple oral cancers.

The Through with Chew Week campaign was launched in 1989 and was established by the American Academy of Otolaryngology (Ears, Nose, and Throat). The campaign was launched to warn the public of the dangers that came with the use of these products and their high addiction rates as well. Chewable nicotine products on average can produce a larger amount of nicotine introduced into the body than traditional cigarettes. Read More


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SWAT 2023 – Another Successful Year in the Books!
December 15, 2023

Gilchrist County has hosted student SWAT clubs for the previous 6 years within the Gilchrist County School District. For those who may not know SWAT, Students Working Against Tobacco, Clubs give a platform and an opportunity to our local youth to take part in local reform and education to the danger’s tobacco can bring to an individual’s life after the first use of these products. 2023 may have been the best year yet in our small community for these clubs and as a community we should be proud to see our young leaders taking the initiative to change the narrative for a healthier stronger future.

Historically Gilchrist County has been host to only two high school clubs with about 20-30 student’s county wide. Throughout 2023 though we have seen a huge number of our local youth showing interest in wanting to support a tobacco free lifestyle for themselves as well as their peers. By the end of this year, we have now increased our Gilchrist SWAT chapter from two to four clubs, now encompassing two high school clubs as well as our two new middle school clubs. Growing from that 20-30 average to having close to 100 school aged youth signed up for the cause countywide.

With the rapid growth and growing popularity of these clubs in schools we have been able to gain more support for local tobacco reform with the help of our students. Allowing our club leaders opportunities to discuss key concerns with school decision making officials and hopefully county decision-making officials soon at county commission meetings. Our SWAT cubs encourage our members to take what they learn in club and educate others in the community who may not know the dangers new tobacco products pose or are under the impression newer products are "healthier” alternatives to classic ways of using tobacco. With a growing support of our students pushing for a healthier lifestyle, it can make one hopeful for the betterment for the future of Gilchrist County Residents. We hope to continue building this trend and gaining more and more support in the coming years, giving our students and future leaders a platform to build a better tomorrow.

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Tobacco Free Partnership Pushes for Tobacco Free Parks
November 1, 2023

With the passing of HB 105 within Florida state legislature, it has opened the doors to local governments and municipalities to set their own “smoke-free” zones in county owned parks and beaches. Gilchrist County being a land-locked county within the sunshine state we do not have beaches to regulate, but the county does have county owned parks and areas that will allow for the adoption of a stricter tobacco policy when discussing these areas. This is something the tobacco free partnership will be greatly pushing for in the new year with local decision-making boards as well as city boards within the county.

Parks are expected to be clean public areas for all residents to be able to go out and enjoy some fresh air and the beautiful weather that comes with living in Florida. Visitors to these areas should not have to be concerned about their children picking up old cigarette butts, vape cartridges, or any type of tobacco litter that gets left behind by using these products. They also shouldn’t have to worry about breathing in clouds of secondhand smoke from users who also may be out at the parks not being so conscious about who their air pollution may be affecting. With the adoption of a local ordinance to keep these outdoor public areas clean and safe for all visitors it would not only promote a healthier environment for everyone enjoying these public amenities, but it will also allow for the encouragement to our youth to live a healthy tobacco free life.

Adopting a new county ordinance should not cause too much of a hassle for our decision makers or future law enforcement who may need to help uphold the new rules but could allow for concerned parents or community members the ability to call and report an issue if visitors at these parks are not abiding by the rules. This will give local law enforcement the ability to help keep these parks clean, but also give them grounds to ask the individuals to leave or simply write them a ticket. (Read More)

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Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Chapter Continues to Grow!
September 15, 2023

The beginning of the 2023-24 school year has begun in Gilchrist County and with the slight hiccup of Hurricane Idalia closing school’s county wide for a week it has been a successful start to a new year. While students got into the swing with their new classes and schedules both Trenton Middle-High School and Bell Middle-High School held club days hoping to rally students into joining fun meaningful extracurriculars. With a multitude of great choices for everyone one club in particular stands out in the wake of the current youth vaping epidemic sweeping our nation, our Gilchrist County SWAT Club.

For those who do not know SWAT stands for Students Working Against Tobacco, it is an initiative started by Tobacco Free Florida and the Florida Department of Health in 1998 giving a platform for our Florida students to act against big tobacco companies. Florida SWAT clubs discuss the marketing schemes big tobacco uses to lure in new users, allows them to educate their fellow peers, and grants students the ability to reach local decision makers in hopes to influence the adoption of new laws to combat tobacco sales and use in the future. Over the last 25 years Florida SWAT has grown into over more than 300 clubs with more than 4,300 students actively participating in the fight annually.

Even for a small county Gilchrist has seen a substantial growth in the past 5 years in youth involvement in our local clubs. Adding a new club to Trenton Middle-High School this year to accommodate the number of students who want to help change the story of tobacco use within their generation. With this new club Gilchrist County has a total of 4 clubs, 2 Middle School Clubs and 2 High School Clubs both at Trenton and Bell with almost 200 student’s county wide. Read More

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Tobacco Free Partnership Supports the School Boards New Tobacco Policy
August 31, 2023

The Gilchrist Tobacco Free Partnership has been working side by side with our school board, to assist and help improve the tobacco policy in place within the Gilchrist County School Board. Previous tobacco policies in place within the county for years did restrict tobacco use, but also was very broad and undefined in the wording when it came to tobacco use, tobacco products, and alternative punishments when it came to those caught breaking the policy. Having a policy with lack of definition and grey areas leaves room for people to interpret and find loopholes in the rules. Leading to a policy that is not followed the same way throughout different schools and facilities, but those days are behind us. 

With the newest policy adaptation to tobacco use, prohibition of possessing these products, and stronger defined terms and definitions these loopholes are nonexistent now within Gilchrist County. With the help of the Tobacco Free Partnership, The Northeast Florida Education Consortium, and other statewide organizations the Gilchrist County School Board was able to come to agreement to strengthen the tobacco policies to better control the tobacco issues being seen on campuses. Things such as vaping being added to the restricted list, possession, and even coming up with alternative punishments to repeat offenders besides suspension from school were all added to the new policy.

One important thing the Gilchrist TFP is currently working on aiding the school board to implement into the new policy is the adoption of online courses to educate students using these products of the long-term damages that come with tobacco use. If possible, implementing this program into the school could be vital in helping aid students in quitting the use of tobacco products and also help students avoid being suspended for days where they will miss their other classes possibly making them fall behind in their course work.

The Gilchrist TFP also looks to help the school board with providing new signage at all entrances of the schools highlighting the banning of these tobacco products (Cigarettes, Chewing Tobacco, and Vapes) under the new school board policies. These signs will be posted at all entrances so even visitors are made aware of the rules and prohibition of tobacco on school board owned properties. This will allow for cleaner campuses, cleaner sports facilities, and will assure our local students will have smoke free environments to be able to go to and educate themselves getting ready for their futures. Read More

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Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Chapter Wraps Up Another Successful Year!
June 15, 2023

This has been a fantastic year for the Gilchrist County SWAT organization in our local middle-high schools. For those who do not know, SWAT is a local student club recognized for combatting tobacco use amongst their peers as well as educating our club members, and future county leaders, of the danger’s tobacco use brings to one’s life. SWAT stands for Students Working Against Tobacco, and for the first time in years we saw one of the biggest surges of students support and willingness to join the fight. Just this year we saw both our Trenton and Bell schools almost triple in student support compared to previous years. Which is not surprising our young people are starting to recognize the issues amongst their peers and want to stand up for themselves and do something about it.

Throughout the year Gilchrist SWAT has taken part of multiple nationally recognized tobacco free holidays, such as Not A Lab Rat Day, World No Tobacco Day, The Great American Smokeout, and many more. During these holidays our local students held poster campaigns and educated the student masses on the dangers of all types of tobacco products and their long-term repercussions. The main fight and concern amongst our local SWAT students though would have to be the vaping epidemic sweeping through the nation. Our students see firsthand how many of their peers are hooked on the newest tobacco products and recognize the addiction that comes with just one puff. Our SWAT has been integral in helping local coalitions by giving testimonies and sharing their concerns with local leaders to encourage adoption of more refined tobacco policies not only in the schools but other county owned properties.

As a county we should take the input of all our citizens when it comes to building a healthier community lifestyle, not just the adults. With the support from Gilchrist’s Tobacco Free Partnership, Gilchrist’s Drug Coalition, and other community support organizations we hope to create a platform where our youth’s and future leaders’ voices can be heard to share their concerns. Our youth are on the front lines when it comes to vaping, being a newer generation product. and they are chalk full of ideas that could help benefit Gilchrist through future generations if we just listen. Something we will be encouraging all our Gilchrist County SWAT leaders in the upcoming years.

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A Breath of Fresh Air for Hart Springs
May 17, 2023

Exciting news came to Gilchrist County this quarter with an announcement coming from Hart Springs, making their park a tobacco free environment. This newly adopted policy was announced and made effective on May 16th of this year. This newly adopted policy prohibits all tobacco smoke covering the classic smoke from cigarettes but also the smoke emitted from vaping products.

This is a huge step towards improving community health and reducing secondhand exposure in one of the most frequented parks in Gilchrist County. Hart Springs has reached capacity for the first three weekends to kick off summer frequented by families, students, and other residence to escape that Florida summer heat. Now visitors will not have to worry about our local youth being exposed to secondhand smoke exposure, but also encourage everyone to have a healthier lifestyle to get outside away from any unhealthy influences.

The Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County will be looking forward to encouraging more county owned parks and public places tobacco and smoke free in the future. Using Hart and Otter Springs as examples of the benefits a new policy adoption can bring to the community. Our Gilchrist residence deserves the ability to enjoy the beautiful outdoor amenities our county has to offer without being bombarded by smoke clouds. With the help of the partnership and other community members we can continue making strides towards a healthier community one step at a time.

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Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Chapter is Pushing the Message!
March 15, 2023

Students Working Against Tobacco (or SWAT) in Gilchrist County has grown tremendously over the past few years. From only a handful of members countywide when the club was first founded to today where we have over 50+ students now joined. Shows that tobacco related concerns and a healthy lifestyle is a concern not only for parents but also the school aged children of our community. With this growth in support and education to our adolescents SWAT clubs give students a platform to advocate and take action themselves to better their futures.


This quarter our Gilchrist County SWAT students are taking part in peer interviews to explore how their peers or other tobacco users in their lives got hooked on tobacco products. These interviews allow SWAT club members to use what they have learned in club to identify which big tobacco company tactics worked to get their interviewees hooked on the products. Through these interviews SWAT students will also get the opportunity to help educate the person they chose to interview on the dangers and unknowns that come with the use of these products. Particularly electronic vaping products, being the newest tobacco craze sweeping the nation. There are no long-term studies showing the damage these products can do to the human body but if they are anything like there predecessors it will not be good.

With our local SWAT going into the community to spread the message and educate whom they can on these matters, we should use their actions as an example for everyone in the community. We should all hope for a healthier lifestyle for our community members and neighbors, and seeing our future leaders take initiative can inspire the current decision makers within Gilchrist to follow there example and push for changes. Together we can work as a community to better the lives of everyone within our county and future residents to come.

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Smoke-Free Parks for Gilchrist County?
March 10, 2023

Gilchrist County is the home to many beautiful parks and springs frequented by residents and visitors from all around the country annually. Residents of Gilchrist are truly blessed to have the opportunity of experiencing some of Florida’s most prized natural ecosystems right in their backyard. With this blessing though comes great responsibility; the responsibility to assure they are kept clean and safe for our residents and our visitors.

For the first time it is possible to keep this assurance for future visitors. When the Florida Clean Air Act was updated this summer it gave the ability to local government municipalities to introduce new rules to keep the fresh air once can enjoy at parks by making them smoke-free. Many cities throughout Florida have already implemented smoke-free policies at their parks and beaches to reduce the exposure of toxic second-hand smoke to visitors as well as decreasing the litter that comes along with smoking. This could also benefit our community if we updated Gilchrist’s local law on tobacco use in public parks. Disposable vapes, pods, and cigarette butts, can all leach toxic materials into the ground that could lead to poisoning of local wildlife and ecosystems. Besides keeping our local parks clean and safe for animals that call those places home, a smoke-free park policy would also encourage Gilchrist County residents for a more active healthy outdoor lifestyles in our outdoor community places. Placing a future model for our young people to enjoy and set positive health behaviors from a young age.

With policy implementation, awareness, and education we can help improve the future health of our youth and residents; on top of keeping our local ecosystems healthy. Passing a local ordinance in Gilchrist County prohibiting the use of tobacco products at our parks would be a huge step forward for our little community.

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The Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Chapter Wraps Up a Busy Fall!
December 21, 2022

Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) have grown and taken to the public in the starting semester of the 2022-23 school year. With more than 50 new county wide members from previous years we have seen great support from the schools as well as the students with the current vaping epidemic sweeping across the nation.

In the last quarter our local SWAT participated in many public events to help push the tobacco-free agenda. First, they showed their support against the vaping epidemic by throwing poster campaigns throughout the schools to educate fellow students on the dangers of vaping. With vapes only being on the market for a few years there are no long-term studies showing the effects on the body. Not being a lab rat is exactly that, don’t be a lab rat. With these products out and no studies being done the first users will be the subjects of future long-term effects. Our local students spoke with their peers, teachers, and school staff to educate them on the possible dangers and the unknown of using these products.

We also had a few local members represent Gilchrist County at Tobacco Free Florida’s regional SWAT summit in Jacksonville. Our local SWAT leaders were able to learn more on the importance of having the kids’ voices heard and learned plenty of skills with public speaking and getting the message across. Here our young leaders learned how to effectively run a booth for future local health fairs and acquired skills to discuss these issues with local decision makers to ensure the youth are heard.

SWAT’s big local showing had to be during the Bell Homecoming Parade with both Middle and High School clubs showing support and walking the event to show the community just how many of these students are concerned about the current issues. It was a great event and I hope everyone saw our proud SWAT students wearing their bright green supporting the club. Read More

     
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Florida Department of Health Release 2022 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey Results
December 1, 2022

The Florida health department has released the most recent Florida Youth Tobacco Survey results this past month, highlighting the local youth’s tobacco use compared to the rest of the state as well as other Florida counties. Done every two years this is a great tool for local decision makers to use in efforts to understand the youths use, or attempted use, of tobacco products such as cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and the latest trend vaping. Below you can see the numbers:

As listed above you can see the Gilchrist County numbers are still elevated compared to the state average. Though this is not ideal for our community we do see some promise with a drop in all categories of current tobacco users, including cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and vaping.

Even with the drop 1 out of 4 of our students are still currently using electronic vapor products. With 1 out of 3 of our Gilchrist County students using some form of tobacco product. These numbers are still far too high for school aged children, with the brain not fully developing until your mid-20’s getting hooked on addictive substances such as nicotine can do some damage. Not to mention the other physical harms tobacco use brings to the body; lung, mouth, throat, and your heart are all major body parts that can be affected with long-term use. Read More

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Big Tobacco’s Effect on Our Environment
September 13, 2022

With environmental impact being a hot topic of discussion now a days, it has been a good aid to help push the fight against big tobacco companies. People of the world our expressing concern for the polar caps melting, record high temperatures, and dry spells effecting the planet and how does big tobacco play into this?

Besides the 8 million human lives lost to tobacco annually, there is also an environmental threat. Annually tobacco companies flatten 200,000 hectares of forests (equivalent to 600 million trees) to grow and cure tobacco yearly. On average one tree cut down will make the room to produce 15 boxes of cigarettes. Production of cigarettes also produces almost 84 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually and causes 22 billion tons of water depletion, double the annual water supply of the United Kingdom. All this damage is done just to produce cigarettes, more waste is caused with the disposal of these products as well.

After the production of an estimated 6 trillion cigarettes annually, cigarette butts become the most discarded waste item worldwide. These butts make a whopping 766 kilograms of toxic trash added to our environment. Microplastics are also found in these discarded butts and now have been discovered to be leeching into bodies of water. These plastics can cause long-term effects in marine life, ecosystems, and even possibly our health in the future if a change is not made. Read More

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Students Working Against Tobacco in Gilchrist County
September 1, 2022

At the beginning of every school year a statewide youth organization known as SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco) revamps back up in hopes to grow in size and supporters. SWAT’s mission is to mobilize, educate, and equip Florida youth with the tools to deglamorize Big Tobacco, and promote a tobacco-free lifestyle. Since beginning in 1998 at a teen tobacco summit, SWAT has become a powerhouse in the fight against big tobacco in the sunshine state. Florida now is host to over 300 clubs and 4300 student members working together to push the agenda.

SWAT is not just a school club though. It allows for student leaders to collaborate on a much larger scale than just the schools. SWAT allows its members to present issues to town leadership, state legislators, as well as nationwide organizations like the American Heart Association. This club is allowing the leaders of tomorrow to be heard and help in the improvement of their future. Read More

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Gilchrist County School District Announces Metal Detectors to Combat Vape Epidemic
May 15, 2022

The Gilchrist County School District recently issued a letter to all parents within the school system of their latest plans to help aid in the vaping issue that has been sweeping through the schools. The letter stated, “starting immediately, we will begin to use portable metal detectors to help find hidden vapes as needed.” This action comes from the continuous rise of tobacco vape products on school grounds. Students have been caught with the products, using the products, an even selling them to other students.

Within Gilchrist County a whopping 37.2% of school age children having tried a vape at least once and 25.0% of students being active users of these products, we have seen a sharp rise in the use of electronic vaping devices in a short amount of time within the county. These numbers were taken during the youth tobacco survey done in 2020, now two years later these products are even more popular amongst the youth and these numbers are probably higher than previously reported.

These metal detectors will be used only when a student is expected to be in possession of these products or other students report one of their peers. The metal detectors are necessary due to the number of products available to conceal vaping devices or vaping devices disguised as everyday objects that could be passed over during checks. Some of these products coming out to conceal vaping devices include phone cases, highlighters, vape watches, inhalers, and even vape backpacks (pictured below). Read More

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FDA Proposes Ban on Menthol Cigarettes
April 28, 2022

On April 28, 2022, the United States Food and Drug Administration proposed two new tobacco product standards with the hopes to significantly reduce disease that comes from the use of combustible tobacco products. Within the next year the FDA plans to issue a ban on menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and ban all flavoring additives in cigars. These proposed standards are based off clear science and evidence showing the addictiveness and harm of these products. This ban builds off the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act passed in 2009 which banned all characterizing flavors (other than tobacco or menthol) in cigarettes. These new proposed standards within the tobacco industry have hopes to significantly reduce youth initiation of smoking but also increasing the chances for current smokers to quit.

Menthol was the only flavor additive that was not banned in 2009 and has continued being a top seller for big tobacco companies throughout the country. Menthol has a minty taste and aroma that not only acts as a flavor additive, but also provides a cooling anesthetic affect that allows first time smokers some relief from the harsh temperatures that come with smoking cigarettes. Besides the flavoring Menthols interaction with nicotine in the brain adds to the addictiveness of tobacco use and increases the likelihood that youth who start using menthol cigarettes will progress to becoming regular users. One study shows with the elimination of menthol could lead to an additional 923,000 smokers to quit in the first 13 to 17 months after the ban goes into effect.      

Menthol was the only flavor additive that was not banned in 2009 and has continued being a top seller for big tobacco companies throughout the country. Menthol has a minty taste and aroma that not only acts as a flavor additive, but also provides a cooling anesthetic affect that allows first time smokers some relief from the harsh temperatures that come with smoking cigarettes. Besides the flavoring Menthols interaction with nicotine in the brain adds to the addictiveness of tobacco use and increases the likelihood that youth who start using menthol cigarettes will progress to becoming regular users. One study shows with the elimination of menthol could lead to an additional 923,000 smokers to quit in the first 13 to 17 months after the ban goes into effect. Read More

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Counterfeit Vapes in Your Town?
March 14, 2022

With the growing trend of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), also known as electronic cigarettes, in todays society raises many concerns on many fronts. Over the last 6 years the appeal of a ENDS has surged with an increase of media campaigns, sales promotions, and daily users. With this latest tobacco trend flooding the marketplace their appeal has not only caught the attention of legal aged tobacco users but also the yonger generation.

In 2020 the Florida Youth Tobacco Survey showed an increase in daily users of these ENDS products amongst school aged children even in Gilchrist County, an alarming 20%. This influx of youth users in these products have attracted companies attention leading them to create new flavors, brighter boxes, and sleeker designs in hopes to keep these young users coming back. Of course this is concerning not only for the health of the children in our community but also now there can be more to worry about.

Now some of these products on the shelves are starting to be discovered as counterfeits. One of the biggest one of these? The popular “Rick & Morty Vapes” to appeal to the youth who follow one of the most popular shows on Cartoon Networks Adult Swim. These products have been seized by Customs and Border Patrol on multiple occasions around the country. Over 77,000 were seized at Chicagos O’Hare International Airport, an estimated 1.5 million dollars of merchandise. On initial inspection the products appeared to be made by the U.S. company Movkin which ships out of Los Angeles, Claifornia, but further inspection revealed the seized merchandise was actually imported from Shenzhen, China. Read More

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The Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Chapter Celebrates Not A Lab Rat Day
October 24, 2021

The Gilchrist County SWAT Clubs celebrated Not A Lab Rat Day this October in support of one of the newest tobacco-free holidays. Not A Lab Rat Day is a statewide initiative to encourage youth to refuse to be one of big tobaccos “lab rats” with their newest venture in electronic cigarettes.

Big Tobacco companies are beginning to use the same old tricks they used for years in recruiting new customers. With new flavors, new products, and a rock-solid marketing campaign it is no wonder we have seen a spike in tobacco use amongst the use within our own community.

The youth in Gilchrist County have been affected by this sudden new trend in the tobacco industry; in just 6 years electronic cigarette use has increased 20% in youth from the ages 11-17. This is an alarming increase in youth using these products in such a short time, and it needs to be addressed sooner than later before it gets out of hands.

With our SWAT clubs discussing this data and the risk it has towards adolescent health, our members pulled together and held a poster campaign in the schools to spread the message of this epidemic... Read More

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Learn About the Mission of the Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County!

The Mission of the Tobacco Free Partnership (TFP)  of Gilchrist County is to protect our community from the dangers of inhaled nicotine products and secondhand smoke exposure through evidence-based tobacco prevention and cessation strategies with an emphasis on youth and other disparate populations. Our work is guided by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs, as mandated by the Florida Constitution.

A Key element of prevention strategies is to build partnerships and strengthen coalitions. Comprehensive statewide tobacco control programs must coordinate community-level interventions that counter tobacco industry marketing and mobilize communities to ultimately lead to social norm and behavior changes. Our partnership and its’ members are a key part in making this change and educating the public about the broader context of tobacco related diseases, which can further mobilize public support for tobacco-free policies.

The TFP of Gilchrist County consists of 10 members across multiple sectors such as Gilchrist Prevention Coalition, Gilchrist County Sheriffs Office, the county Healthy Department, the Suwanee River AHEC, and more. We know grassroots efforts of our community help implement policy interventions, and to that end we are continually seeking to expand our partnership. We advertise regularly in local media to recruit new members and raise awareness of our work.

Our newsletter outlines the work we do in our community and is aligned with CDC Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program. For more information on CDC Best Practices, visit https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/stateandcommunity/guides/index.htm

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The Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County is Planning for the Future!
September 17, 2021

The beginning of the 2021-2022 fiscal year has started and with that the beginning of pushing for more Tobacco-Free policies and areas within the community. The QuitDoc Foundation has been chosen to continue tobacco-free work within Gilchrist County for the next 9 years, and we do not take this responsibility lightly. We look forward to continuing our partnership with local community groups, educating the public, & also pushing for more policies and changes locally in efforts to improve the overall community’s health.

The Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County has some very important goals for the year. One of the most important is the introduction of the Florida Department of Health’s newest courses on youth tobacco and vaping infractions. These courses offer students, caught on campus with tobacco products, the opportunity to take these online classes on school grounds while avoiding other punishment. These courses were designed by the state as an alternative to school suspensions, instead of suspending a student off campus for multiple days the student will be offered the online course on school grounds to be educated on the risks of tobacco and the effect it has on developing young adults. These courses are not only a great alternative towards suspensions or other punishment, but they are all 100% free. The state developed these courses for students, administrators, and school nurses who can all educate themselves further on the tobacco issues amongst adolescents and will be rewarded with a certificate after the completion of these courses. The main hurdle the Tobacco Free Partnership will have with getting this implemented into the schools is brining this forward to the school board to be voted on and discussed. Though it should not be too big a hurdle for us to cross seeing that it is not only free for no charge to the county, but also encourage a healthier young generation within our community. Read More

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Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Program Weaps Up the 2020-2021 School Year
June 10, 2021

As one of the strangest school years in recent history winds down to an end, the Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County would like to thank all our SWAT students & SWAT advisors for being persistent in pushing the cause even through the national pandemic.

Though this year was limited due to covid-19 the local SWAT clubs were still able to do their best in raising tobacco use awareness and still participate in tobacco-free national holidays. Our SWAT youth celebrated Not A Lab Rat Day, The Great American Smokeout, World No Tobacco Day, also helped during the community's Christmas on Main Street. Our local youth used all these holidays to raise awareness within their schools by hanging posters near known vaping areas students use and shared their concerns with the public about the tobacco issue amongst their peers.

In hopes of the vaccinations making their way throughout the population we hope the next school year will return back to normal allowing students to not only attend school without fears of contracting the covid virus but also more importantly allow the communities youth to attend and participate in clubs and organizations like they had previously. Read More

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Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County Conducts Assessment of Local Tobacco Advertising
June 4, 2021

In the first few months of this year, the Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County and the Gilchrist County Tobacco Prevention Specialist conducted a data collection throughout the county’s tobacco retailers. Nineteen tobacco retailers were assessed using the Florida Store Assessment created by CounterTools.  This assessment was conducted in convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores, and large chain retailers. 

CounterTools conducted the data analysis from all sixty-seven counties in Florida to create the Gilchrist County Tobacco Store Assessment Summary 2020-2021, comparing the state average and each county retailers’ assessments.  In Gilchrist County, 68.4% of the tobacco retailers assessed were convenience and/or gas stations.  Over 73.7% of retailers assessed in Gilchrist County had posted aged of 21 for tobacco sales.  Every retailer assessed sold cigarettes, smokeless tobacco (dip, chew) and cigarillos. 94.7% of all retailers sold a form of electronic cigarette (e-cigs, vape, etc.) which highlights the growth in youth vaping use. 

An emerging nicotine product that was in 84.2% of all Gilchrist County retailers is an oral nicotine. These can be lozenges, orbs, strips, sticks or pouches that do not contain tobacco leaf.  Examples of these are On!, Velo, Zyn, and Dryft.  The local retailers that sell these products post advertising on doors, windows and near the cash register.  Many adults do not know what these new products are and do not recognize the ads. Tobacco and nicotine products and advertisements at the point-of-sale prompt youth to start using these products. Read More

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Join Us as We Celebrate Take Down Tobacco, A National Day of Action
March 17, 2021

For years, The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids has hosted Kick Butts Day, nationally recognized tobacco prevention holiday. In an effort to expand its prevention efforts into the growing list of electronic tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and other vaping device, Kick Butts Day has been rebranded as Take Down Tobacco.

The holiday will be celebrated on April 1 this year, here in Gilchrist and throughout the country. This holiday has been celebrated for a quarter century starting back in 1996 and over this time-period the U.S has made remarkable progress in doing just what it set out to do, lower youth smoking rates.

Though kicking the cigarette butts out of youth lives has shown huge improvement within Gilchrist county, the newest battle we face is the adolescent use of e-cigarettes . With our local use youth of electronic vaping devices going from 4.9% to 25% over the last 6 years, this skyrocketing new trend it is beginning to reverse the progress we have achieved these past 25 years.

With this is mind this year we plan to celebrate the annual holiday by encouraging our Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) students and other youth ambassadors to stand up and speak out against the big tobacco industry. By changing the focus on actual cigarettes towards the newest threat, electronic cigarettes, and by giving our youth a platform that empowers them to stand up for what they believe is right, we not only hear their opinions on the matter but may also hear clever solutions on how to start to fix the problem before it continues escalating. Read More

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Are Local Tobacco Retail Licenses Right for Gilchrist County?
March 10, 2021

The Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County has currently met and agreed the importance and need for a local tobacco retail licensing program. As of December 2019, Congress included legislation to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and raise the federal minimum age of sale of tobacco products from 18 to 21 years. It is now illegal nationally to sell any tobacco product to anyone under the age of 21. Though this may be federal law the Florida Statutes still list the age of tobacco sales and purchases as 18.

So, what does this mean for the state and us locally? Due to the federal and state laws not being aligned, only federal agencies are allowed to enforce the new 21 policy and not our local or state agencies such as the sheriff’s offices or ABT. To fix this misalignment between state and federal law the Florida House and Senate, with support from the Florida Attorney General, passed SB 810 to fix this problem. Though it looked like the bill was going to pass with no problem, Governor Desantis vetoed the bill in September 2020.

With the absence of state leadership in Florida, it falls on us and local community municipalities to get creative and make new enforceable rules to help reduce the youth’s access to tobacco products. A Tobacco Retail License (TRL) Policy can give our community the ability to dictate the most appropriate ways to govern tobacco sales and perform annual checks of our retailers. A TRL policy in Gilchrist County would also hold the tobacco vendors more accountable for any offenses against the law, instead of the focus of the punishment being on the consumer. A TRL policy can also cover things such as reducing point-of-sale advertising, restricting flavored tobacco, and even reducing the location and density of tobacco retailers. Read More

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The Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County is Teaming Up with Counter Tools to Evaluate Local Tobacco Advertising
by Dan Murray
December 1, 2020

Since this September when our state government chose to veto the bill SB-810, the Florida Tobacco 21 Bill, organizations and local communities have had to pivot into taking actions into their own hands. With this change in direction The Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County will be taking part in a survey of the local tobacco retailers within the community. Partnered with CounterTools a nationally recognized company that focuses on the impact the retail environment has on the health of the entire community, and one of those main concerns being big tobacco’s focus on keeping tobacco products cheap and visible in retail environments.

This survey will be the first step into understanding just how our community keeps and respect the rules and regulations already set into place. It is targeted towards advertisements, prices, types of nicotine provided, and even down to the placement of said products. We as a community will be able to use this data once collected into making vital future decisions to improve the health of all its members now and in the future.

As a member of this community I believe not only will this survey provide us with lots of information, but also draw our attention to the areas that may need a little work. If any community members are interested in assisting with this effort can contact the Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County by email. Read More

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Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Members Celebrate Not a Lab Rat Day!
October 21, 2020

This October in Gilchrist County, Students Working Against Tobacco (or SWAT) partook in Not A Lab Rat Day. This day is observed annually in hopes of bringing awareness of e-cigarette use among youth, encouraging youth to stand up against Big Tobacco and the e-cigarette industry, and pushing for change within our communities.

Electronic cigarettes and other vaping devices have not been properly studied long-term. The lack of long-term health studies for electronic nicotine delivery systems (e-cigarettes, puff sticks, etc.) are due to the products new presence within the marketplace. As a result, we are uncertain just how much of a threat these products can truly hold. Thus, the Florida SWAT youth have giving the name Not A Lab Rat to their awareness campaign. Essentially the products current users will give us the first real understanding of just what the effects are from these electronic devices, and how it will alter long-term health down the road.

The use of these products by the youth within Gilchrist County has jumped nearly 20% in the past 4 years according to the 2020 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey (FYTS). With this jump rates of use among Gilchrist County youth are now 10% higher than the state average among youth that are currently using electronic devices regularly. Read More

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Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Clubs Begin Planning for the 2020-2021 Year!
September 21, 2020

Gilchrist Students Working Against Tobacco clubs are established to give young people in Gilchrist County the opportunity to speak out in the community to let people know the ways that tobacco companies target them and their friends to become replacement customers for the 430,000 people who die from tobacco related illness each year.  SWAT youth take this message seriously since approximately 90% of all smokers report that they started smoking before the age of 18.  These young people are dedicated to educating and advocating for policies that will help other youth stay tobacco-free for life.

Gilchrist County SWAT members plan to be active this year to raise awareness about e-cigarette use among youth. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the nation, the Gilchrist County SWAT Clubs plan to be active. Our clubs will be meeting using social distancing policies starting in September. It has been a difficult time for all Floridians as we face the COVID-19 crisis, but our SWAT youth are dedicated to working toward being a nicotine-free generation.

Our SWAT clubs in Bell and Trenton are working toward recruiting new members, and promoting their goal to create a generation of youth who are tobacco and nicotine free. They will be educating the community on the issue of the tobacco company marketing techniques that attract young people.  They will continue to work toward their goals by promoting policies that give a clear tobacco-free message to youth and parents in order to build new social norms in the county which support living a tobacco-free and nicotine free lifestyle.

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Let's Give a Warm Welcome to Dan Murray, Gilchrist County's New Tobacco Prevention Specialist!
September 10, 2020

  Hello Gilchrist county community! My name is Daniel Murray and I will be the new Tobacco Prevention Specialist for the QuitDoc Foundation. Not only am I the newest member of this wonderful foundation that was started right here in lovely Gilchrist County, but also one of the newer members to this community as well. Growing up in bigger and busier cities I have slowly grown to love this area and the peaceful charm that comes with small-town living. I could not be more excited to continue to build on the tobacco free policies that Tracy DeCubellis and QuitDoc have already implemented within the community, and I plan to continue their work in creating a stronger, healthier tobacco-free county.    

A little more about myself and what I can bring towards this county: I am currently studying my way towards earning my bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration. I have studied and worked within the healthcare field for the last 5 years from hospitals to private clinics. No matter the setting though there was always one interest that trumped all, and that was preventative care and medicine. How can we change our lives for the better before needing a doctor or even worse a hospital? What can we do to avoid future health risk for ourselves and within our community?

These are all questions we should reflect on and apply to our daily lives. This is the mentality I plan to bring in improving tobacco-free areas and policies within the county. Together I believe we will not only see an improvement in the health of our community, but also a decline in tobacco use among our youth as well.

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Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County Uses World No Tobacco Day to Draw Attention to Point-of-Sale Advertising
May 31, 2020

On May 31st each year there is a worldwide observation called World No Tobacco Day. This year, the message focuses on tobacco and nicotine marketing that is geared to kids and young people at retail locations.

E-cigarette use has exploded among Florida youth. Research indicates that advertising influences youth to try products. As Counter Tobacco, a policy resource organization says, ads build relationships with potential customers. Go to a local convenience store and look around. Are ads for candy or sweet items near e-cigarette/tobacco products or their advertisements? Are tobacco and e-cigarette advertisements waist high or lower on the entry doors? Are any tobacco products or e-cigarettes placed on the counter (even in clear cases), or near things that kids would buy? The chances are very high that you will answer “yes” to one or more of these questions. Whose attention do you think these types of advertisements are meant to attract?

If there is one thing we’ve learned from tobacco company internal memos it is that they have their eyes on our youth as their next group of customers. When Congress gained access to internal tobacco company memos, we found out for sure that added flavors like cherry and honey, colors, and even branding were all geared to attract the attention of kids.

Research shows us that kids are influenced by tobacco advertising. This makes sense. Why would tobacco companies spend $1,000,000 per day on something that has no impact? That would be an enormous waste of money. What the research reveals is that students who attend schools in neighborhoods with a higher density of tobacco retailers have more risk of becoming smokers (Henrickson, et al., 2008). Read More

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The Work of the Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County Continues... Virtually!
May 27, 2020

It is no secret that the last few months have been difficult for everyone as we pulled together to fight COVID-19. Schools were closed in favor of virtual education, people stayed at home, and most gatherings turned to virtual means using Zoom or conference calls to continue meeting. The Tobacco Free Partnership and Gilchrist Students Working Against Tobacco usually hold several meetings over the course of a few months, so we had to work together to try to stay connected and working in the community during these trying times.

Since many people were asked to stay at home, it may not be apparent that so many organizations were continuing to work behind the scenes. Our Gilchrist Students Working Against Tobacco chapter is part of Gilchrist County 4-H and all of our clubs went virtual during this time. Our club members did not let this stop them! SWAT members from Trenton and Bell gathered virtually via Zoom to hold a chapter meeting which was meaningful and impactful for our members. They were even able to learn some new information about tobacco products and tobacco marketing during their meeting.

In addition, the Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist continued meeting via Zoom. Our Advisory Board as well as our general membership both have been active since March. The Partnership has been working with local groups such as the Gilchrist Library and the Gilchrist Prevention Coalition to spread information about Tobacco Free Florida Week and World No Tobacco Day, as well. Read More

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The Importance of Creating Tobacco-free Policies in 2020
By Tracy DeCubellis
March 11, 2020

It is no secret that tobacco use is harmful. Despite our knowledge of the multitude of cancer causing agents and toxins in tobacco, people still use it. One tobacco product that seems to get a free pass in rural areas is smokeless tobacco (dip/chew/snus). It seems that people have the opinion that it only harms the user and, since there is no smoke, using it in public or at youth functions is not as much of an issue as smoking or vaping might be.

It is important to correct that belief as it is untrue. Smokeless tobacco use can increase the risk of oral cancer by 80% and pancreatic cancer by 60%. According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are at least 28 cancer causing agents in smokeless tobacco. Since smokeless tobacco is actually “spit” tobacco, no one can really say it only impacts the user. It impacts the people around the user as well as the environment.

The tobacco industry is based on nicotine addicting the user. With the fall in the rate of cigarette smoking, Big Tobacco started creating products (in addition to e-cigarettes) that are flavored and easy for young people to consume or use without raising suspicion among adults. Some of these products are nicotine pouches which claim to be tobacco free, but they are still as addictive. Additionally, it is being reported that youth are getting access to items such as nicotine toothpicks which are nicotine products laced with addictive nicotine, but appear to be a functional object – a toothpick. Besides the health consequences of nicotine on the body, along with addiction to nicotine, one can imagine that these products pose a possible danger to young children who may mistake them for a similar product, such as just a simple toothpick. With Big Tobacco constantly coming up with new products like this, it is important for good policies to be in place to protect youth from harm and addiction.
Read More

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Gilchrist County Dental Offices Highlight Through With Chew Week
February 22, 2020

Dental providers and medical offices in Gilchrist County participated in Through With Chew Week which is a national observation highlighting the problems with smokeless tobacco products, or dip. The Tobacco Free Partnership wanted to focus on dental offices to raise awareness among patients that smokeless tobacco is not harmless. This outreach also created a strong partnership with local dental providers who used the opportunity to educate their patients, or patients parents, about health risks and addiction associated with smokeless product use.

One of the reasons they chose to do this activity was to raise awareness about smokeless tobacco use. In Gilchrist County, 10.7% of youth ages 11-17 are regular smokeless tobacco users. Statewide, that number is only 1.7%, so SWAT members wanted to raise awareness of the problem and engage community members in discussions about tobacco use.  A fact that many people may not know is that anyone who uses smokeless tobacco is more likely to get certain types of cancer, due to at least 28 known carcinogens going into the mouth with every dip.

Providers who participated in the Through With Chew event were: Dr. Stuart in Trenton, Palms Medical in Trenton (including dental offices), the Gilchrist Department of Health dental office, and Palms Medical office in Bell.  Additionally, Best Drugs provided information for people with the Quit Your Way services highlighted, as well as posting informational posters about the dangers of smokeless tobacco. The Tobacco Free Partnership would also like to thank the Gilchrist County Library in Trenton for allowing them to create a display with a variety of smokeless tobacco information, as well as providing Quit Your Way information during Through With Chew Week. Read More

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Local Employers Benefit from Adoption of Tobacco Free Workplace Policies
November 21, 2019

A growing trend finds workplaces making big strides in supporting the health and well-being of their employees by adopting tobacco free workplaces and providing cessation resources to employees who use tobacco.

Locally, a good example in the county would be the Gilchrist County School District, which provides a tobacco free workplace, and supports their employees’ efforts to quit smoking by providing cessation resources to their employees. They are also able to use insurance benefits for cessation support such as nicotine replacement medications and doctor’s visits for support. Additionally, the district has advertised the Quit Your Way Program to employees during the Great American Smoke Out to further encourage the benefits of a tobacco free lifestyle.

Promoting cessation to employees is just one of the Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida’s twelve gold standards for school tobacco policy. These twelve standards provide for reduction of youth and adult tobacco and nicotine use and encourage tobacco free social norms. Some of the twelve standards include: tobacco is specifically named in the policy, not implied by prohibiting drugs, wearing clothing or using other items that advertise or promote tobacco products is prohibited, and school staff are prohibited from using tobacco products on school grounds and at school events, whether on or off school district property.

One of the primary reasons an employer chooses to adopt a tobacco free workplace is the high cost associated with tobacco use at work.  Pack-a-day smokers are estimated to have 75% more lost productive time during the work day than their non-smoking co-workers, and healthcare costs are an average of 34% higher than those who do not use tobacco. (Estimating the cost of a smoking employee, 2013) In Florida, the average loss in productivity annually for a tobacco user at the workplace is $4,056.  The average extra medical expense for tobacco users is $2,056 (1). Read More

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Gilchrist County SWAT 4-H Clubs Say “Don’t Be a Lab Rat!"
October 16, 2019

The second annual Not a Lab Rat Day was held on October 16, 2019. Not A Lab Rat Day will be observed annually on the third Wednesday of October to bring awareness to e-cigarette use among youth, encourage youth to stand up against Big Tobacco and the e-cigarette industry, and to push for change within their communities.

Gilchrist County SWAT 4-H clubs participated in this observance, which is a statewide initiative that empowers youth to stand up and declare that they refuse to be the tobacco and e-cigarette industry’s “lab rats” as we wait and see the long-term health effects of vaping.

SWAT chapters across the state held events at their schools and in their communities to dispel myths and educate their peers about the e-cigarette industry’s connection to Big Tobacco. In Gilchrist County, the SWAT clubs did a poster campaign at Trenton and Bell High Schools, as well as hung up banners encouraging students not be “lab rats” by using e-cigarettes.

The SWAT clubs also got together and participated in the 4-H scarecrow contest, by creating a mad scientist scarecrow display. The mad scientist scarecrow not only was scary for Halloween, but he educated community members on the issues of flavored nicotine products that attract youth to try e-cigarettes or “vapes” as youth call them. The mad scientist display showed how e-cigarettes attract youth through bright colors and candy flavorings.
Read More

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The Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County Elects its Advisory Council for 2019-2020
September 6, 2019

A new slate of Advisory Council members was elected to lead the tobacco prevention outreach of the Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist at the latest quarterly meeting. Advisory Council members Debbie Destin, Lorrie Lee and Jean Troke were re-elected for another year of service.

 
Advisory Council member Lorrie Lee
 

Each member of the Advisory Council has done exemplary work in the community on behalf of the Tobacco Free Partnership including advocating for tobacco free policies and social norms, supporting youth prevention, and even helping to create tobacco-free parks and recreational areas. These activities are community interventions that follow the CDC Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs. The hard work of these volunteer leaders has made a positive difference in the community. Gilchrist County continues to lead the way in the State of Florida in moving toward tobacco-free policies to protect children and adults from the negative impacts of tobacco use, as well as promoting tobacco-free social norms. The Tobacco Free Partnership Advisory Council members are passionate about their community and use their free time to serve others by improving it. We would like to take this opportunity to say “thank you” to each of these dedicated volunteers for their hard work and dedication to the Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist!

 

Lorrie Lee has been a member of the Tobacco Free Partnership for eleven years. She has previously served on the Advisory Council several times and was re-elected to serve again. In addition to her work with the Partnership, she is also a Gilchrist County SWAT 4-H Club Advisor.

We decided to interview Lorrie to find out what makes being part of the Tobacco Free Partnership so important to her. Read More

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Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) in Gilchrist County are Planning for Another Big Year!
September 1, 2019

Gilchrist Students Working Against Tobacco 4-H clubs are established to give young people in Gilchrist County the opportunity to speak out in the community to let people know the ways that tobacco companies target them and their friends to become replacement customers for the 430,000 people who die from tobacco related illness each year.  SWAT youth take this message seriously since approximately 90% of all smokers report that they started smoking before the age of 18.  These young people are dedicated to educating and advocating for policies that will help other youth stay tobacco-free for life.

Gilchrist County SWAT 4-H members plan to be active this year to raise awareness about e-cigarette use among youth. Lately, the news has been filled with articles about young people who have lung damage which doctors have reported to the CDC. The CDC and the FDA are both currently investigating this problem. In an information brief posted on August 30, 2019, the CDC states:

CDC, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state and local health departments, and other clinical and public health partners are investigating a multistate outbreak of severe pulmonary disease associated with e-cigarette product (devices, liquids, refill pods, and/or cartridges) use. This investigation is ongoing and has not identified a cause, but all reported cases have a history of using e-cigarette products (1).

In Gilchrist County, 19.3% of all young people (11-17 yrs.) are regular users of e-cigarettes. Even more shocking is that 30.5% of all students ages 11-17 have ever tried an e-cigarette according to the latest Florida Youth Tobacco Survey. Read More

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Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) is Evaluating Point-of-Sale Marketing of Vaping Products in Gilchrist County
April 29, 2019

One way the Tobacco Free Partnership and SWAT have collaborated recently is through working on common interests in the area of point of sale tobacco marketing issues. The Tobacco Free Partnership recently spoke to the City of Trenton regarding restricting youth access to tobacco products near schools. E-cigarettes (or ENDS) are an important part of this discussion because young people under the age of 18 have turned their interest to trying them, especially the brand called Juul, which is popular among young people.

According to the 2018 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey (FYTS), 31.5% of Gilchrist youth from age 11-17 say they have used an e-cigarette. Since e-cigarettes first came out, that is a 197% increase in the number of Gilchrist youth who have tried e-cigarettes! Additionally, 19.8% of Gilchrist youth from age 11-17 say they CURRENTLY use e-cigarettes (that means they are regular users). That represents a 607% increase in the number of Gilchrist young people who are regular e-cigarette users since they first became available!

These numbers are concerning; however, Gilchrist County is not the only location with high youth use of ENDS products. In fact, the FDA has declared youth e-cigarette use in America to be an “epidemic”. Youth access to ENDS products is a nationwide problem, but local decision makers have tools at their disposal to help reduce the number of young people in their own communities who have access to all kinds of e-cigarette or vapor products.

Some wonder how the young people gain access to these products when Florida law states the age of sale is 18 years of age. The Truth Campaign conducted a study to determine where kids were buying the Juul, and they found that 74% of young people reported getting Juul at a local store. Students could list multiple sources for obtaining Juul, and 52% of them also reported that a friend would purchase it for them. Only 6% of young people reported buying online. Read More

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Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County Celebrates Annual Tobacco Free Florida Week
April 26, 2019

Tobacco Free Florida Week was the week of April 22nd this year and the focus was on the epidemic of youth e-cigarette use. The goal of Tobacco Free Florida was to sound the alarm to the people of the State of Florida that our youth are facing an epidemic of e-cigarette use. The FDA has recently declared the use of e-cigarettes among the nation’s youth as a health crisis and an epidemic. This is because tobacco use among youth had reached an all-time low, until e-cigarettes were introduced onto the market. They quickly became the nicotine product of choice among young people.

Some of the key messages of Tobacco Free Florida Week included the effects of nicotine on a young person’s developing brain. Did you know that youth who use nicotine are at risk for problems with cognition, impulse control and can have deficits in attention span?  The most popular e-cigarette product is called Juul. Each Juul contains about as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes. They come in flavors that appeal to kids and are easy for them to conceal. Some adults may even think they are usb drives instead of nicotine delivery devices.

The Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist worked to shine a light on this issue in the community through the help of several partner organizations. It can be difficult to reach a parents and grandparents of young people with this important information. Therefore, they mounted a campaign directly targeted to places where families would gather so they could get the information into the hands of as many parents as possible. A display was set up at the Trenton Library with a variety of information for Tobacco Free Florida Week. Our Trenton SWAT club also contributed part of their photovoice campaign to the display so that community members could see how Juul is being marketed in local stores where they shop. Sometimes adults don’t see advertising in the same way as young people, so these pictures emphasized that this epidemic is an issue in our own community.

In addition, local health care professionals also participated in Tobacco Free Florida Week by hanging posters with information about e-cigarettes and their effects on the brains and bodies of children and youth in each exam room and in high traffic areas of each office at Palms Medical and Palms Pediatrics in Trenton. The Gilchrist Department of Health also displayed information about Tobacco Free Florida Week at a variety of high traffic locations, including patient exam areas. Read More

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Learn more about the Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County
April 23, 2019

The mission of the Gilchrist County Tobacco-Free Partnership (TFP) is to mobilize community partners to establish long-lasting system and policy changes that promote tobacco-free social norms in order to prevent usage of tobacco products by youth/young adults, encourage and support tobacco cessation, eliminate health hazards of secondhand smoke and decrease the number of deaths due to tobacco products.

The vision of the Gilchrist County Tobacco Free Partnership is to develop and sustain core infrastructures of tobacco prevention and control activities, and promote usage of the Florida Quitline, in a culturally competent manner to deliver services that include diverse service providers represented in all goal areas, including county health departments, schools and higher education institutions, businesses, health care systems and providers, law enforcement, local and statewide non-profit agencies, and others as recommended by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2014 Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs (CDC Best Practices).

The motivation of the Tobacco Free Partnership in Gilchrist County is to reduce the number of youth who try, or use, tobacco and ENDS (electronic nicotine delivery/e-cigarette) products, reduce secondhand smoke exposure among youth and adults, and to encourage adult smoking cessation through local policies. The Florida Youth Tobacco Survey shows that Gilchrist County youth try or use tobacco and ENDS products at a higher rate than the statewide average, and they are exposed to more secondhand smoke as well. Additionally, the adult smoking rate in Gilchrist is higher than the state average according to Florida CHARTS information.

To address the tobacco issues in the community, the Tobacco Free Partnership believes that community education and engagement is a key factor in changing tobacco-related social norms that influence tobacco use. We work with key stakeholders in the community to engage decision makers to create policies to prevent and reduce tobacco use in public places such as community events and recreation areas. The TFP also accomplishes this through sponsoring smoke-free or tobacco and ENDS-free events such as the Christmas on Main festival. Many partnership members participate in other local coalitions which creates an opportunity to educate and participate in larger discussions involving tobacco-related issues in the community. Read More

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The Importance of Creating Tobacco-free Policies
By Tracy DeCubellis
March 5, 2019

It is no secret that tobacco use is harmful. Despite our knowledge of the multitude of cancer causing agents and toxins in tobacco, people still use it. One tobacco product that seems to get a free pass in rural areas is smokeless tobacco (dip/chew/snus). It seems that people have the opinion that it only harms the user and, since there is no smoke, using it in public or at youth functions is not as much of an issue as smoking or vaping might be.

It is important to correct that belief as it is untrue. Smokeless tobacco use can increase the risk of oral cancer by 80% and pancreatic cancer by 60%. According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are at least 28 cancer causing agents in smokeless tobacco. Since smokeless tobacco is actually “spit” tobacco, no one can really say it only impacts the user. It impacts the people around the user as well as the environment.

The trend across the State of Florida is creating tobacco-free policies for recreational spaces, especially those that are youth-focused. In our area alone, there are many tobacco-free policies. Some of these tobacco-free events (including cigarettes, e-cigarettes or vaping, and smokeless) and venues in our area include:

Read More

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Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Celebrate "Through With Chew Week"!
February 21, 2019

Members of the three Gilchrist County SWAT 4-H clubs participated in Through With Chew Week activities on Thursday, February 21st.

Trenton SWAT 4-H members held an after-school community Through With Chew event at the Trenton Library. The club created a display with information such as what happens to the mouth when someone dips, including the white patches that can develop on the tongue or inside the mouth, and the damage that tobacco can do to teeth.

SWAT members presented information about the health impacts of using smokeless tobacco products, including the oral health side effects. Using a prop call Mr. Gross Mouth, SWAT members could show youth and adults the damage smokeless products can do to the soft tissues in the mouth, as well as gum, tooth, and bone loss.

One of the reasons they chose to do this activity was to raise awareness about smokeless tobacco use. In Gilchrist County, 10.7% of youth ages 11-17 are regular smokeless tobacco users. Statewide, that number is only 1.7%, so SWAT members wanted to raise awareness of the problem and engage community members in discussions about tobacco use.  A fact that many people may not know is that anyone who uses smokeless tobacco is more likely to get certain types of cancer, due to at least 28 known carcinogens going into the mouth with every dip. Read More

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Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Members Have a Busy Autumn!
December 7, 2018

This has been a busy quarter for Gilchrist County SWAT.  At the beginning of November, two SWAT youth from Trenton and Bell participated in a regional training event that brought youth together from North East Florida to discuss many tobacco issues such as e-cigarettes and youth tobacco use, as well as learning important skills like public speaking.  SWAT youth also learned some of the key aspects of advocacy such as learning how to educate and speak with knowledge on tobacco topics that impact themselves and their peers in the community. The regional event was held to help SWAT youth connect with other SWAT clubs around the state and bring back the latest information and ideas to Gilchrist County. 

Bell SWAT club participated in Red Ribbon Week by promoting tobacco-free norms and promoting Not a Lab Rat Day. This is a new observance where SWAT youth advocate for themselves to not be used by e-cigarette companies as test subjects for the new products. Trenton SWAT worked on viral marketing by doing a SWAT rock painting activity to hide tobacco-free messages on rocks around Gilchrist County. Another way SWAT wants to reach the community is through projects like photovoice which allows youth to take pictures in the community to share their perspective with community leaders and other adults. Read More

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Local Tobacco Free Partnership Promotes Tobacco Free Workplaces During Annual Great American Smokeout
November 15, 2018

The Gilchrist Tobacco Free Partnership and encouraged local employers to recognize the Great American Smoke Out (GASO) at their workplaces this year. Palms Medical offices in Trenton, Gilchrist County, and Best Drugs all participated in the observance this year. Each employer gave out palm cards with information on the cost of smoking, and how much money tobacco users would save if they kicked the habit. Cessation information was also provided as part of the Great American Smoke Out observance in Gilchrist County.

The Great American Smoke Out is a national day created by the American Cancer Society to encourage people to quit smoking.  Tobacco use is the number one cause of premature death in the United States, killing approximately 500,000 people each year.  This number includes about 10% of people who are not smokers themselves, but are people who live with smokers and are harmed by inhaling secondhand smoke.

Every year Tobacco Free Florida works with organizations in all 67 Florida counties to promote tobacco cessation during the week of GASO.  Smokers who quit receive immediate benefits, and over the long-term can drastically reduce their chance of cancer and heart disease to almost the same levels as if they had never smoked.  That is good news for anyone who wants to break the habit and rid themselves of nicotine addiction. Read More

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Students Working Against Tobacco Will be Telling the Vaping Industry that They are "Not a Lab Rats"!
September 20, 2018

Students Working Against Tobacco clubs are established to give young people in Gilchrist County the opportunity to speak out in the community to let people know the ways in which tobacco companies target them and their friends to become replacement customers for the 430,000 people who die from tobacco related illness each year.  SWAT youth take this message seriously since approximately 90% of all smokers report that they started smoking before the age of 18.  These youth are dedicated to educating and advocating for policies that will help other youth stay tobacco-free for life.

Gilchrist County SWAT youth are active this year to educate the community about the issue of e-cigarette use among youth. In Gilchrist County, 19.3% of all young people (11-17 yrs.) are regular users of e-cigarettes. Even more shocking is that 30.5% of all students ages 11-17 have ever tried an e-cigarette according to the latest Florida Youth Tobacco Survey. The FDA has recently called e-cigarette use among young people “an epidemic.” Gilchrist SWAT members have been working since the beginning of the school year to have outreach events to try to stop this epidemic of young people who are becoming addicted to nicotine through non-traditional tobacco products. Their message this school year is: Not a Lab Rat, which means that they don’t want their generation to be the ones who find out what kinds of harms might come to them from using e-cigarettes the way past generations have with traditional cigarettes. Read More

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Point-of-Sale Tobacco Advertising Increases the Risk of Youth Tobacco Use
By Tracy DeCubellis
September 6, 2018

The new school year is just starting for 2018-2019. It is a busy and exciting time as students move up to the next grade level, or start school for the first time. Busses, minivans, and groups of students walking together all converge upon the schools with great energy and excitement about what potential this new school year has in store.

As the busses, minivans, and groups of students make their way to the school, however, they are all passing tobacco advertisements at local retailers. They see advertisements with price promotions, or maybe even new electronic smoking gadgets like e-cigarettes or vapes. So, while they are going to school to learn lifelong lessons that will serve them into adulthood, are they also being influenced on the way to and from school to pick up a habit that will last them into adulthood?

If there is one thing we’ve learned from tobacco company internal memos it is that they have their eyes on our youth as their next group of customers. When Congress gained access to internal tobacco company memos, we found out for sure that added flavors like cherry and honey, colors, and even branding were all geared to attract the attention of kids.

An organization started by the University of North Carolina called Counter Tobacco explains what is happening at gas stations and convenience stores where tobacco is being sold. They explain that tobacco companies are spending $1,000,000 per day in advertising at local retail shops. That means tobacco companies are using ads to build relationships with potential customers. Those potential customers are our kids. Read More

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E-Cigarettes:  Lies, Myths, and the Research (Part 2)
By Tracy DeCubellis
June 8, 2018

In our last article in the e-cigarette series, the chemicals in e-cigarette emissions were discussed. Now that we have evidence that nicotine and other chemicals are present in e-cigarette aerosol emissions, it’s time to focus attention on a specific ingredient in e-cigarette liquid – flavorings.

When e-cigarettes first came on the scene, it didn’t take long to see that highly flavored liquids were a main ingredient in the e-juice that is turned into the aerosol that users inhale and then exhale into the environment. There are so many flavors available through hundreds of different manufacturers and retailers. It is hard to know how many flavors there really are. One study estimates more than 8,000 different flavors are sold in the United States (Kaur, Muthumalage & Rahman, 2018). Since 2009 it has been illegal for these flavorings to be added to traditional cigarettes, but they are still available in e-cigarettes.

There was concern when e-cigarettes first came out about so many flavored e-cigarettes available because they would be attractive to kids. E-cigarette advocates often tried to refute that objection with the statement that adults like flavors, also.

Do youth start using e-cigarettes because of the flavors that are available?
According to recent research, the answer may be “yes”. In fact, among Texas youth (ages 12-17), 72.9% of those who use e-cigarettes said they started using them because “They come in flavors I like” (Harrell et al., 2017). Among youth (ages 12-17) who are current e-cigarette users, 98.6% said they used flavored e-cigarettes the first time they tried them (Harrell et al., 2017). Among adults nationwide (age 30+) who were surveyed, just 44.1% said they used e-cigarettes in a flavor other than tobacco-flavor the first time they tried them (Harrell et al., 2017).

What is the FDA doing about flavored e-cigarettes now?
In May of 2018, the FDA and the FTC issued warning letters to 13 different manufacturers or distributors because they were marketing their e-cigarette liquids to look like food or candy. In a press release on May 1, 2018, the FDA said, “No child should be using any tobacco product, and no tobacco products should be marketed in a way that endangers kids – especially by using imagery that misleads them into thinking the products are things they’d eat or drink” (U.S. Food & Drug Administration, 2018). Read More


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Gilchrist County Celebrates the 10th Annual Tobacco Free Florida Week!
April 8, 2018

The week of April 2nd-8th was the 10th annual Tobacco Free Florida Week. It was during this week that Tobacco Free Florida reached out to Floridians to encourage them to be tobacco free. Several locations around the community participated in Tobacco Free Florida Week outreach including the Trenton Library, Best Drugs and Palms Medical Offices in Trenton. Each of these locations posted information about Tobacco Free Florida Week which included information about how to quit for free.

The goal was to get information out to the community to encourage living a tobacco free lifestyle, as well as educating people who may not have been reached in previous campaigns. This year, Tobacco Free Florida Week focused on groups of people who are impacted by tobacco use at a higher rate than some other groups. One such group of concern in Gilchrist County would be people living in the lower income groups, especially people who make less than $30,000. The reason is that they are more likely to smoke, and they also tend to suffer more health consequences of smoking compared to people who have higher incomes. Read More

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E-Cigarettes:  Lies, Myths, and the Research (Part 1)
By Tracy DeCubellis
March 21, 2018

When e-cigarettes came on the scene a few years ago, it was like the Wild West where few regulations existed and companies could make just about any claim they wanted about the products. Manufacturers essentially mislead the public by declaring them to be safe, non-toxic, and a tobacco cessation device.

It is ironic that early e-cigarettes were promoted as superior way to quit tobacco by the manufacturers, because e-cigarette companies went to Federal court and claimed that they were tobacco products, and not cessation devices. In a later Federal court case, Sottera v U.S. FDA, a judge ruled that e-cigarette products are tobacco and are subject to FDA rules on tobacco. The FDA now has jurisdiction over regulating e-cigarette products. (For more information on FDA regulation of e-cigarettes click here.)

So, let’s address some of the “lies and myths” surrounding e-cigarettes by seeing what researchers have learned.

 

I heard e-cigarettes are safe, “water vapor”.

The first thing we need to look at is the research showing what is in e-cigarette vapor. Is this just “water vapor” as so many commercials claimed just a few years ago? Based on research, certainly not. In fact, some chemicals found in exhaled e-cigarette vapor include, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds (VOC), polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAC), carbonyls, metals, and nicotine (Schober, et al., 2013). Researchers have also discovered that up to 15 times the amount of formaldehyde is formed as a result of a chemical reaction when e-juice is “vaped” in a higher voltage e-cigarette device compared to regular cigarette smoking (Jenson, et al., 2015). These are the types of e-devices that enable the user to make modifications, and are often used to make large clouds of vapor. Read More

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Gilchrist County SWAT 4-H Clubs Highlight Through With Chew Week
February 21, 2018

Members of the three Gilchrist County SWAT 4-H clubs participated in Through With Chew Week activities on Wednesday, February 21st.

At Trenton and Bell High Schools, SWAT club members created a poster campaign by displaying posters with messages like “Skip the Dip”, “Through With Chew”, and “Skip the Dip and Save Your Lips”. These posters were intended to create tobacco-free messaging in the schools, as well as influence social norms of their peers. This is important because in Gilchrist County, 19% of all high school students have tried smokeless tobacco, and 10.5% are current, regular users of smokeless tobacco products according to the 2016 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey results.

Trenton SWAT 4-H members also held an after-school community Through With Chew event at the Trenton Library on February 21st. SWAT members presented information about the health impacts of using smokeless tobacco products, including the oral health side effects. Using a prop call Mr. Gross Mouth, SWAT members could show youth and adults the damage smokeless products can do to the soft tissues in the mouth, as well as gum, tooth, and bone loss. One of the reasons they chose to do this activity was to raise awareness about smokeless tobacco use. Read More

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Meet the Leaders of the Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Chapter!
December 7, 2017

We recently sat down and spoke with our chapter SWAT president, Hannah Turner, and our chapter vice president, Daica Putman to discuss Students Working Against Tobacco. Hannah and Daica are our Gilchrist County representatives to our state and regional SWAT meetings, and it is their responsibility to bring the regional and statewide initiatives back to Gilchrist so that they can help end tobacco use.

Hannah Turner

Q: How long have you been a SWAT member, and why did you join?
A: I have been a SWAT member for five years, since I was in 7th grade. I joined because both of my older siblings were involved in SWAT, and also because cigarette smoking is annoying to deal with in public places. Also, family members have already died of cancer and smoking causes cancer.

Q: What are the benefits of being a county representative at regional SWAT meetings?
A: It’s really interesting because I get to see what other people in other counties are doing in their SWAT programs, and I get to share what is happening in my own program. I also get ideas on what we can do in our own county.

 


From L to R:
Daica Putman and Hannah Turner

 

Q: What ideas or activities have you learned at a regional SWAT meeting that you would like to bring back to Gilchrist County?
A: The coolest activity was a team building activity that had us really rely on others. We had to help our team make our way through a course together.

Q: What would you like to accomplish in SWAT by the end of this school year?
A: I would like to recruit more members to keep peers from using tobacco. That way we can reach out to the whole community to keep people from getting cancer. Read More

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The Importance of Creating Comprehensive Tobacco-free Worksite Policies
Tracy DeCubellis, M.S.
November 29, 2017

It is no secret that tobacco use is harmful. Despite our knowledge of the multitude of carcinogens and toxins in tobacco, people still use it during work hours. According to the Center for Disease control, tobacco use in the workplace accounts for the most lost worker productivity compared to other causes such as family emergencies or alcohol abuse(1).

Tobacco use and recreational nicotine use via e-cigarettes at work can cost employers money. The loss of productivity for a business with smokers is estimated to cost $4,056 in productivity and $2,056 in medical costs per year(2). Additionally, unless an employer creates a tobacco-free policy for the workplace that includes e-cigarettes and vapor products, employees may be able to use their recreational nicotine devices at work. Some counties and municipalities have laws regulating these products, but Florida does not restrict their use indoors.

Businesses that create tobacco-free campus policies protect the health and wellbeing of employees. This type of campus wide policy may encourage employees who use tobacco to quit the habit, especially if the campus tobacco-free policy includes cessation help for those who currently use tobacco or recreational nicotine products like e-cigarettes. This is important because statewide, of the 15.8% of adults who currently smoke, 64.9% of them have tried to stop in the last year(3). Read More

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Local Employers Benefit from Adoption of Tobacco Free Workplace Policies
November 16, 2017

Trenton, Florida – A growing trend finds workplaces making big strides in supporting the health and well-being of their employees by adopting tobacco free workplaces and providing cessation resources to employees who use tobacco.

Locally, a good example in the county would be the Gilchrist County School District, which provides a tobacco free workplace, and supports their employees’ efforts to quit smoking by providing cessation resources to their employees. They are also able to use insurance benefits for cessation support such as nicotine replacement medications and doctor’s visits for support. Additionally, the district has advertised the Quit Your Way program, offered by Tobacco Free Florida, to employees to further encourage the benefits of a tobacco free lifestyle.

The free Quit Your Way program allows employees to call, go online, or even attend face-to-face cessation classes, many of which have been hosted at their places of employment in order to support tobacco cessation efforts. Read More

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Big Tobacco Has a Plan to Market Products in Rural Areas
September 7, 2017

It is well known that tobacco companies market heavily in Florida and the United States. In fact, tobacco companies spent over $8 billion dollars marketing cigarettes in 2014 alone. Florida is one of the states where tobacco targets the largest amount of marketing dollars. Cigarettes aren’t the only thing marketed to us, either. Smokeless tobacco companies spent about $600 million dollars in marketing products in 2014.  In addition to the vast quantities of money spent by tobacco companies to advertise their products here on the local level, they study certain “markets”, or groups of people, to figure out what kinds of messages will sell their products.


 

In rural areas, tobacco companies use a variety of marketing messages. Some of the most popular are using camo, outdoor imagery, or some kind of rugged image such as the Marlboro Man. This is because tobacco companies actually study people in different groups. They want to know what kinds of things appeal to us so they can tailor their advertising toward the target audience.

One of the target groups for tobacco companies is people living in rural areas, especially people who like to hunt, fish, and even farmers. The themes used in tobacco advertisements geared toward rural residents have centered around the idea of being rugged, or tying the act of smoking or dipping as part of the outdoor experience. Tobacco ads from the past reinforced the idea of smoking while hunting, for example, by showing a bird hunter with his German Shorthair Pointer and using terms such as “mild experience”.  Another former cigarette ad shows a sportsman holding a fishing rod while smoking. The words used in the ad included “swagger”, “distinctive” and “alert”. This paints a favorable picture to sportsmen about smoking in connection to fishing. Everyone remembers the Marlboro Man who was used to portray smoking as a strong, rugged activity that would make men appear to be like him.

 

 

 

Read More

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Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County Names New Advisory Board for 2017-2018
August 31, 2017

A new slate of Advisory Council members was elected to lead the tobacco prevention outreach of the Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist at the latest quarterly meeting.

The newest member of the Advisory Council is Susan Gibb. Susan is the School Health Coordinator for the Gilchrist County Health Department. She has been a Registered Nurse for 42 years and has worked in public health, women’s health and pediatrics. smoking and secondhand smoke on both adults and children. The Partnership is pleased to welcome Susan to the Advisory Council and they look forward to working with her to improve the health of community members while working toward tobacco-free social norms.

Lorrie Akin has been a member of the Tobacco Free Partnership for eight years. She has previously served on the Advisory Council and was re-elected to serve again. In addition to her work with the Partnership, she is also a Gilchrist County SWAT Advisor. As a member of the Gilchrist Character Council, Lorrie worked with the group to create a tobacco-free policy at the Loomis Brother’s Circus. The Character Council sponsors this yearly event which remains a tobacco-free event for families to enjoy. This policy not only protects people from secondhand smoke, but it also helps promote tobacco-free norms to youth. Lorrie also feels that it is important to serve on the Partnership so that she can help inform other people about the negative issues regarding tobacco products. Thank you, Lorrie, for your long-term commitment to the Tobacco Free Partnership and for your work in the community. Read More

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Tobacco Free Events are Trending Up in Florida
May 30, 2017

Everyone knows there is no smoking allowed in most public buildings in Florida thanks to the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act (FCIAA). This is a great thing for the more than 80% of us to do not smoke or use other forms of tobacco because we are protected from breathing secondhand smoke in places like malls, restaurants, and theaters. Thanks to our FCIAA, our children will never have the experience of having to choose a “smoking” or “non-smoking” area in a restaurant, or be exposed to cigarette smoke in almost any public indoor environment the way that we did when we were children. However, while the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act restricts smoking in most public indoor spaces, it does not allow municipalities or counties to create outdoor clean air policies such as beaches or parks due to a provision in the law called preemption which only allows state lawmakers to create such policies.

Floridians are becoming increasingly tobacco free, as even the youth cigarette smoking rate is lower than most states in the county. As a result of individuals and families wanting tobacco free outdoor entertainment, there is an exciting trend happening at North Central Florida – tobacco free festivals and events.  Event and festival tobacco free policies are completely allowed as the FCIAA only preempts a municipal or county ordinance regarding clean outdoor air. Therefore, many local community festivals and observances are going tobacco free!

One of the first festivals in North Central Florida to go tobacco free was the Cross City Fly-In and Business Expo in Dixie County in 2016.  The Tobacco Free Partnership of Dixie County partnered with the Dixie Chamber of Commerce to create a tobacco free event policy. The Cross City Fly-In and Business Expo is a yearly event that is sponsored by the Dixie County Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of creating a tobacco free festival was to provide those who attended or worked at the event with a safe and healthy environment.  In 2017, the event was not only tobacco free, but e-cigarette use was included in the policy, making this a truly ground breaking festival in protecting the health of the community by eliminating any exposure to tobacco, secondhand smoke or secondhand vapor.  The Dixie County Chamber of Commerce estimates that approximately 3,000 people attended the Fly-In this year, giving it a large impact in the community by supporting tobacco free social norms. Read More

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Tobacco Free Florida Week Focuses on "The Cost of Smoking"!
May 12, 2017

Tobacco Free Florida Week was held during the week of May 7th this year. The theme was “The Cost of Smoking.” Most people know that smoking is not healthy. Did you know that smokers die an average of 10 years earlier than nonsmokers? In Florida, 30% of all cancer deaths are due to smoking. Some smokers live with chronic conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or another smoking related illness that reduces the quality of life for those individuals.

Besides the health costs of smoking, many people don’t consider the financial costs of smoking. For a person who smokes one pack of cigarettes per day in Florida, it can cost $2000 per year. Since 90% of smokers first tried using cigarettes by age 18, imagine the lifetime cost of smoking over the years. In just five years, $10,000 will be spent on cigarettes for a pack-a-day smoker. What could you do with $10,000? Tobacco use costs thousands of dollars for families each year. Read More

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Youth E-Cigarette Use On the Rise in Florida
By Tracy DeCubellis
March 21, 2017

Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are fast becoming a threat to the historically low use of tobacco products among Florida youth.

The e-cigarette was invented in 2004, making it a fairly new product on the market which has just recently come under state and federal regulations. 
For over a decade e-cigarettes and other nicotine vaporizer products were on the market before any substantial regulations were enacted, including the way e-cigarettes were advertised. Florida law officially banned the sale of e-cigarettes to minors starting on July 1, 2014 and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) initiated deeming regulations in 2016.

However, in the absence of marketing regulations, e-cigarette companies wasted no time following in the footsteps of traditional Big Tobacco, marketing by advertising their products in ways that especially appeal to youth. Flavors and colors were added to attract younger users. Music festivals, concerts and other events were sponsored by e-cigarette companies. Television and radio commercials, which are off-limits for traditional tobacco products, were used to send the message that e-cigarettes provide a cool, hip way for young people to “be free” or be more “adult”.

Apparently, young people were paying attention to these e-cigarette advertising campaigns. The 2016 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey (FYTS) results have been released and the data indicate a substantial increase in the number of young people who use e-cigarettes in our state.  According to the 2016 survey results, 6.4% of middle school students are current e-cigarette users and 18% of high school students are current e-cigarette users.

The first year e-cigarette use was measured by the FYTS was 2012. Between 2012-2016, the percent change in e-cigarette use by middle school student was 300% and the percent change for high school students was 445.5%. The number of young Floridians using e-cigarettes continues to rise each year and the number is now more than three times higher than the number of youth who smoke traditional cigarettes.
Read More

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Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Celebrate Kick Butts Day!
March 17, 2017

March has been a busy month for Gilchrist County SWAT.  Kick Butts Day was celebrated this month, which is a national observance held by youth around the entire country to bring focus in their local communities about the ways tobacco companies intentionally target young people through point-of-purchase advertising and other marketing techniques designed to encourage youth initiation of tobacco products. 

Trenton SWAT held their Kick Butts Day observance at the middle and high school to reach a larger number of youth.  SWAT youth set up a banner urging students to take a stand against all forms of tobacco.  This included letting other youth know that tobacco products actually contain some nasty chemicals.  Students signed their names to the banner as a symbol of their personal stand against tobacco. SWAT youth interacted with students in each grade level which enabled them to reach over 200 students with a tobacco-free message.  The Bell SWAT club chose to organize a poster campaign earlier in the month with messages intended to warn students about the dangers of smokeless tobacco use.  Both SWAT events brought attention and energy to this issue, and it is the hope of Gilchrist SWAT members that their efforts will pay off by creating a change in the social norms about youth tobacco use. We already saw evidence of youth attitudes changing during the Trenton SWAT stand against tobacco event. When asked if he would sign his name to stand against tobacco one high school student said, “Absolutely, I will! No one should use the stuff!” Other students expressed similar sentiments regarding their willingness to make a stand against tobacco during these events, as well. Read More

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QuitDoc Foundation and Tobacco Free Florida are raising awareness during “Through with Chew Week”
February 10, 2017

Trenton, Fla. – QuitDoc Foundation and the Florida Department of Health’s Tobacco Free Florida program are raising awareness about the dangers of smokeless tobacco – like chew and dip – during Through With Chew Week. This national public awareness campaign was created to reduce the use of smokeless tobacco among young people, and Tobacco Free Florida aims to help combat this deadly addiction. Through With Chew Week takes place Feb. 19-25, with the Great American Spit Out – a day when smokeless tobacco users join together to quit – on Feb. 23.

Although the youth cigarette smoking rate in Florida decreased over 50 percent between 2012 and 2016, the number of Florida high school students who reported current use of smokeless tobacco products decreased only 24.5 percent in those same four years. The disproportionately higher rate of smokeless tobacco use in rural areas is also alarming – current youth smokeless tobacco use is more than three times higher in rural communities than in non-rural areas. 8.4% of youth ages 11-17 in Gilchrist County reported current use of smokeless tobacco products in 2016, according to the Florida Youth Tobacco Survey.

“While we’re proud that youth smoking is at an all-time low, the number of young Floridians using smokeless tobacco is decreasing at a dramatically slower rate,” said State Surgeon General and Secretary Dr. Celeste Philip. "We need to do more to educate about the risks and deter our young people of using these products.”

 

To raise awareness about the dangers of smokeless tobacco use, QuitDoc Foundation is working with area dental clinics and dentist offices including the Gilchrist County Department of Health Dental Clinic, Palms Medical Dental Clinic, and Dental Office of Dr. Cox in Trenton to spread awareness of the dangers of smokeless tobacco, as well as providing cessation information during the week of Through With Chew Week from February 19-25. Read More

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The Issue of Smokeless Tobacco
January 17, 2017

Smokeless tobacco is not burned, contains nicotine and is addictive. Smokeless tobacco is typically called spit tobacco, chewing tobacco, chew, dip, plug, and probably a few other things. Types of smokeless tobacco include:

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The Tobacco Free Partnership Participates in Gilchrist County Tobacco Litter Clean up
November 19, 2016

The Tobacco Free Partnership has been working hard in the community over the past few months. 

In November, members participated in the Suwannee River Clean Up which was organized through the Gilchrist County Chamber of Commerce. After reading a recent article on the negative environmental impact of tobacco waste in the QuitDoc Foundation quarterly newsletter, the Partnership was invited to participate in the event to educate community members about the issue as well as to clean up the tobacco waste.  Along with other clean-up gear such as gloves, participants were asked to place tobacco trash in disposable quart-sized bags which included facts about tobacco waste being the number one pollution on beaches and waterways around the world.

The clean-up began at the Hart Springs boat ramp, and it did not take long for lots of tobacco waste to be discovered. Community members found not only cigarette butts, but sometimes nearly full packs of unused cigarettes had been discarded at the riverside. Cigar filter tips, some with pieces of cigar still attached, and cigar wrappers were also littered around the Suwannee River.  These are obviously made of plastic, and have no chance of decomposing in the natural environment for dozens, if not hundreds, of years to come.  Several containers from smokeless tobacco products were also found at the water’s edge. All of these remnants undoubtedly left hazardous nicotine in the environment which has been shown to harm all kinds of aquatic wildlife. Read More

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Tobacco Free Florida and Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County Encourage Tobacco Users to Quit on the Great American Smokeout on November 17, 2016
November 11, 2016

WHO/WHAT: In observance of the Great American Smokeout, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, Tobacco Free Florida and the Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County encourage tobacco users to use the day to make a quit plan  or to plan in advance to quit smoking on that day – November 17, 2016.

Gilchrist County Employers such as Otter Springs, Gilchrist County Health Department, Three Rivers Library and Palms Medical Group will host workplace events to raise awareness about Tobacco Free Florida’s free and proven-effective resources available to Floridians to successfully quit. The “Quit Your Way” program provides users interested in quitting access to free tools, including a 2-Week Starter Kit of nicotine replacement patches, Text2Quit, Email Tips and a Quit Guide. They can choose as many as they need or use them in addition to Tobacco Free Florida’s Phone, Group and Web Quit services. Read More

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Gilchrist County Youth Attend Regional Students Working Against Tobacco Training in Palatka, Florida
November 5, 2016

Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) members take their mission to save their generation from tobacco use very seriously. Not even the first hurricane to hit the State of Florida in a decade could dampen their resolve to be the voice of youth working against the influence of Big Tobacco. 

Youth in the region were all set to gather together to commit themselves to regional and local plans to engage peers and community members to take a stand against tobacco when Hurricane Matthew appeared in the Atlantic. Although their meeting had to be postponed, not even the winds of a hurricane stopped their determination to work together to impact their communities for change.

After the winds died down and power was restored, on November 5th, SWAT youth from Gilchrist County and SWAT Region 2, gathered together in Palatka to do just that as they gathered together under the theme, “Leave Your Mark”.  The training started out with a series of ice breakers designed to help the youth get to know each other, as well as providing activities that can be brought back into their own communities to use with their individual clubs.  Current work and tobacco prevention trends around the country were discussed, as SWAT youth learned about the nationwide movement to raise the smoking and tobacco use age to 21. Read More

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Tobacco Impacts on our Local Environment
By Tracy DeCubellis
September 19, 2016

Around the United States, many recreation areas such as beaches, parks, and other nature and recreational areas have attempted to stem the tide of environmental damage caused by tobacco waste by creating tobacco free areas.  Many people tend to think of tobacco in terms of secondhand smoke, which is important to be sure, but it is not often that the impact of those cigarette butts, e-cigarette waste, snuff and snus pouches, and other tobacco residue is actually having on natural areas and wildlife when people use them in natural settings. 

It is a well-known fact that tobacco products contain a variety of toxins like nicotine, benzene, cadmium, formaldehyde, arsenic, and a variety of other chemicals. They do not disappear when someone is finished using a tobacco product and they throw it on the ground. Instead, the toxins that remain in the product are deposited on the ground.  Did you know that cigarette butts are not biodegradable? All of those cigarette butts that are thrown on the ground stay there, polluting the environment. The sad fact is that cigarette butts are the number one source of beach pollution around the world (1). In fact, only about 10% of all cigarette butts are actually thrown away or put into ashtrays (2). Read More

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The Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County Elects New Advisory Council
September 7, 2016

The Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County recently held a meeting where a new Advisory Council was elected which includes two adult members, a young adult college student, and a member of Students Working Against Tobacco.

The youth members are both returning Advisory Council members, Joshua Akin who is a Santa Fe College student, and Kalin Siegel who is a member of SWAT and a high school student. Other members include a returning member, Jamie Hinote, who is the Outreach and Eligibility Specialist for Palms Medical Group.  She also leads the local tobacco cessation groups in association with Suwannee River AHEC which are held at Palms Medical’s Trenton Office.

A new Advisory Council member is Debbie Destin who is very active in the community. Ms. Destin owns Destin’s Dance and Fitness Academy in Bell, Florida. She is also the Events and Activities Director for ForVets which is a Veterans organization that operates Otter Springs in Gilchrist County.

Each member of the Tobacco Free Partnership Advisory Council brings unique talents and abilities to the group, as well as a passion for making Gilchrist County a healthier place by reducing the impact of tobacco use on youth and adults in the community. Two of our SWAT club alumni are also returning members of the Tobacco Free Partnership: Joshua Akin and Cheyenne Siegel. They bring years of experience in public speaking, leadership activities, and an understanding of how tobacco exposure and advertising impacts young people in Gilchrist County.

 

Read More

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SWAT Spotlight: Long-Time SWAT Leader Josh Akin Graduates from Trenton High School
June 7, 2016

As school comes to an end and graduations are held across the county, it is time for us to say goodbye to one of our hardest working SWAT members, Joshua Akin, as he finishes his high school career.  Joshua was in 7th grade when he joined the Trenton SWAT club making him one of the longest serving SWAT members in Gilchrist County.


Josh Akin (L) and Chandler Ash (R) at Daytona Speedway

Joshua has served in several leadership positions as a SWAT member, including acting as our county representative to regional SWAT meetings.  He was part of the SWAT youth delegation that helped celebrate the smoke-free stands at the Daytona Speedway and represented Gilchrist County SWAT at the event.  He was the Vice President of the Trenton SWAT club, and also served on the Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County for several years as an Advisory Council member. 

In addition to his leadership activities, Joshua spent many hours during his SWAT club membership working with local, state, and national leaders.  Locally, Joshua was proud to be an integral part of working with the cities of Trenton and Fanning Springs and the Town of Bell to pass flavored tobacco resolutions in each municipality.  Never one to back away from a public speaking opportunity, Joshua even presented to his school board about current issues with tobacco and youth, and asked them to consider strengthening their tobacco policy.  Although they didn’t change the policy that day, a few months later tobacco use and possession were added as a higher level offenses, and e-cigarettes were included as tobacco in school policy.

 


From L to R:  Karina Turner, Hannah Turner, Josh Akin

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Gilchrist County Recognizes Annual Tobacco Free Florida Week
May 13, 2016

The week of May 8-14 marked the annual celebration of Tobacco Free Florida Week throughout the state.  Members of the Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County (TFP) worked to make sure that as many community members as possible were reached. This year’s message focused on the dangers of secondhand smoke, and the fact that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.  The Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida designed a poster campaign to highlight this message, and it was especially aimed at encouraging Floridians to not smoke around children.

The idea in Gilchrist County was to educate as many people as possible, as well as provide people with 3 Ways to Quit information during Tobacco Free Florida Week. As a result, ten locations throughout the county displayed posters (in English and Spanish), and had cessation information available. These locations included:

In addition, Bell Middle School SWAT 4-H club members held an afternoon event to educate their peers about secondhand smoke, and the Gilchrist County Chamber of Commerce connected members who wanted to participate via the weekly newsletter.
Read More

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QuitDoc Foundation Exposes the Risks of Secondhand Smoke
Eighth Annual Tobacco Free Florida Week Aims to Break the Myth that Secondhand Smoke is Harmless
April 28, 2016

Trenton, Fla. – The Florida Department of Health’s Tobacco Free Florida program and QuitDoc Foundation are launching a new initiative, Secondhand Smoke Exposed, as part of the eighth annual Tobacco Free Florida Week, taking place May 8-14, to educate Gilchrist County residents about the dangers of secondhand smoke.

This year’s theme, Secondhand Smoke Exposed, focuses on dispelling the common myth that secondhand smoke is harmless. The fact is that breathing even small amounts of secondhand smoke can be dangerous. Information about avoiding secondhand smoke and how to access local cessation services will be available at many local businesses, health care providers, and veterinary offices... Read More

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Gilchrist County Youth Work Toward a Tobacco Free Future
March 16, 2016

BELL, Fla. – Gilchrist County’s Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) spoke up and took action against the tobacco industry for the 21st annual Kick Butts Day on March 16. This national day of activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, empowers youth to fight back against Big Tobacco.

The Bell Middle School SWAT 4-H club held an event to raise awareness among their peers called “Big Tobacco Can’t Have My Brain” which focused on the way big tobacco is addicting young people to tobacco. The club encouraged students of all grades to write down what they were using their brains for instead of getting addicted to tobacco. Students have big plans and big dreams like going to college, getting a good job, playing sports, and becoming a doctor. They plan on remaining tobacco-free to reach their future goals. Read More

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Smokeless Tobacco Use Remains High in Gilchrist County
QuitDoc Foundation and Tobacco Free Florida are raising awareness during “Through with Chew Week” February 2, 2016

Trenton, Fla. – QuitDoc Foundation and the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida are raising awareness about the dangers of smokeless tobacco, like chew and dip, during “Through With Chew Week.” This public awareness campaign was created to reduce the use of smokeless tobacco among young people and help combat this deadly addiction. “Through With Chew Week” takes place Feb. 14-20.

To raise awareness about the dangers of smokeless tobacco use, Gilchrist County SWAT members will be collecting signatures in support of creating tobacco-free community events during Through With Chew Week, in various locations.

Although youth cigarette smoking rates in Florida are at an all-time low, 12.2 percent of high school students in Gilchrist reported current use of smokeless tobacco products in 2014, according to the Florida Youth Tobacco Survey.  This is significantly higher than the state average of 5.4 percent.

“Smokeless tobacco products contain harmful chemicals that are known to cause cancer,” said Shannon Hughes, Director of the Florida Department of Health’s Community Health Promotion. "Youth who use smokeless products are more likely to experiment with other types of tobacco. Studies have shown that adolescent boys who use smokeless tobacco have a higher risk of becoming cigarette smokers.” Read More

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United States Congress Passes Child Nicotine Poisoning Protection Act; The Bill Now Goes to President Obama for His Signature
January 11, 2016

On January 11, 2016, the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation requiring that liquid nicotine be sold in child-resistant packaging, consistent with Consumer Product Safety Commission standards.The Senate previously approved the legislation (the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act), which is designed to protect children from poisoning from highly concentrated vials of liquid nicotine.  The bill now heads to the White House for President Obama's signature.

"In recent years, the marketing of unregulated flavored nicotine products has led to a surge in accidental ingestion by children," said Dr. Barry Hummel, a Pediatrician and Co-Founder of the Quit Doc Foundation. "The new law will hold candy-flavored nicotine, including bubble gum and gummy bear flavored products, to the same standards as other over-the-counter drugs by requiring child-resistant packaging." Read More

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Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County Elects New Advisory Board
November 10, 2015

The Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County recently elected new Advisory Council members including two youth members and two adult members to lead the tobacco prevention outreach of the group in Gilchrist County.

Kalin Siegel is a freshman who takes classes at Florida Virtual School and has been a SWAT member for three years.  Kalin has also been an active 4-H member since elementary school.  She became involved in community activities to help keep youth in Gilchrist County from starting to use tobacco through the SWAT 4-H Club, and serves as the Gilchrist County SWAT representative to regional and state meetings. She also advocated for flavored tobacco resolutions in Bell and Trenton, and spoke to the Town Council and City Commission about the issue.

Joshua Akin is a senior at Trenton High School and has been a SWAT member for six years.  Joshua has also been a 4-H member for 12 years.  Joshua has participated in numerous SWAT activities over the past 6 years including Kick Butts Day, Great American Smoke Out, and attending regional SWAT meetings as a Gilchrist County representative.  Joshua traveled to Washington D.C. to speak to his Senators and Representative about the impact of cigars and flavored cigars on young people in Gilchrist County.  He recently attended the Gilchrist County Legislative Delegation and spoke about the impact SWAT is making in Gilchrist County. Read More

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Protecting Kids from Secondhand Smoke
Tracy DeCubellis, MS, November 6, 2015

People want a clean environment including clean air, water, and safe food to eat.  This is especially important for children as they are growing.  We know that secondhand smoke is unhealthy, but do we really think about what it might be doing to kids who are around it?

Did you know that babies who are around cigarette smoke have a higher chance of dying of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)?  The CDC reports that 400 babies die as a result of SIDS connected to secondhand smoke every year (CDC, 2015). This is a tragedy that may be avoided by encouraging new parents not to smoke around kids. 

Secondhand smoke can create other problems for kids. Some effects of secondhand smoke around children include:

Read More

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Teen Smoking Rates at All-Time Low
E-Cigarette Use On the Rise, Cause for Concern
September 23, 2015

TALLAHASSEE – Youth cigarette smoking rates in Florida are at an all-time low according to new data released on Tuesday by the Florida Department of Health. Conventional cigarette use among Florida high school students dropped from 8.6 percent in 2013* to 6.9 percent in 2015 – a 19.7 percent change. The Florida Youth Tobacco Survey (FYTS) also showed declines in other combustible and traditional smokeless products.

“Floridians should be proud of the historic progress made in the state to reduce the number of young cigarette smokers,” said Community Health Promotion Division Director Shannon Hughes. “Since voters approved the constitutional amendment to create Tobacco Free Florida, high school cigarette smoking has gone down an impressive 52.4 percent.”

This new report also marks another important, but more troubling trend. Current e-cigarette use among high school students has increased – from 5.4 percent in 2013 to 15.8 percent in 2015. Hookah use among high school students has also increased, from 8.2 percent in 2013 to 9.7 percent in 2015. Since 2009, when FYTS began tracking current hookah use, the rate has increased 26 percent. Read More

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Creating Tobacco-Free Environments is Good for Kids!
Tracy DeCubellis, MS
September 3 , 2015

Have you ever been enjoying an outdoor event only to have cigarette smoke or e-cigarette vapor blown into your face?

Even distant smoke can make its way into your vicinity, causing irritation or even causing negative health effects according to the U.S. Surgeon General.  

How do you feel about stepping in tobacco spit, or seeing a bottle full of tobacco spit used by someone who is dipping?

By now, it is common knowledge that all tobacco use is bad for your health and that secondhand smoke can hurt you.  But did you know the U.S. Surgeon General has stated that when adults use tobacco around kids in public places, it can actually make them more likely to try tobacco products?   Read More

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Should Kids Work Tobacco?
Tracy DeCubellis, MS
August 19, 2015

My great-grandfather was a tobacco farmer. My grandfather was also a tobacco farmer. My father was born and raised on my grandfather’s farm where the tobacco was grown and harvested.  Tobacco has always been part of our family culture. In fact, as a child I saw that every adult in my family smoked, or was a former smoker.  Car rides and family gatherings were smoke-filled affairs.  Tobacco was a way of life for my family, and still is for many of my relatives.   Tobacco is culturally accepted in many rural locations, just as in my family, especially in communities where tobacco is grown. 

The United States is one of the top five tobacco producing countries in the world. Many children in the United States will work in tobacco fields and barns every year.  Florida is not a top tobacco producing state. However, the first reports of illness among children and adolescents caused by nicotine exposure during farm tasks were recorded in Florida back in 1970 (McKnight & Spiller, 2005).  This illness is called Green Tobacco Sickness (GTS).  It can be characterized by a variety of symptoms including, but not limited to, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, grand mal seizures, weakness, headache, and rash at the sight of contact with tobacco leaves (McKnight & Spiller, 2005). Read More

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Warning Labels and Child-Resistant Packaging on Liquid Nicotine Bottles
A Letter from Florida Surgeon General Dr. John Armstrong
July 22, 2015

There have been a number of media stories recently concerning the regulation of packaging for liquid nicotine intended for use in electronic cigarettes. The rapid increase of e-cigarette use by teens and the number of calls to poison centers involving e-cigarette liquids containing nicotine is an alarming public health concern. The state of Florida urges immediate guidance from federal regulators and calls for increased vigilance from parents, businesses and e-cigarette users to keep these items away from children.

Child-resistant packaging on bottles and cartridges of liquid nicotine used in e-cigarettes and other nicotine delivery devices are necessary to protect infants and children. If swallowed or absorbed through the skin, liquid nicotine can lead to serious illness or even death. In fact, the number of calls to poison centers involving e-cigarette liquids containing nicotine rose from one per month in September 2010 to 215 per month in February 2014, according to a study published last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than half of the calls to poison centers due to e-cigarettes involved young children under age 5. The number of calls per month involving conventional cigarettes did not show a similar increase during the same time period... Read More

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Gilchrist County SWAT Youth Address Fanning Springs City Commission
June 2, 2015

SWAT members from Gilchrist County spoke to the Fanning Springs City Commission on June 2, 2015.  They are concerned about the high number of students in their schools who use flavored products when they use tobacco for the first time. 

This is the fourth presentation SWAT has made in Gilchrist County on this topic.  They have also presented at the Gilchrist County Board of County Commission, Bell Town Council, and the Trenton City Commission. 

Each of these groups agreed with SWAT that flavored tobacco products marketed to children are a problem, and each group passed flavored tobacco resolutions.  These resolutions recommend that retailers take these products off the shelves in an effort to reduce the appeal of tobacco to young people in Gilchrist County.  Read More

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Why School Tobacco Policy Matters
By Tracy DeCubellis, April 28, 2015

The topic of tobacco use in schools has been important for popular culture and academic research throughout the years.  Rock and Roll songs about smoking in school and movies showing rebellious teens smoking on campus are part of public perception about school tobacco use.  Since Brownsville Station observed back in 1973, “everybody knows that smoking ain’t allowed in school,” why does it still happen?  That is what researchers want to know.

A recent look at school tobacco policies in Michigan and how they affect student smoking had some interesting results as reported in the Journal of School Health. Read More 

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Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Club Addresses the Issue of Flavored Tobacco
By Cheyenne Siegel, SWAT 4-H member and Gilchrist 4-H County Council President

Our SWAT club feels that flavored tobacco use by youth is a big problem in Gilchrist County and we wanted to take action in changing this.

Based on the 2012 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey, in Gilchrist county 32% of all high school students have tried flavored cigars, and 14.4% of all high school students in Gilchrist County are regular flavored cigar smokers.

In Bell and Trenton there are tobacco retailers less than 1,000 feet from schools, which we believe is a contributor to the amount of youth smoking flavored tobacco. Read More

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QuitDoc Awarded Tobacco Prevention Grant for Gilchrist County
February 6, 2015

Quit Doc Research and Education Foundation (QuitDoc) has once again been awarded a grant from the State of Florida Department of Health to continue to provide tobacco awareness and prevention programs throughout Gilchrist County.  The programs are designed to reduce the number of teenagers who start smoking each year, to decrease the number of tobacco related deaths, and to provide information on appropriate methods to quit smoking.

The program is funded from a trust fund created with money paid to Florida as part of a settlement with the tobacco industry in 1997.   Florida sued the tobacco industry to recoup the cost of providing medical services to Florida residents that were caused by the use of tobacco.  The funding has been used to create Tobacco Free Florida, a comprehensive statewide tobacco prevention and cessation program. Read More

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Florida Youth Tobacco Survey Results Show a Sharp Decline in Youth Tobacco Use in Gilchrist County
by Tracy DeCubellis
Feburary 3, 2015

The county level data from the 2014 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey (FYTS) were published and there is a lot to celebrate among Gilchrist County Tobacco Free Partnership members, SWAT members, and community partners who support the tobacco prevention program. 

Quit Doc first received the tobacco prevention grant in 2008 after the FYTS was given to county high school students.  Unfortunately, the middle school students did not participate in the 2008 survey, but we can measure our progress among middle school youth starting with the 2010 FYTS.

Among high school students we see a significant change in tobacco use in all areas including cigarettes, cigars, smokeless, and all types of tobacco combined... Read More

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The Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County Celebrates the Great American Smoke Out
November 21, 2014

The Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County and Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) sponsored Great American Smoke Out (GASO) events at Hobo's Restaurant in Trenton and Palms Medical offices in Trenton and Bell.  The Great American Smoke Out is a national day created by the American Cancer Society to encourage people to quit smoking. 

Tobacco use is the number one cause of premature death in the United States, killing approximately 500,000 people each year.  This number includes about 10% of people who are not smokers themselves, but are people who live with smokers and are harmed by inhaling secondhand smoke. Read More __________________________________________________________________

Gilchrist County SWAT Continues to Educate the Community on Youth Tobacco Prevention Issues
November 1, 2014

Gilchrist County SWAT youth have been active in the past few months by educating local community members about the problem of point of sale advertising geared toward youth, and by starting two new school SWAT clubs at Trenton High School.

Members of the Gilchrist County SWAT club participated in the Gilchrist County Family Fun Fest which was organized by the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Department.  SWAT youth attended the festival and spent time educating local students and their parents about the ways that tobacco companies target young people to notice, and buy their tobacco products in stores.  Community members learned that children and adolescents are 20% more likely to notice tobacco advertisements at stores than adults, and that tobacco companies often pay stores to place advertisements in places where kids will notice them.  For example, these pictures show two Gilchrist County stores that advertise tobacco products so that it is impossible to walk into the stores without seeing the advertisements... Read More

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Two SWAT Youth Join the Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County Advisory Council
September 9, 2014

The Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County recently elected new Advisory Council members including two new youth members.   These young people are part of the Students Working Against Tobacco leadership club, and will be helping start a new high school SWAT club at Trenton High School.

Karina Turner is a senior at Trenton High school and has been a SWAT member for three years.  Karina has also been a 4-H member for 4 years.  She quickly became involved in community activities to help keep youth in Gilchrist County from starting to use tobacco.  She helped plan the 2013 Kick Butts Day event at the Suwannee River Youth Fair where she educated community members about flavored tobacco dangers. She also advocated for stronger tobacco rules at school, spoke to the school board and asked that tobacco infractions receive a level 2 (major) offense in the student code of conduct.  In May, Karina went with her SWAT club to speak to the Bell Town Council to ask them to pass a candy flavored tobacco resolution which was passed in June. Read More

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Bell Town Council Passes Resolution Encouraging Local Businesses to Halt the Sale of Flavored Tobacco That Targets Youth
June 9, 2014

According to the latest Florida Youth Tobacco Survey, students in Gilchrist County use all forms of tobacco including cigarettes, smokeless products, and cigars at higher levels than their peers across the state. When Gilchrist County high school students were asked if they have ever tried alternative products such as flavored cigars, snus, and e-cigarettes, the results also showed that Gilchrist students try these products at higher rates than other youth around the state.  

With this in mind, Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) members have been working to change the way the community sees these kinds of tobacco products. They are educating community members on how sales of flavored tobacco and e-cigarette products can lead to experimentation with, and eventual regular use of, tobacco products.  SWAT youth met with the Town Manager of the Town of Bell, and also spoke at a Town Council meeting to explain the problem of flavored tobacco use and how can lead to youth becoming addicted to nicotine. Read More

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Residential Buildings in Gilchrist County are Going Smoke-Free
Policies Protect Residents From Secondhand Smoke and Smoking-Related Fires
May 30, 2014

Bell, FL – Smoke-free multiunit housing, a growing trend throughout the country, has made its way to Bell, Florida.

A few residential properties in Gilchrist County have implemented smoke-free policies. The growing list of smoke-free properties in the area includes rental properties managed by Hometown Realty in Bell, Florida

“Lots of clients don’t want to consider living in a house that has been smoked in because of the major clean-up involved in removing the smell and residue,” said Natalie Rankin of Hometown Realty.  Hometown Realty manages tri-plex rentals, and rental homes located in the Rolling Hills subdivision.

“There’s a fear of alienating resident smokers, but most communities that have taken the leap consider smoke-free housing an edge over the competition and have determined that there is a market for this product" according to Chip Tatum, the former Government Affairs Director for the Florida Apartment Association... Read More

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Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Honors Chandler Ash of Archer, Florida As South Region Youth Advocate of the Year
Leadership in Fight Against Tobacco Recognized Nationally
May 13 , 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Chandler Ash, 17, of Archer, Fla., has been named the South Region Youth Advocate of the Year by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids for his leadership in the fight against tobacco. Chandler will be honored at a gala in the nation’s capital on Thursday (May 15) along with a national winner, three other U.S. regional winners and a group winner.

Chandler is a senior and is homeschooled. He first got involved in fighting tobacco in middle school through Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) after watching his grandfather struggle with tobacco addiction.

He set a goal of reducing youth tobacco use in his county, and much of his advocacy work has revolved around the problem of fruit- and candy-flavored tobacco products. As a result of Chandler’s work, the Gilchrist County Commission passed an ordinance requiring all candy-flavored tobacco to be placed behind the counter, out of the sight and reach of children. The Commission also passed a resolution recommending that tobacco retailers refrain from selling candy-flavored tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes... Read More

Chandler Ash

 

 

 

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Gilchrist County Teens Tell Big Tobacco:
We are Not "Replacements"!
March 19, 2014

The tobacco industry is losing customers. Not only are more smokers quitting, every day an estimated 1,315 people in the United States die because of smoking. 

In response, the tobacco industry targets a new generation of potential nicotine addicts, which they call “replacement smokers.” A 1984 internal document from R.J. Reynolds’, the makers of Camel, stated: “Younger adult smokers are the only source of replacement smokers… If younger adults turn away from smoking, the industry must decline, just as a population which does not give birth will eventually dwindle.”

On Kick Butts Day, Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Clubs throughout Florida spoke up and took action to let Big Tobacco know they will be not replacements. Kick Butts Day, which this year was celebrated on March 19, is the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids national day of activism that empowers youth to fight back against Big Tobacco.

Gilchrist County SWAT set up a booth at the Suwannee River Youth Fair to let area youth know that tobacco companies are targeting them as the next generation of tobacco users by adding sweet flavors to mask the dangers of their products... Read More ____________________________________________________________________

The Importance of Creating Tobacco-Free Campuses
Tracy DeCubellis, M.S., March 10, 2014

It is no secret that tobacco use is harmful to human health. Even elementary age children I speak with tell me that smoking or dipping is a bad habit, or that it will hurt people.  Despite the fact that even our youngest citizens know that using tobacco is harmful, it is still a practice that occurs even during work hours.  According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), tobacco use in the workplace actually accounts for the most lost worker productivity compared to other causes such as family emergencies or alcohol abuse (1). Since most smokers want to quit, up to 70% according to the CDC, workplaces that create a smoke-free campus policy could actually be doing their employees a favor in helping them become tobacco-free(2).

Businesses that create tobacco-free campus policies not only protect the health and wellbeing of non-smoking employees and customers, patients, or clients, but they also create pro-health social norms.  This type of campus wide policy may actually go a long way to encourage employees who use tobacco to quit the habit, especially if the campus tobacco-free policy includes cessation help for those who currently smoke or use smokeless tobacco products. Read More

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Gilchrist County Student Working Against Tobacco Youth Engage the Community During a Very Busy Fall!
December 10, 2013

The Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) youth have been busy with community outreach activities in the past several months. 

In October, several SWAT youth had the opportunity to address the Gilchrist County Legislative Delegation which was held at the Gilchrist County Board of County Commission board room in Trenton.  The youth spoke to Senator Charlie Dean and Representative Keith Perry about their local, state, and national outreach over the past year on the issues of tobacco marketing targeted toward youth, and candy flavored tobacco.  SWAT youth also discussed the recent increase in e-cigarette use among middle and high school students which was published by the CDC, and explained their concerns that e-cigarette use may become an increasing trend among youth in Gilchrist County. Read More

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Tobacco Free Partnerships in both Dixie and Gilchrist Counties Help Local Health Departments with New Tobacco Free Grounds Policies
By Melanie Anderson and Tracy DeCubellis, November 21 , 2013

Secondhand smoke is a well-known health hazard, and many businesses and community organizations have created smoke-free zones to protect customers and children from the negative health impacts associated with secondhand smoke exposure. 

Not as much is known about the impact of e-cigarette vapor exposure, or what is contained in the clouds of smoke-like vapor emitted from people using the nicotine delivery devices.  Since it took decades for the Surgeon General and other public health advocates to conclude that secondhand smoke is very hazardous to non-smokers who passively smoke through no choice of their own, some businesses and organizations recognize that their customers and clients need to be protected from the unknown potential negative health impacts of e-cigarette vapors. Read More 

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Frequently-Asked Questions About E-Cigarettes
By Tracy DeCubellis, M.S., Gilchrist County Tobacco Prevention Specialist
September 20, 2013

Recently, many people have come to me with questions about an emerging product on the market called e-cigarettes.  There has been a lot of confusion about e-cigarettes, and most people have limited information gathered from advertisements or word of mouth from friends. I have put together the most frequently asked questions about e-cigarettes, along with the answers, to inform communities with currently updated information. 

What is an e-cigarette?
An e-cigarette is a battery-powered nicotine delivery device that contains a cartridge filled with what the manufacturers often call “liquid”.  This “liquid” often includes candy flavoring, nicotine, and chemicals to create a “vapor”.  Most e-cigarette companies offer cartridges of differing nicotine levels, although no testing has been conducted to verify those claims... Read More

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Gilchrist County 4-H Students Working Against Tobacco Start Another Active Year of Youth Tobacco Prevention
By Chandler Ash
September 19, 2013

It’s the start of a new year for the Gilchrist 4-H Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) club, and they already have big things planned. In the past, they have been extremely successful in reaching out to the community and to decision makers about tobacco related issues. This year, Gilchrist SWAT plans to do even better.

Over the summer, SWAT youth attended the July town hall meeting held by Florida Representative Keith Perry. SWAT youth discussed the issue of flavored tobacco and tobacco marketing in the community that is geared toward attracting young people.  Representative Perry and his legislative aides invited the SWAT youth to attend the Gilchrist County Legislative Delegation meeting in October.  While there, they will have the incredible opportunity to speak to their State Representative and State Senator about the work they have been doing for their community, and to make them aware of how the SWAT program is helping youth in Gilchrist County... Read More ____________________________________________________________________

Gilchrist County 4-H Students Working Against Tobacco Share Their Experienceswith Legislators in Washington DC
June 8 , 2013

On the week of June 8th, three Gilchrist county SWAT members attended a 4-H event in Washington D.C. called Citizenship Washington Focus. Chandler Ash, Tucker McDaniel, and Josh Akin joined the other two Florida delegates and traveled to the nation’s capital. The week-long event focuses on improving participants’ citizenship and leadership skills. Read More

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SWAT Students from Gilchrist County Contribute to "Who is the Target", a Short Film on Youth Tobacco Marketing
April 24, 2013

Students from six counties in North Central Florida joined forces to write and produce "Who is the Target", a short film that focuses on the use of flavored products as a youth marketing strategy by tobacco companies.

Fourteen Students from Alachua, Clay, Dixie, Gilchrist, Levy, and Marion Counties were asked to contribute facts and information on the issue of flavored tobacco products that are not currently regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. The students then recorded the information at a make-shift studio.

"It's good to hear this message coming from kids because we know what's going on with the tobacco companies advertising to us, and we can inform decision makers," said Gilchrist County SWAT student Chandler Ash, who participated in the project.  "This project was also valuable because we were able to let other kids know what tobacco companies are doing, and hopefully they won't make the mistake of using tobacco." Read More
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A Busy Month Draws to a Close for Gilchrist County SWAT
March 20, 2013

March has been a busy month for Gilchrist County SWAT. 

At the beginning of the month, SWAT youth participated in a regional training event that brought youth together from North East Florida to discuss the issue of candy flavored tobacco.  The regional event was held to help SWAT youth prepare for Kick Butts Day events around the state.  Kick Butts Day is a national observance held by youth around the entire country to bring focus in their local communities about the ways tobacco companies intentionally target young people through adding candy flavoring to products, creating products that mimic candy, and through point-of-purchase advertising... Read More

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SWAT is Making a Difference in Gilchrist County and Throughout the State of Florida

Students Working Against Tobacco clubs are established to give young people in Gilchrist County the opportunity to speak out in the community to let people know the ways in which tobacco companies target them and their friends to become replacement customers for the 430,000 people who die from tobacco related illness each year.  SWAT youth take this message seriously since approximately 90% of all smokers report that they started smoking before the age of 18.  These youth are dedicated to educating and advocating for policies that will help other youth stay tobacco-free for life... Read More

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Gilchrist County SWAT Youth Meet with Senate Candidate Connie Mack IV
September 26, 2012

Gilchrist County SWAT youth Chandler Ash and Tucker McDaniel met with Congressman and Senate candidate Connie Mack IV during his stop in Bell, FL. 

The SWAT youth used the opportunity to educate Congressman Mack on the mission and work of SWAT in the community... Read More

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Gilchrist County SWAT Students Recognize the Gilchrist County Commissioners for Their Support of Smoke Free Parks
By Chandler Ash, Gilchrist County 4-H SWAT / August 22, 2012

On August 20th, 2012, Gilchrist County SWAT members attended their local County Commission meeting to thank their commissioners for creating designated smoke-free areas at Hart Springs... Read More ____________________________________________________________________

Gilchrist County SWAT Students Visit Tallahassee for 4-H Day at the Florida Capitol
By Chandler Ash, Gilchrist County 4-H SWAT

On February 28th, Gilchrist County 4-H SWAT members made their way to Tallahassee for an event known as 4-H Day at the Capitol. Every year, many 4-H’ers from around the state gather in Tallahassee to go on tours, meet politicians, and learn more about Florida’s government. This year, a whopping 600 4-H members attended... Read More     
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Local Students Working Against Tobacco Attend
4-H Conference in Washington, DC

By Chandler Ash, Gilchrist County 4-H SWAT

In July, three Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) members went to Washington D.C. for a national 4-H event called Citizenship Washington Focus (CWF).  The purpose of the trip was to take thirteen 4-H youth from around the state of Florida to the nation’s capitol to learn about laws, and how bills are passed, and the political system of our country... Read More

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FDA Releases Final Selection of New Cigarette Warning Labels
June 21, 2011

On June 21, 2011, the FDA announced the nine cigarette health warnings required to appear on every pack of cigarettes sold in the United States and in every cigarette advertisement. This bold measure is aimed at making sure that every American understands the dangers of smoking... Read More

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Point of Purchase Tobacco Advertising Placement Survey
By Tracy DeCubellis, Gilchrist County Tobacco Prevention Specialist

Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) youth and leaders surveyed local tobacco retailers to determine the level of tobacco advertisements being marketed toward children, the kinds of tobacco advertisements near schools, and the amount of self-service tobacco, or products available within reach to children in Gilchrist County stores that sell tobacco.  The survey was completed using the StoreALERT form that reviews exterior and interior advertisements and tobacco placement... Read More

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The Gilchrist County 4-H SWAT Club Gains Statewide Recognition for Anti-Tobacco Initiatives
By Tracy DeCubellis, Gilchrist County Tobacco Prevention Specialist

Gilchrist County 4-H SWAT (Students Working  Against Tobacco) Clubs are busy working on several projects in 2011 in the county and beyond.  On January 29, 2011, three SWAT members participated in Gilchrist County 4-H County Events by giving demonstrations on tobacco issues... Read More

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Results of the 2010 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey Reveal Progress in Gilchrist County, Florida
By Barry Hummel, Jr., MD, Quit Doc Research and Education Foundation

The results of the 2010 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey (FYTS) were released in November, 2010, and those results reveal the success of tobacco prevention efforts in Gilchrist County, Florida over the last two years... Read More

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Surveillance of Point-of Purchase Tobacco Advertising and Placement in Local Businesses Gilchrist County, Florida
by Barry Hummel, Jr., MD, Co-Founder, Quit Doc Research and Education Foundation, August 2010

Introduction:
During the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year, surveillance was conducted to evaluate point-of-purchase tobacco advertising and product placement in Gilchrist County, Florida.  Our core concern is the level of tobacco advertising and the amount of self-service tobacco to which youth are exposed in the local community... Read More

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Tobacco Issues in the 2010 Florida Legislative Session
by Thomas J. Harrington, Facilitator, Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County

During the 2010 Florida Legislative Session, two important tobacco issues came before the House and Senate.  The first bill involved secondhand smoke exposure in automobiles that included passengers that were children.  The second involved a shift in funding for community-based tobacco prevention programs mandated by an amendment to the Florida Constitution passed in 2006... Read More