For immediate release: April 12, 2004 (04-033)

Contact:
Tim Church, Communications Director 360-236-4077

Local groups honored for tobacco prevention work
Secretary of Health recognizes leaders who are making a difference, saving lives

OLYMPIA -- The Washington State Department of Health recently honored eight organizations and individuals for their work to prevent and control tobacco use. The Selecky Awards, named for Secretary of Health Mary Selecky, are presented to people and groups that have excelled in the prevention and control of tobacco in Washington.

"Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death," said Secretary Selecky. "We are committed to making sure people know the truth about tobacco and where to get help when they are ready to quit. I congratulate all the award winners — together we are making a serious dent in tobacco use and improving the health of our state."

Selecky has made reducing tobacco use a top priority of her department. State and local tobacco prevention and control efforts have resulted in an average drop of 42 percent in youth smoking and an 8 percent drop in adult smoking rates in the past three years. The following is a list of award recipients and accomplishments:

Jesse Youckton – Students Protesting Lies About Tobacco (SPLAT!)
Youckton, a Thurston County teenager, demonstrated strong leadership in SPLAT!, which creates activities to educate youth about the dangers of smoking. He has talked to elementary students about the dangers of smoking, hosted countywide dances and presented at conferences. He also has worked with students who smoke at his high school and planned statewide youth rallies in Olympia.

Clark County Health Department
The Clark County Health Department in collaboration with the Skamania County Health Department and the Tobacco Free Coalition of Skamania County has achieved among the highest per-smoker call rate to the Tobacco Quit Line of all counties in Washington. Clark County staff and Skamania County partners produced a low-cost campaign to promote the quit line (www.quitline.com) — 1-877-270-STOP — a free telephone counseling service for smokers trying to quit.

Becky L. Thompson – Liquor Control Board Enforcement Officer
Thompson built relationships with local tobacco retailers through education and enforcement to ensure that they didn’t sell tobacco to kids and teens. A more than five-year employee of the Liquor Control Board, she is a key player in tobacco prevention efforts in southwest Washington and the Olympic Peninsula and has completed more checks of retailers than any other officer.

Puyallup Tribal Health Authority
The Puyallup Tribal Health Authority successfully created a model system that tracks patients’ smoking status and offers resources for quitting. The tracking system means that every staff person in the clinic’s medical, dental and mental health offices and the pharmacy have been trained on how to talk to patients about the dangers of tobacco use and the benefits of quitting.

Skagit H.E.A.T. – Helping Educate About Tobacco
Skagit H.E.A.T. is one of the most active anti-tobacco youth groups in the state. The group creates numerous events every year to raise awareness of tobacco issues, such as organizing presentations and statewide rallies, checking retailers to ensure they aren’t selling tobacco to kids, working with local parks and restaurants to go smoke-free, and educating local policymakers on tobacco issues. The group also successfully persuaded Skagit County Commissioners to adopt the first countywide resolution saying they would consider a ban on smoking in all public places if local governments were allowed to do so.

Educational Service District 112 (Clark Co.), Educational Service District 105 (Yakima Co.)
The Educational Service Districts worked with school districts to significantly increase the number of schools participating in the Washington State Healthy Youth Survey. The survey is a key tool used to determine what programs will be successful in preventing kids from using tobacco.

Tacoma-Pierce County Department of Health
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s Board of Health was the first local agency in the state to pass a countywide ban on smoking in all public indoor places. The ban prohibits smoking in places such as restaurants, bowling alleys, bars and casinos, in an effort to protect patrons and employees from secondhand smoke, a known carcinogen.

Public Health Seattle & King County
Public Health Seattle & King County developed a program that has become a national model for reducing illegal tobacco sales to kids and teens. The program conducts more than 2,000 checks of retailers each year in King County to ensure they are not selling tobacco to youth. The county is also a pioneer in exploring programs that address issues of adults providing cigarettes to youth.

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