This Wednesday a federal tobacco tax increase went into effect, upping the tax to $1.01 per pack of cigarettes. Experts point out that increases in tobacco taxes usually result in a decrease in tobacco use. With the economy in a recession, many states, such as Nevada, are looking at increasing state taxes on tobacco products to back fill the void left from the loss of revenue. There are many reasons to impose a tobacco tax. California's Congress is currently moving on bill SB 600, a state increase on tobacco taxes that not only generates revenue for the state but also revamps one of the most effective tobacco control efforts in the world. AB 600 earmarks a percentage of the tobacco tax revenue for California's comprehensive tobacco control programs. We know that every $1 spent on prevention and control saves $3 dollars in health care costs.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
E-Smokes = Dangerous?
Check out this article in the San Jose Mercury News! Some questions to consider: Do you think E-Cigarettes are deadly? Should they be regulated? Do they cause chronic disease?
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
A New Partner and Sponsorship of the Youth Film Premiere
Thank You SSCFL! With their commitment to building healthy communities by increasing citizen participation and grass-roots collaboration in mind, the South Sacramento Coalition for Future Leaders (SSCFL) is partnering with ACT-UP and California Voices to help Roll Out the Red Carpet. So who is SSCFL? The SSCFL is oversee and staffed by the Sacramento Mutual Housing Association (SMHA). In their words:
The Community
The area of South Sacramento served by this coalition is bounded by Highway 50 to the north, Elder Creek Road to the south, Highway 99 to the west and Power Inn Road to the east. With a population of approximately 73,000, this is one of the most ethnically diverse and economically challenged areas in Sacramento County.
The Coalition
The South Sacramento Coalition for Future Leaders (SSCFL) strives to create a community where youth are valued and are given the opportunity to grow, be safe and realize their full potential.
We envision a community where youth are able to not only create a positive vision for their future, but also to be actively engaged as leaders in their community. We believe the entire community, working together, can have a major lasting impact on the youth in our community.
As a broad-based neighborhood coalition, our mission is to affect the lives of young people by creating a network of assets and resources, promoting a positive image of youth, and garnering political power to influence broad, sustainable youth development policies.
The SSCFL is made up of youth, parents, educators, service providers, local government, businesses, churches and community leaders. We have worked together through the years, but in spring 2006 we formally joined forces as a REACH Community Action coalition.
The coalition is overseen and organized by the Sacramento Mutual Housing Association, which operates two affordable housing communities in the Lemon Hill neighborhood of South Sacramento.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
New Partner - American River Parkway Half Marathon
In the interest of protecting public health and the environment, Sac Fit has become a new partner and adopted a smoke-free policy for all their outdoor fitness events! This year the American River Parkway Half Marathon will be smoke-free. Here are three reasons why smoke-free outdoor events are good policy:
- There is no safe level of secondhand smoke.
- Cigarette butts and packaging are the number one source of litter. In addition, discarded butts contain deadly chemicals harmful to animals, plants and waterways.
- Lit cigarettes are a major cause of fires. In 2008, more than 1,000 fires were caused by a discarded tobacco product. Moreover, the 2001 Viejas fire in San Diego which burned 2,300 acres and 16 building was caused by a lit cigarette.
Do your body and mind a favor: Join more than 2500 participants for the May 2, 2009 half marathon on the scenic American River Parkway trail.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Thank You Fleet Feet!
We would like to thank everyone from Fleet Feet for sponsoring healthy, smoke-free events. Because of your commitment to the city's health, the community is a safer and healthier place to live! We received a lot of support from the community and made new connections with other health oriented events at the event. Thank You!
FDA Closer to Regulating Tobacco
Legislation granting the regulation of tobacco by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently cleared the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. If the new bill passes the House and Senate, it will allow the FDA to regulate tobacco advertising and monitor the ingredients in tobacco products. Opponents of the legislation argue that the FDA cannot handle their current responsibilities, citing the recent salmonella outbreaks. They also argue that the law is unecessary because tobacco companies already self-regulate their advertising techniques. But let's be clear: the issue is not the inadequacies of the FDA. The issue is that tobacco products are the number one cause of preventable disease and death.
Tobacco-Use Amplifies Chronic Disease Rate in Asia
According to an article in the Daily Times of Pakistan, tobacco-use is increasing the epidemic of diseases such as tuberculosis and lung cancer in Asia. More than 1.25 billion people smoke worldwide. Unless progressive health policy and stricter regulations are enacted, the epidemic will continue to impact world health as well as add increasing costs to health care programs.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Roll Out the Red Carpet!
News Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Nicole Jarred,
Center for Multicultural Cooperation
Email: njarred@cmcweb.org
Cell Phone: (916) 955-8270
Students become community historians and advocates using 21st Century Digital Technology
The Center for Multicultural Cooperation (CMC) and the Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center (SCCSC) will showcase youth-produced videos at the California Voices Regional Premiere to be held on Thursday, May 14th at the Crest Theater.
In more than a dozen
Through CMC’s California Voices project, students are producing mini-documentaries chronicling the lives of elders who are “unsung heroes” in their communities—people who have made significant contributions to community, culture or country. They are developing films and public service announcements (PSAs) about issues that affect them, including the high school drop out rate, neighborhood safety, and health and wellness issues. These projects help preserve community history while mobilizing young people to become civically engaged, use technology to serve their community, and envision a brighter future for themselves and their families.
CMC is partnering with the Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center (SCCSC) to hold a contest for student-produced anti-tobacco PSAs. Middle and high school students are invited to produce short PSAs addressing the way tobacco companies target youth and the dangers of outdoor second-hand smoke. SCCSC will work with local movie theaters to screen the winning PSA before youth-rated films for a period of 12 months. In addition, the teams producing the top three rated PSAs will be awarded gift certificate prizes.
The Anti-Tobacco PSA contest will be part of CMC’s spring premiere for the California Voices after school programs in the
For more information about the Center for Multicultural Cooperation, visit: www.cmcweb.org
For more information about the
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Wednesday, March 11, 2009
New Tobacco Tax Bill: Senators Steinberg and Padilla Launch New Efforts witth the Aid of El Dorado Youth
Health Groups Launch New Effort to Increase Tobacco Tax
New tobacco tax would reduce teen smoking, fight lung cancer and pump nearly $1 billion into the state’s General Fund
(SACRAMENTO, CA, March 10, 2009) Today, the state’s leading voluntary health organizations introduced legislation to increase California’s tobacco tax by an additional $1.50 per pack in order to reduce youth smoking, fight lung cancer and provide needed revenue to the cash-strapped state.
“Increasing the tobacco tax and investing in tobacco prevention is the single best way to reduce youth smoking”, said Trisha Murakawa, Board Chair for the American Lung Association of California. “This bill will help the state counter the cigarette makers’ multi-million dollar marketing campaign that is intended to lure children into a life-long addiction to tobacco.”
The American Lung Association, American Heart Association and American Cancer Society are sponsoring Senate Bill 600, which would increase the tobacco tax an additional $1.50 per pack and raise nearly $1.2 billion for the General Fund, tobacco prevention and lung cancer research. California’s current tobacco tax is $.87/pack, ranking it 31st in the nation, among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The $1.50 per pack would be on top of the existing $.87/pack, making California’s state tobacco tax $2.37 per pack or the fifth highest in the nation.
If passed, Senate Bill 600 would be the first increase in California’s tobacco tax in more than a decade. In that same period of time, 44 states have increased the tobacco tax 90 times, by Republican and Democratic majority legislatures, and signed into law by Republican and Democratic governors. Arkansas was the latest state to increase its tobacco tax, an additional 56 cents a pack, which went into effect March 1, 2009.
“A tobacco tax increase is long overdue in California,” said Charlie Smith, Board Chair of the American Cancer Society’s California Division. “This bill is the American Cancer society’s top priority in Sacramento because smoking is the single largest cause of cancer deaths. Raising the tax and using some of the proceeds to fund the state’s successful tobacco prevention program are proven methods to drive down smoking rates.”
Tobacco is a significant drain on the state’s human and financial resources. According to The Cost of Smoking in California (funded by the California Department of Health Services, 2002) smoking costs California nearly $16 billion a year in direct and indirect medical expenses and lost productivity. Direct health care costs of smoking account for 54 percent of the total cost of smoking in California, or $8.6 billion.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are nearly 35,000 smoking attributable deaths per year in California, making tobacco the number one preventable cause of deaths in the state. Nearly one in five deaths in the state is caused by tobacco.
Heart disease remains the number one killer in the United States, claiming the lives of approximately 2,400 Americans each day, an average of one death every 37 seconds. Tobacco is the number one preventable cause of death in the United States and leading controllable risk factor for heart disease and stroke.
Passage of a $1.50 tobacco tax will result in a 5-year health savings of $65.1 million dollars from fewer smoking-caused heart attacks and strokes.
“SB 600 is the most important health related bill this year and our number one priority because we know raising the tax on tobacco and allocating money to California’s tobacco control program will save lives. We commend the Senator for his leadership on this issue and his commitment to reduce tobacco use among Californians and our most precious resource, our youth.” Dr. John Schafer, Past Chair American Heart Association Western States Affiliate Board.
To find better early detection methods and treatments to help those with lung cancer, SB 600 would establish the first ever Lung Cancer Early Detection and treatment Research program. While California's tobacco prevention program is largely responsible for lung cancer rates in California declining at nearly four times faster than in the rest of the nation, more needs to be done.
Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in both men and women in the United States. Lung cancer causes more deaths than the next three most common cancers combined (colon, breast and prostate). An estimated 160,390 deaths from lung cancer will occur in the United States this year. Unfortunately, lung cancer research into better early detection and screening methods has not received sufficient funding over the last several years, thus lung cancer survival rates have remained flat for the past 30 years.
To support the effort to pass SB 600, the American Lung Association, American Heart Association and American Cancer Society will be coordinating a statewide grassroots and media campaign that emphasizes public support for increasing the tobacco tax. In particular, the health organizations will be targeting grassroots activities in legislative district s that will be important to winning a two-thirds vote in each legislative house.
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Monday, March 9, 2009
Fleet Feet Goes Smoke Free
Sacramento Smoke-Free Outdoor Eats
Eat well - save yourself the side order of carcinogens! The SOL project and Sacramento County Tobacco Control Coalition have put together a nice list of smoke-free outdoor dinning:
Paesano's
Tower Cafe
Slocum House
The Firehouse
Danielle's Creperie
Paragary's Bar & Oven - Midtown / Goldriver
Chevy's Bar and Grill
Joe's Crab Schack
Dad's Sandwich Shop
The Cliff House of Folsom
Ettore's
Virgin Sturgeon
Napolitos
Express Metro
Mansion Court Café
Pyramid Alehouse
58 Degrees & Holding Co. / Bar 58
Ernesto's Mexican Food
Hangar 17
Mulvaney's B & L
Sac Natural Food Co-op
Zocalo/Tortugas
Table 260 - Downtown
Louisanna Heaven - Elk Grove
Queen Sheba - Broadway
Alaina Creole Cafe - Arden
Romano's Mac Grill - Stockton
Gaines Grill - Stockton
Sacramento Supports Smoke-Free Outdoor Areas
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ACT-UP Public Opinion Survey: Smoke-Free Policies in Outdoor Public Areas
During the months of October and November 2008, the Asian Coalition for Tobacco Use Prevention (ACT-UP) Project surveyed 338 members of the public about their opinion of smoke-free policies in outdoor public areas. Members of ACT-UP conducted the survey at three locations: Cal Expo,
The results of the survey are as follows:
· 65% of respondents reported they saw at least one person smoking at the site
· 67% believed that smoking is an issue in the
· 79% reported that the
· 50% said they would be more likely to go to a public outdoor area if there was a smoke-free policy in place (only 14% said they would be less likely)
It is evident from the survey results that a majority of the public who participated in the survey is in favor of smoke-free policies in outdoor public areas in
Youth Across the Globe Target Tobacco
Youth are taking action around the world. At the 14th World Conference on Health OR Tobacco (WCTOH), youth from more than 27 countries are expressing their disdain with Big Tobacco's influence in the movies. As reported in the Modern Ghana by Bobby-Ramakant:
"One of the major influences on the uptake of teen tobacco use is the glamourisation of tobacco use in movies and on television. This has been well documented by comprehensive research studies in India and US. On-screen or smoking in public view by bollywood film-stars will influence young minds to smoke."
In a similar force of action in Sacramento, teens will attend Youth Quest 2009 Monday, March 23 to rally at the State Capitol and celebrate California's tobacco-control movement.
California Voices Youth Film Premiere & Anti-Tobacco PSA Award Ceremony
Join forces with Sacramento’s youth and contribute to the California Voices Youth Film Premiere! Coming to a theater near you - Hundreds of students from over a dozen Sacramento schools in under served communities are producing mini-documentaries celebrating local heroes and preserving local history. Youth are also tackling tough issues by producing public service announcements targeting the teenage dropout rate, violence and drug and alcohol abuse. The two hour celebration also includes an anti-tobacco PSA award ceremony sponsored by ACT-UP. By making a contribution and attending the May 14th film premiere at the Crest Theater, you are showing Sacramento’s teens that technology, advocacy and leadership matters.
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