Clearing the Air

From the Tobacco Program Unit Director

Many of the stories carried in this month’s Clearing the Air newsletter refer to “budget challenges” and “budget cuts.”

 This same cost-cutting reality also holds true for this newsletter.  The state has cancelled many contracts with outside specialty contractors, including the one who handled many of the writing and graphic arts projects for the tobacco program, such as this newsletter.  So we’ve now moved this communications tool in-house, resulting in a new look I think you’ll like.

 Historically it has been in a PDF format, so in order to read any particular story you had to print out the entire newsletter.   No more.  You can now go to the Table of Contents and click on any story and it will appear on the screen.  Then you can read it, or scan and print it one story at a time.

 This format will also allow us to update stories whenever facts or information change.  For example, the story on NoStankYou.com includes statistics through April.  When we get the May numbers we’ll just update the story.  When such updates are made we will do them in color, so anyone visiting the site will know there is new information.

New issues may come out sooner then every two months (your contract manager will notify you each time a new issue is posted), and old issues will still be archived for future reference.   We feel strongly that it is an important part of our mission to keep our contractors up-to-date on everything that is happening within the tobacco program.

 If you have any feedback on this new format, or any ideas for future stories, please contact Scott Schoengarth at ext. 3634 or at Scott.Schoengarth@doh.wa.gov.
 

Terry Reid, Program Manager

On the Frontlines

“Dear Me” debuts – new cessation campaign

Quitline.com takes on new look and feel

Need to know – information for Tobacco Program contractors

Plans underway for tobacco counter-marketing campaign

Sasquatch rocks again!

Joint Conference on Health in the works for Yakima

World No Tobacco Day

Quit services enjoy spike in calls and visits

“Can It” campaign to reduce cigarette butts

NoStankYou trash cans invade skate parks

NEW Tobacco Prevention and Control networks formed

Hot Topics

New housing guide available

Court limits marketing of cigarettes

Legislative recap

Resources

Clearinghouse shuttered for two months

Temporary lull in quit line services

Community update from Seattle/King County

NoStankYou Web site numbers update

BecomeAnEx and TRUTH campaigns

DOH Web sites to visit

Because of budget challenges, the ads are not currently scheduled to run on TV and radio, although they will be pitched as potential Public Service Announcements (PSAs).  But folks who visit quitline.com will be able to view and listen to all of the ads. 

Through research with the target group we found that the low SES (socio-economic status) smokers work hard and tobacco is one of their few pleasures. They easily put up a wall when confronted with quitting. To them quitting is private and it takes extreme will-power. They have tried and feel they have failed. They don’t believe they can succeed and usually stop trying. The key insight from the research is that smoking is about control. So is quitting.

The campaign goal is simple: Increase quit attempts among the target group of smokers.

In the Dear Me campaign we let them do the talking, since they told us that no one can make them quit but themselves.  We recorded real current smokers reading letters that they had written to themselves saying why it’s time to break free from the grips of the habit.  The letters range in topics from health concerns, how their smoking affects their kids and grandkids, the rising cost of tobacco, and more.   The resulting ads are overwhelmingly emotional and effective.

There are two additional elements of the campaign:

(1)   Magazine Wraps:  This summer 13 issues of People magazine, covered with a Dear Me wrap-cover, will be distributed free of charge at approximately 1,500 medical clinics and physician’s offices statewide that serve low income and Medicaid patients; and

(2   Transit ads:  In-bus ads (five panels each) of Dear Me letters and call-to-action signage will be directed one-on-one to bus riders who smoke.  The ads will appear in 240 busses in total from May 16 thru August 16, as follows:  163 busses in King/Pierce/Snohomish counties; 20 in Clark County/Vancouver; five each in Wenatchee and Yakima; 22 in Thurston County and 25 in Spokane County.

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The Tobacco Prevention and Control Program has redesigned the state’s smoking cessation website, www.Quitline.com.  The new site launched May 28 in conjunction with the start of the new tobacco cessation Dear Me ad campaign.  The redesign provides the site a clean, modern look that will address the needs of low-literacy and working poor audiences.  It will also host the online extension of the Dear Me campaign, which will give visitors the opportunity to see the commercials, read Dear Me letter submissions, and write their own letters. 

The new site will feature both new and updated content.  In particular, content will be streamlined and categorized to ensure easy accessibility.  Information will be geared toward helping users better understand what they can expect by calling the quit line, including more specifics about what a coaching session entails and who the quit coaches are.  A new emphasis will also be placed on making quit tools immediately available on the site, to address the needs of visitors who might not otherwise call the quit line. 

Contact Scott Schoengarth at ext. 3634 or Scott.Schoengarth@doh.wa.gov

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Our earned media contractor, GMMB, is working directly with United General Hospital and Cascades Job Corps in Skagit County to create a small-scale tobacco counter-marketing campaign for the Job Corps Campus.  The campaign will promote tobacco cessation and a new tobacco-free campus policy, as part of a larger project funded by the Legacy Foundation.  Another requirement is that the campaign feature the tobacco industry documents as a motivator. 

 The Job Corps program is designed to help at-risk teens and young adults, age 17-24, receive a high school diploma and job training. Because many of the participants are young adults from low SES backgrounds, we will spotlight the new Dear Me low income cessation campaign within the larger counter- marketing campaign.  This would be a way to augment the cessation message and put Dear Me in front of a segment of its main target audience. 

 Initial ideas include placing the TV ads in a short video we are developing and asking people in Job Corps’ cessation classes to write their own Dear Me letters, which could be submitted via the Web site. This program is still in the initial planning stages, so check back next month for an update on our progress. 

Contact Scott Schoengarth at ext. 3634 or Scott.Schoengarth@doh.wa.gov.

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On Memorial Day Weekend, May 25-27, the annual Sasquatch Festival at the Gorge in George, WA was again sponsored by the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program – this time under the title of 1-800-QUIT-NOW.  

 The 2009 Festival sold out at 25,000 per day for Saturday and Sunday and over 20,000 for Monday, the first time in the history of the Gorge that they’ve moved to a 25,000 capacity. This  put the total attendance (and exposure to our anti-tobacco information) at well over the 70,000 mark for the three-day event.

 This partnership between the program and Live Nation concerts is now in its fifth year. The overall success has been beyond any of our expectations. At the core we’ve prevented tobacco companies from having any kind of exposure, not only at the Gorge but in every show produced by Live Nation Northwest year round!  No tobacco coupons, no tobacco sampling, and no tobacco giveaways.  That’s over 750 music and entertainment events that have not had the negative influence of tobacco on teenagers and adults alike over the past five years. 

1-800-QUIT-NOW was listed as the name sponsor of Stage Two this year - this was a major move up in regards to talent level (bands playing the stage) and for the first time the stage was moved to a much larger area with a larger structure.  This is in addition to signage throughout the concert areas and the campground, special slides rotating on the main stage video screens, 1-800-QUIT-NOW sunglasses giveaways and much more.

 The ability to lock tobacco out of Sasquatch and all Live Nation concerts in the state has guaranteed a fabulous return on investment. 

Contact Scott Schoengarth at ext. 3634 or Scott.Schoengarth@doh.wa.gov.

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The Tobacco Prevention and Program and the Department of Health’s Office of Community Wellness and Prevention are partnering with the Washington State Public Health Association to present the 16^th annual Joint Conference on Health, October 5-7, 2009 in Yakima. 

The conference will focus on the prevention of chronic disease and is titled Healthy People in Healthy Places: A New Path to Health.  Steven Galson, Acting U.S. Surgeon General, will be the keynote speaker, while Matt McKenna, Director of the CDC Office of Smoking and Health will be presenting on the second day of the conference.

Registration will be available soon at http://www.wspha.org/JCH1.html.  The first two days of the conference will be a mix of plenary and workshop sessions. On the following day, October 7, the tobacco program will host several training sessions which will be open to program contractors and partners.

Please mark your calendar for those dates and then plan on joining us in Yakima! 

Contact Terry Reid at ext. 3665 or Terry.Reid@doh.wa.gov.

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The World Health Organization’s (WHO) World No Tobacco Day will be observed on May 31.The theme is Tobacco Health Warnings, with an emphasis on the picture warnings that have been shown to be particularly effective at making people aware of the health risks of tobacco use and convincing them to quit. More and more countries are fighting back against tobacco by requiring that packages of tobacco list the dangers of the product's use.

Additional information on WHO's tobacco control initiative and World No Tobacco Day activities is available at: http://www.who.int/tobacco/wntd/2009/en/index.html. 

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Last month we reported on a quick spike in calls to the Tobacco Quit Line (1-800-QUIT-NOW) over a ten-day period following the recent 62 cents per pack increase in the federal tobacco tax.  The rise in calls to the quitline, and in visits to the Web site, continued at high levels throughout the month.  During April there were 3,678 total calls to the quitline, compared to 1,229 in April 2008, an increase of 200 percent.   

Nationally, call volumes to 1-800-QUIT-NOW in March more than doubled the number of calls in February 2009, and were three times higher than the previous March (2008).  In April, calls continued to be high, with over twice the call volume as the same time last year.  It is likely that by the end of May, call volumes for the first five months of 2009 will exceed call volumes for all of 2008.  

At the same time there were 15,042 visits to www.quitline.com.  This is the busiest month in almost two years – since June of 2007.  Some of the more popular pages of the Web site were the video testimonials, news articles and Quit for You Quit for Two information for pregnant smokers. 

Contact Scott Schoengarth at ext. 3634 or Scott.Schoengarth@doh.wa.gov.

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Last year, Clark County Health Department Environmental Public Health supervisor Gary Bickett learned during a Vancouver Downtown Association (VDA) meeting that the association was developing a cigarette butt litter campaign to take place in May 2009. The development of the campaign was in response to the collection of 37 pounds of cigarette butts from the Vancouver downtown area by VDA volunteers in May 2008. The butts were taken to the Vancouver City Council resulting in the development of the "No Ifs, Ands or Butts Committee" comprised of a Vancouver police officer, C-Tran official, VDA members, neighborhood residents, public health officials, and local businesses.

During this year’s campaign planning process, the committee initially considered the use of free glossy cigarette litter materials offered through Keep America Beautiful, Inc.  Upon learning this, Theresa Cross of the Health Department’s Tobacco Prevention and Education Program researched the products including requesting feedback from an international social marketing firm.  This yielded many responses. Through the research, support and guidance of the local health department’s tobacco program the committee learned that the free Keep America Beautiful materials were, in fact, products of Phillip Morris, and agreed not to use them.  Consequently, the committee decided to have its own cigarette litter campaign called "Can It! Cigarettes are litter too!”

Printed materials include a brochure, bus shelter posters and bus "channel cards."  All materials include the Washington Tobacco Quit Line, and messages about quitting. A brochure was also developed for distribution to businesses to assist in the collection of donations to fund cigarette butt containers that will be permanently affixed to sidewalks at strategic locations in downtown Vancouver.  Businesses located nearby will be asked to maintain and empty the containers.

The campaign includes a proclamation that was presented to the Vancouver City Council during the May 28, 2009 meeting in light of World No Tobacco Day. At the request of the VDA, the proclamation was read by Ciggy Buttz who made a guest appearance.

According to Theresa Cross, “This has been a very rewarding partnership, and the message about quitting smoking and the quitline resource will reach many in groups disparately affected by tobacco use.”

Contact Theresa Cross: Theresa.Cross@clark.wa.gov. 
Contact Frances Limtiaco at ext. 3771 or Frances.Limtiaco@doh.wa.gov.

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New trash cans will soon be appearing in skate parks all over the state as part of the NoStankYou youth tobacco prevention campaign.

The final placement list includes skate parks in Anacortes, Auburn, Battle Ground, Colville, Ellensburg, Kennewick, Lacey, Longview, Maple Valley, Moses Lake, Mount Vernon, North Bend, Olympia, Omak, Port Townsend, Poulsbo, Richland, SeaTac, Sequim, Shelton, Silverdale, Vancouver, Walla Walla, Wenatchee, Woodland, and Yakima.

There are two cans per park, and 30 parks in total.  Each can has a special weighted base, wrap, and lid wrap.  Contact Scott Schoengarth at ext. 3634 or Scott.Schoengarth@doh.wa.gov

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The Tobacco Prevention and Control Program has funded activities in five racial-ethnic since 2003.  Starting in July 2009, the program's cross-cultural contracts will be replaced by funding to support tobacco prevention and control networks.

While most of the cross-cultural contractors will continue, the program is launching new networks to address disparities in low income populations (below 200% of the federal poverty level) statewide. The network contractors are:

• African American:  Center for Multicultural Health

• Asian Pacific American:  Washington Asian Pacific Islander Families Against Substance Abuse/Asian Pacific Islander Coalition Against Tobacco (WAPIFASA/APICAT)

• Hispanic/Latino:  Washington Association of Community and Migrant Health Centers (WACMHC)

• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender:  Gay City

• Low income:  Comprehensive Health Education Foundation

• Urban Indian:  Seattle Indian Health Board

Each network contractor is charged with bringing together the people, organizations, expertise, funding, research, and other resources needed to address tobacco-related disparities in one of the program's priority populations.  While the low income network will be a resource to county and ESD contractors statewide, the other networks will focus their efforts on counties where their population is the largest.  

The networks will serve as an information resource for local tobacco program contractors while also helping selected social service, chronic disease prevention, housing, mental health and/or other programs to build their capacity to deliver tobacco prevention, cessation, and secondhand smoke messages and services to the clients they serve.

During their two-year contracts, network contractors will conduct community assessments including the level and type of tobacco industry marketing in their communities, partner with county tobacco programs and ESD's to change policies, seek greater compliance with existing laws (e.g. retailer education to reinforce youth access laws), and provide training opportunities for those they work with. 

Contact David Harrelson at ext. 3685 or David.Harrelson@doh.wa.gov.

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Public Health-Seattle & King County has created a guide for property managers and owners in Washington State about going smoke-free. The purpose is to make the case for smoke-free housing and provide a quick and easy process for owners and managers ready to make the switch.

For additional information or assistance, the guide directs readers to the Washington State Smoke-Free Housing website at www.SmokeFreeWashington.com. Contact information can be placed on the back cover for contractors who wish to provide assistance locally.  The guide is available electronically so contractors can have it printed or place it on their Web site. Depending on quantity printed, the guides can run for as little as just over a dollar each.

Funding for this project was made available by a CDC pilot project grant from the Department of Health.

For more information about the guides, please contact John Bennett via email at john.bennett@kingcounty.gov or by phone at 206-296-7613.

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May 23, 2009 – Spokesman Review

 http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/may/23/court-limits-marketing-of-cigarettes/

 A federal appeals court dealt a blow to cigarette makers Friday by upholding a landmark 2006 legal ruling that the companies lied for decades about the dangers of smoking.  In a 93-page opinion, a three-judge panel cleared the way for new restrictions on how cigarette companies market and sell their products. Under the decision, the manufacturers will no longer be allowed to label brands “light” or “low tar,” and will have to purchase ads on television and in major newspapers that explain the health dangers and addictiveness of their products.

 Tobacco companies indicated they will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, a process that would probably put compliance with the ruling on hold for at least several months.  The decision is the latest juncture in a legal odyssey that began when the Justice Department under President Bill Clinton filed a lawsuit in 1999 against nine cigarette makers and two tobacco-related trade groups. The government alleged that the companies and organizations conspired for decades to deceive Americans about the consequences of smoking.

 The Justice Department issued a statement  that called the decision “a victory for the American people.”  Chuck Connor, president and chief executive of the American Lung Association, said the decision “is almost everything we could have hoped for. It’s a very sweeping and tremendous indictment against the industry.”

 Philip Morris USA and its parent company, Altria Group, issued a statement saying that the manufacturers “continue to believe that the court’s conclusions are not supported by the law or the evidence presented at trial, and we believe the exceptional importance of these issues justifies further review.”  R.J. Reynolds Tobacco issued a statement expressing disappointment in the decision. “R.J. Reynolds strongly believes that neither the evidence presented at trial nor the legal standards justify” the findings, said Martin Holton, a senior vice president and the general counsel at the company.

 Friday’s ruling largely upheld a 1,653-page opinion issued by U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler that found the companies engaged in a massive civil racketeering scheme that defrauded the public about smoking’s hazards.  Kessler found that the companies “marketed and sold their lethal product with zeal, with deception, with a single-minded focus on their financial success and without regard for the human tragedy or social costs that success exacted.”

 The judge ordered the companies to stop delivering misleading or deceptive statements about smoking. And she directed them to strip marketing material and cigarette packaging of “low tar,” “light,” “ultra light,” “mild,” “natural” or any other term that may lead consumers to think the product is less hazardous than other brands. The industry had known for years, Kessler found, that consumers often smoked more “light” cigarettes to meet their nicotine needs.

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The Tobacco Prevention and Control Program funding for the current biennium and the 2009-11 biennium was adversely affected by the statewide economic downturn.  As a recap summation:

• Reduced the program’s spending authority for biennium 2007-09 by $5 million in the supplemental budget.

• Reduced the allocation to the program for biennium 2009-11 from $52 million to about $30 million.

• Maintained an unchanged youth tobacco prevention allocation at $1.5 million for biennium 2009-11.

• Continued the Medicaid cessation benefit to be allocated to DSHS at $3.766 million from the Tobacco Prevention and Control Account for the 2009-11 biennium.  (This funding does not come to the tobacco program but provides services to callers that would otherwise get their calls funded by the program.)

• Transferred remaining balance of the tobacco account to the general account

• Detailed, overall conference budget: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2009-10/Pdf/Bills/House%20Passed%20Legislature/1244-S.PL.pdf

CDC federal funding:

• Reduced from $1.55 million this past fiscal year to $1.4 million per year with a new fiscal year running from March 30 2009 to March 29 2010.

Other bills of interest:

• 5340 bans internet and mail order sales of all tobacco products except cigars larger than “cigarillos”.  The House and Senate have concurred on this amended bill and it was signed by the Governor.

• 1435 will require anyone applying for a tobacco retailer’s license to pass a background check.  This passed the House and Senate and was signed by the Governor.

• On the federal level, the House passed Representative Henry A. Waxman’s bill, HR 1256, which gives the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco.  A similar bill has now been introduced by Senator Edward Kennedy in the U.S. Senate.  

Bills that did not make it into law included:

• 2382/6151 or 6159 would have changed the taxation of moist snuff from a percentage of wholesale price to a weight-based tax with a minimum of $2.025 per unit. 

• 2257 would have prohibited the sale of tobacco in health care facilities.

• 5626 would have raised the price of cigarettes and devoted a portion of the these taxes to tobacco prevention.

• 1047 would have raised cigarette taxes with the proceeds dedicated to family medicine residency programs.

• 1151 would have banned smoking in vehicles where minors are present.

• 2377 would have raised the sales tax temporarily and provided funding to tobacco prevention and public health functions.

Contact Paul Davis at ext. 3642 or paul.davis@doh.wa.gov. You can also get details on Washington State bills at www.leg.wa.gov

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As of April 29, 2009 the Clearinghouse temporarily closed due to budget restrictions.  Orders received in May and June will be held and shipped at a later date. Orders place on or before April 28, 2009 were filled and shipped.  The Clearinghouse – which offers a variety of tobacco cessation, secondhand smoke and youth tobacco prevention materials - will reopen on July 1, 2009.   We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Contact Anneke Jansen at ext 3643 or anneke.jansen@doh.wa.gov. 

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As you were previously notified, the tobacco quit line – 1-800-QUIT-NOW - will have more limited services now through June 30, 2009.  However:

• All callers are still eligible for coaching and quit kits.

• Medicaid clients, pregnant women and participants who have cessation services covered by their health plan or employer may qualify for additional services.

• Through the quit line, participants will receive tailored support and materials that are specific to their quitting goals.

Contact Julie Thompson at ext. 3722 or Juliet.Thompson@doh.wa.gov.

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In light of mounting budget challenges, it is more important than ever to bring awareness to tobacco preventions efforts.  To address this need, the Tobacco Prevention Program of Public Health - Seattle and King County has launched a new quarterly newsletter aimed at community leaders, policymakers and elected officials.  Each issue will feature a main headline story, a few secondary stories, an educational graph featuring important tobacco facts or statistics, and a policy section with updates on current policy and legislative issues.  Take a look at the inaugural issue at: http://www.tobaccoprevention.org/newsletters/2009feb/2009feb.html. 

Contact Scott Neal at 206-263-8197 or scott.neal@kingcounty.gov.

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The current budget challenges have resulted in all NoStankYou TV and radio ads being pulled off the air.  The first six ads can still be viewed at www.NoStankYou.com, and soon a new ad will be added to the mix on the Web site.

The Web site statistics for NoStankYou 3.0, like the two versions in prior years, continue to be impressive.  Visits to NoStankYou.com include:

• Oct = 38,811

• Nov = 45,388

• Dec = 32,412

• Jan = 27,150

• Feb – 37,199

• Mar = 58,289

• Apr = 47,133 – 2nd highest monthly total

• Average for seven months = 40,912

Other impressive stats include:

• Average time spent on site in April:  10 minutes 30 seconds (highest ever)

• Pages per visit in April:  20 (highest ever)

• Total number of visitors for NSY 3.0:  286,382

• Current number of youth signed up as MOB Members:  68,304 (14,654 new in April)

• Shirts earned for NSY 3.0:  27,907

• Total poses uploaded by youth:  7,780

When the May totals are known, this story will be updated. 

Contact Scott Schoengarth at ext. 3634 or Scott.Schoengarth@doh.wa.gov.

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The Legacy Foundation’s Ex Campaign encourages tobacco users to visit their www.BecomeAnEx.org Web site.  While there, visitors have the option to go to the Washington state information page at http://www.becomeanex.org/the-ex-plan.html#footer/resources/WA.

Legacy keeps stats on the number of visitors to each state’s page.  For the last 13 months, through April 2009, there have been 28,963 visitors to our state’s page, averaging over six minutes per visit.  Check it out sometime!

Meanwhile, Legacy’s latest series of TRUTH ads aimed at youth nationwide are scheduled to launch in early June 2009.   You’ll be able to see the ads on TV or by going to www.thetruth.com.

Contact Scott Schoengarth at ext. 3634 or Scott.Schoengarth@doh.wa.gov.

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The Tobacco Prevention and Control Program is housed at the Department of Health (DOH) under the Community Wellness and Prevention Office (CWP) led by Office Director Sue Grinnell.  To learn more about life at CWP and efforts underway to integrate our chronic disease work, please visit www.doh.wa.gov/cfh/CWP.

Then take a further step up the ladder and check out the Division of Community and Family Health (CFH) Web site at www.doh.wa.gov/cfh/default.htm.  The CWP Office is part of CFH which is directed by Assistant Secretary Mary Wendt, who reports directly to DOH Secretary Mary Selecky.

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