Happy second birthday, Nebraska's smoke-free worksites law!

Two years ago today, Nebraska put in place a law that protects the air we breathe at indoor worksites throughout the state. And Nebraskans appreciate the effort.

Nebraska's smoke-free worksites law is doing what it was intended to do, and other states should follow suit, according to an editorial just published in the Dakota County Star.

A year ago, Eric Rosenberg, who enjoys visiting Kearney bars, told the Kearney Hub he’s grateful for the smoking ban, and that it’s helping him quit the habit.

“I smoke a lot less,” Rosenberg told the Hub. “When you’re trying to quit, and you’re in a bar, the urge to smoke isn’t there because there aren’t a lot of people blowing smoke in your face.”

A report issued by Tobacco Free Nebraska recognizing the impact of the first six months of the smoke-free air law found:

• Nebraskans overwhelmingly support the statewide smoke-free air law that protects non-smokers from secondhand smoke in public places including bars, restaurants and gaming establishments.
  
• Nebraskans believe it is important to have a law prohibiting smoking inside most public buildings, including restaurants and bars.
  
• Nebraskans overwhelmingly agree that restaurants and bars in the state are healthier for employees and customers as a result of the law.
  
• Nebraskans still frequent restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, bingo halls and keno establishments as much as they did before the smoke-free air law went into effect.

And now, two years into the implementation of the law, the evidence of the dangers of secondhand smoke and how smoke-free worksites laws protect health continues to pile in.

The Michigan Department of Community Health recently reported the results of a health study of 40 people working at bars in 12 Michigan counties, mlive.com reported yestereday.

The study found a significant drop in the levels of two chemical compounds that serve as markers of secondhand smoke exposure.

The bar employees reported better health, and that they were less likely to have allergy symptoms, wheezing, shortness of breath, phlegm, daytime cough and morning cough.

A study involving more than 6,400 youth has linked exposure to secondhand smoke to higher blood pressure in boys was just released in Denver, MedScape.com reported yesterday. 

Higher blood pressure early in life can be a forerunner of high blood pressure as an adult. High blood pressure has been linked to heart and kidney disease. In nonsmoking adults, studies have shown a link between secondhand smoke and increased blood pressure.

Nebraskans can be proud of the step it took to put in place a comprehensive smoke-free worksites law. We will benefit with better health for years to come.

Kids in Nebraska can play their way into learning about the dangers of smoking and tobacco use, and reasons to remain tobacco free, thanks to a new booklet: the Tobacco Free Times.

Tobacco Free Nebraska has created the Tobacco Free Times, a booklet that includes a wordsearch, a codebreaker, a maze and other activities for kids to solve while they're learning about why to remain tobacco free.

Kids will learn about flavored tobacco products, what they can do instead of trying flavored tobacco and smokeless tobacco. They'll learn about smoking's effects on how we look and smell. And they'll learn about myths and the truth. Here's an excerpt from the booklet:


Myth: Chewing tobacco is a harmless alternative to smoking.
Truth: Chewing tobacco is still tobacco. It contains nitrosamines, cancer-causing chemicals from the curing process.
Myth: Dip or chew improves my athletic performance.
Truth: A study of professional baseball players found no connection between chewing tobacco and player performance. Using smokeless tobacco increases your heart rate and blood pressure within a few minutes, which places extra stress on your heart. This may actually reduce your overall performance.
Myth: Taking care of my gums can offset the harmful effects of using dip or chew.
Truth: There’s no proof that brushing and flossing will undo the harm that smokeless tobacco does to your teeth and gums.
Myth: It’s easy to quit using smokeless tobacco when I want to.
Truth: Nicotine, the addictive substance in tobacco, is also found in chew. Nicotine addiction makes quitting difficult.

The booklet is available for download as a pdf, thanks to Tobacco Free Nebraska.

Nebraska is among  half of the United States that has a law in place protecting residents from secondhand smoke, according to a new study.

Kudos to a Bellevue apartment complex for going smoke-free this year.

Members of Tobacco Free Sarpy in March presented a plaque to Highland Meadows Apartments of Bellevue for implementing a 100 percent smoke-free policy in all units as of January 1, 2011. 

Tobacco Free Sarpy presented Property Manager Margaret Stamp a certificate of appreciation for her leadership and support of a safe and healthy smoke-free environment.

Pictured from left, Tobacco Free Sarpy members and Property Manager Stamp: Hanneka Brown, Margaret Stamp, Joan Friedman, and Dorothy Shamblen. 

According to the Adult Tobacco Survey/Social Climate Survey, 85 percent of Nebraskans reported in 2009 that they smoking was not allowed in their homes. That was reported in the Data and Trends on Tobacco Use in Nebraska April 2010.

Because cigarette smoke drifts from apartment to apartment, smoke-free apartments are a great choice. Smoke-free apartments provide health benefits for residents and staff who work in them.  Smoke-free apartments also saves maintenance and rehabilitation costs.

Residents in multi-unit buildings cannot control if they are exposed to smoke caused by their neighbors. Smoke-free policies ensure that residents are protected from secondhand smoke.

Ventilation and air purifiers cannot completely control secondhand smoke. Experts like the Center for Energy and Environment, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers, and the U.S. Surgeon General have commented on the need to eliminate cigarette smoking rather than try to ventilate it.

"It's my lungs and my life."

That's what the man depicted in this video by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told his wife when she asked him to quit smoking.

She was "always getting on his case" to quit smoking, he said. She even threatened to quit kissing him.

And yet he smoked.

He learned, by losing his wife to secondhand smoke, that he wasn't only hurting himself. His wife became one of the 50,000 people to die from secondhand smoke each year.

"My wife was my life," he said. 

Each year, 280 Nebraskans die from exposure to secondhand smoke.

If your life has been impacted by smoking or other tobacco use, we invite you to share your story with us. Simply by sharing your story and becoming a member of Nebrakans ACT, you can help promote tobacco free kids in Nebraska and help Nebraskans quit smoking and quit tobacco use.

State Senator Considers Amending Cigarette Tax Bill; Nebraskans Sound Off About Increasing Cigarette Tax
 Nebraska Sen. Mike Gloor said he wants to amend LB436, his proposal to raise the cigarette tax in Nebraska, by 64 cents per pack rather by $1.35 per pack. That's what he told NET Radio this week. A raise in the cigarette tax from 64 cents per pack to $1.28 cents per pack would still be enough to discourage kids from smoking and help some adults to quit, according to Gloor. The revision should address concerns that a cigarette tax increase would drive Nebraskans to other states with a lower cigarette tax rate, Gloor told NET Radio, and strengthen the chances of the bill being voted out of the Revenue Committee, where it sits now.

Nebraskans sounded off on the measure.

"Kudos to Sen. Mike Gloor," for proposing raise funds with cigarette taxes, and shame on Gov. Dave Heineman for saying he won't sign the measure, while proposing a 5 percent cut to Medicaid provider rates over the next two years. That's the message shared by Lincoln Journal Star letter writer David L. Foster of Brainard.

The letter came following comments Governor Dave Heineman made in a March 19 interview with the Associated Press, as reported in the Yankton Press & Dakotan and elsewhere. “The proposed increase ”is all about additional spending. It would be one thing if they were going to take the money and reduce taxes somewhere else. This bill is going to increase the cigarette tax to spend money. To me, it just doesn’t make sense.“

Kyle Michaelis of the New Nebraska Network blogged that while he's concerned that the proposal to raise the cigarette tax and the tobacco tax in LB436 would mean, "exploiting the addiction of an economically disadvantaged population to balance our state's budget," he's "absolutely appalled by Gov. Dave Heineman's cheap dismissal of this or any tax increase while the state legislature works to balance close to a billion dollar deficit in our state's budget."

The state of Nebraska has a genuine interest in the education and health of its citizens, according to Michaelis, and Nebraska state senators owe this and other potential tax hikes full consideration and an open debate.

Nebraska Teens Promote Tobacco Free Kids, Efforts to Help People Quit Smoking and Quit Tobacco

It's cheaper for teens to buy a cigarette than to buy a bottle of water.

That's the message teens brought to Lincoln Wednesday at the No Limits Nebraska rally. About 100 Nebraska teens traveled to the state capitol Wednesday, while others and prepared radio ads in recognition of Kick Butts Day.

"90% of adult daily smokers start while in their teens," Amanda Mortensen, Project Coordinator of No Limits, told 10/11 News. "So we really want to talk with the youth that raise awareness about this issue and how it's affecting teens, because if we can decrease the number of teens that are starting to use tobacco, then we're going to ultimately decrease the number of people who are dying from tobacco."

The No Limits Rally at the capitol was one of several events throughout the state that recognized Kick Butts Day. Kick Butts Day is an annual day sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids to help promote tobacco free kids and tobacco prevention.

Students from Doniphan-Trumbull and Heartland Lutheran High Schools, where they handed out stickers, pamphlets, bracelets, and temporary tattoos at Hy-Vee in Grand Island Wednesday morning to help Nebraskans kick their tobacco habit to the curb. And students in Platte and Colfax counties produced radio ads highlighting the dangers of secondhand smoke.

Danny McGoldrick of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, in his comments about Kick Butts Day events, told the Nebraska Radio Network that one sure way to discourage smoking is to make cigarettes more expensive.

“Nebraska’s tobacco tax is about half of the national average and we estimate that increasing Nebraska’s tobacco tax by $1.35, which is what’s being considered, would not only prevent almost 20,000 Nebraska kids from becoming smokers and encourage about 10,000 Nebraska smokers to quit, but it would also raise important new revenue for the state.”

Also in the news this week, No Limits, Nebraska’s youth-led tobacco prevention movement, is accepting applications for its 2011-12 youth board.

Hookah Bar Pledges to Seek Cigar Bar Status to Offer Smoking and Beverages

An Omaha business that permits smoking hookah indoors sought a permit to sell alcohol from the Omaha City Council Tuesday.

The council denied the application by the Oasis Hookah Bar, saying that for it to sell alcohol and permit smoking, it must seek status as a cigar bar.

A hookah is a water pipe used to smoke tobacco through cooled water. The tobacco is heated in the bowl at the top of the hookah and the smoke is filtered through the water in the base of the hookah.

The Nebraska Legislature in 2008 passed a smoke-free worksites law that prohibited smoking in indoor public places. In 2009, the Nebraska Legislature passed a bill brought forward by Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh of Omaha that created a new class of business as cigar bars. That exemption permits those businesses to permit smoking of cigars and other non-cigarette products.

“If they want (to sell) alcohol, they’ll have to become a cigar bar,” the Omaha World Herald quoted Deputy City Attorney Tom Mumgaard as saying.

Sen. Lautenbaugh (@Lautenbaugh) tweeted: "Headline of the year so far- OWH Midlands- "No Alcohol Without Cigars, City Says"- sounds extreme even to me! (but, thanks, city)"

Jesse Hill, a co-owner of Oasis, said he would sell cigars to get a liquor license, according to the Omaha World Herald. “Our focus is not going to be on cigars. We didn’t open to be a cigar bar. We opened to be a hookah bar.”

Jamal Husein, owner of the former hookah bar Sultana’s Kahve in Lincoln, continues to sell hookah pipes and smoking materials for use elsewhere.

“I don’t know if selling alcohol is a good idea,” he told the Omaha World Herald. “If somebody who has consumed too much alcohol monkeys with the coals, they could burn themselves.”

Hastings Public Schools On Path Toward Tobacco Free School Campuses

Next fall when Hastings students return to school, they will return to campuses that are tobacco-free.

That's what will happen if the Hastings Board of Education gives second-round approval in April to a measure addressed last week by the board. Monday the board gave first-round approval to a measure that will require that all Hastings Public Schools property and facilities be tobacco-free beginning August 1, as reported by the Hastings Tribune.

Hastings Public School buildings and school vehicles have been smoke-free since 1989. Since that time, it has also been against policy for Hastings Public Schools employees and students to use tobacco while participating in class activity or in activities in which they represented Hastings Public Schools.

As proposed, the new policy would not extend to property that is leased or used by Hastings Public Schools that it does not own.

The issue of tobacco-free school campuses has received attention this year as a result of a bill proposed by State Sen. Jeremy Nordquist of Omaha. The bill, LB313, would require school campuses throughout Nebraska to be tobacco-free.

More than 440,000 Americans die each year as a result of using tobacco, according to a radio ad released this week by Howells Community Catholic Schools and Tobacco Free Colfax County.

Tobacco contains more than 4,000 harmful chemicals, according to the ad. Stopping smoking can help the person who smokes and others, as well, students who produced the ad share.  Secondhand smoke can cause cancer. 

The spot is one of four spots produced as a result of a contest by Tobacco Free Platte County and Tobacco Free Colfax County. The contest recognizes Kick Butts Day, a national day sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. This is the 16th annual Kick Butts Day. The day is a national day designed to promote tobacco free kids.

The ads are being aired this week in the Columbus and Central City, Nebraska, areas.

Secondhand smoke hurts your friendships, your lungs, and your heart. And it can lead to your death.

That's the message of today's featured radio ad. This ad is the second of four ads that took a winning place in a contest sponsored by Tobacco Free Platte County and Tobacco Free Colfax County. 

The radio spot is presented by St. Anthony's Catholic School in Columbus and the Tobacco Free Platte County Coalition. The four winning ads are being aired in the Platte and Colfax county area this week.

The ads are part of an effort recognizing Kick Butts Day, which is today. Kick Butts Day is a national effort sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. Today is the 16th annual Kick Butts Day. Events are planned across Nebraska and in all 50 states.

Howells Community Catholic Schools and the Tobacco Free Colfax County coalition present a radio spot recorded to highlight the dangers of secondhand smoke.

This radio spot is one of four that are being aired this week in the Platte and Colfax county areas. It was chosen as a winner of contest to engage youth in reducing tobacco use run by Tobacco Free Platte County and Tobacco Free Colfax County to recognize Kick Butts Day.

Four radio spots were chosen as winners of the contest. In recognition of Kick Butts Day, one radio spot will be recognized at healtheducation.org each day this week.

Kick Butts Day, Wednesday, March 23, is a day of activism that empowers youth to take action against tobacco use at more than 2,000 events from coast to coast. Kick Butts Day was initiated in 1995 by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. 

"The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control" has been designated as the theme of the annual World No Tobacco Day for 2011.

World No Tobacco Day, which will take place on Tuesday, 31 May 2011, is sponsored by the World Health Organization.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is the world's foremost tobacco control instrument. It is the first treaty ever negotiated under the auspices of WHO. According to WHO, it represents a signal achievement in the advancement of public health. 

The treaty, in force since 2005, is already one of the most rapidly and widely embraced treaties in the history of the United Nations, with more than 170 Parties. The treaty is based on evidence and provides new legal dimensions for cooperation in tobacco control.

World No Tobacco Day 2011 will be designed to highlight the treaty's overall importance, to stress Parties' obligations under the treaty and to promote the essential role of the Conference of the Parties and WHO in supporting countries' efforts to meet those obligations. The Conference of the Parties is the treaty's central organ and governing body.

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death. This year, according to WHO, more than 5 million people will die from a tobacco-related heart attack, stroke, cancer, lung ailment or other disease. That does not include the more than 600,000 people – more than a quarter of them children – who will die from exposure to second-hand smoke. The annual death toll from the global epidemic of tobacco use could rise to 8 million by 2030. Tobacco use killed 100 million people during the 20th century, according to WHO. It could kill 1 billion during the 21st century.

As with any other treaty, the WHO FCTC confers legal obligations on its Parties – that is, on the countries (and the European Union) that have formally acceded to it.

Among these obligations are those to:

• Protect public health policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.
• Adopt price and tax measures to reduce the demand for tobacco.
• Protect people from exposure to tobacco smoke.
• Regulate the contents of tobacco products.
• Regulate tobacco product disclosures.
• Regulate the packaging and labeling of tobacco products.
• Warn people about the dangers of tobacco.
• Ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
• Offer people help to end their addictions to tobacco.
• Control the illicit trade in tobacco products.
• Ban sales to and by minors.
• Support economically viable alternative to tobacco growing.