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 Legislature Passes Legislation to Cut $970,000 from Tobacco Free Nebraska Program

This past week, the Nebraska Legislature sent to the Governor legislation that would, among other actions, cut almost $1 million from Nebraska's program to prevent smoking and tobacco use and help Nebraskans quit smoking and other tobacco products.

As amended by an Appropriations Committee amendment 35-0, LB378 would provide a number of fund transfers, including $970,000 from the Tobacco Control and Prevention Cash Fund to the Health and Human Services Cash Fund.

LB378 passed on final reading with emergency clause 43-0-6, and was sent to the Governor Wednesday, May 11.

For fiscal year 2011, Nebraska has allocated $2.9 million in state funds for the state's tobacco prevention and cessation program, about the same amount that was allocated in FY2010. Still, funding for this promising program remains substantially below the $7.0 million in state funds allocated in FY2001 and 13.3% of the CDC's recommendation.

Currently, Nebraska ranks 26th among the states in the funding of tobacco prevention programs. Nebraska's spending on tobacco prevention amounts to 2.7 percent of the estimated $107 million in tobacco-generated revenue the state collects each year from settlement payments and tobacco taxes, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

The governor has five days, excluding Sundays, to decide what to do with a bill. If the governor signs a bill or declines to act on it, the bill becomes a state law. The Governor may veto a bill, and he has the authority to strike specific budget appropriations (line-item veto). The Legislature may override any gubernatorial veto, although it takes a vote of 30 senators to do so.

Cigarette Tax Increases Hurt Smokers, Daily Nebraskan Writer Says

Cigarette taxes raise revenue and encourage some smokers to quit, according to Daily Nebraskan writer Chase Magnett, but government isn't the solution to the problem of smoking.

Magnett, who is a junior economics major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, says that at the same time that the government is trying to reduce smoking by increasing cigarette taxes, it is subsidizing tobacco farmers.

A ten percent increase in cigarette taxes brings a 4 percent reduction in smokers, according to the writer. Magnett says that's not much of a reduction, and that government isn't the solution to reducing smoking.

Deaths from Smoking Remembered With Balloon Release
On Wednesday, Grand Island Senior High students remembered the 1,200 Americans who die each year from tobacco-related causes by releasing 1,200 helium-filled balloons from a former greenhouse area inside one of the courtyards at the high school, as reported by the Grand Island Independent.

GISH junior Reyna Raymundo, a member of SADD, told the Independent that the idea for the balloon release was born when she and fellow GISH student Holly Johnson attended a conference put on by No Limits.

No Limits is Nebraska’s first youth-led and youth-driven tobacco prevention movement.  By using activism, Nebraska teens are coming together to minimize the tobacco industry’s influence in Nebraska. 
 
Smoking Materials Should Be Properly Disposed Of, Firefighters Say

A home was lost this week in rural Kearney sparked by the improper disposal of smoking materials, according to the Kearney Hub. The home, valued at $250,000, was destroyed. No one was home at the time of the fire.

In the first five months of 2011, six Kearney families have lost their homes because of carelessness with smoking materials, according to the Kearney Hub. In 2010, four Kearney residents were displaced for the same reason.

Kearney volunteer firefighters responded with frustration.

“These are so preventable,” Trenton Snow, an assistant Kearney Volunteer Fire Department chief, told the Kearney Hub.

At the same time, about a dozen fires across Lincoln have been caused by improperly disposed cigarettes in the last few months.  Firefighters in Lincoln worry Lincolnites are being too careless when it comes to lighting up, according to KLKN-TV.

The most recent fire was at the home of  Rick and Jody Pettit at 3135 E. 101st St., rural Kearney. The home burned quickly because of winds and dry temperatures Monday, the Hub reported.

"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.

How old are the people who die from smoking?

In this video by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the story of one man brings home how young a woman can be when her life is taken by smoking.

Rick Stoddard explains how his wife, Marie, died at age 46 from lung cancer caused by smoking cigarettes. 

Stoddard's mission is to tell as many youth and adults as possible across America about the dangers of tobacco use.

The video also reminds us that it's not only those whose lives are taken by smoking who lose out: Stoddard's wife died, and he lives to grieve her loss.

Each year, 2,200 Nebraskans die from their own smoking, leaving behind loved ones and friends. Stoddard's message is a compelling reminder of why the Nebraska effort to promote tobacco free kids and support efforts to help Nebraskans quit smoking and quit tobacco use is so critical.

Nebraskans who have lost a loved one to tobacco use or who suffer because of smoking or tobacco use can share their story, become a member of Nebraskans ACT, and help promote tobacco free kids and help Nebraskans in their efforts to quit smoking and quit tobacco use.

Being a light or occasional smoker makes it no easier to quit smoking than being a heavy smoker, according to research released this week.

"Our understanding of how to get people to quit smoking has been based on those who were the heaviest smokers, that is, those who smoked a pack a day or more," said lead researcher Dennis Trinidad of Claremont (CA) Graduate University's School of Community and Global Health. "Now, as the smoking population shifts to include more light smokers, we may need to look for better ways to help them stop."

This new research runs counter to the belief that light smokers have an easy time in quitting. The findings were published in the April issue ofthe American Journal of Public Health.

"We need to get ahead of the wave," Trinidad said. "Light smokers may not even view themselves as addicted, but their risks for health complications are still much higher than for somebody who doesn't smoke."

Partnering with Trinidad on the study were researchers from University of California at San Francisco, University of California at San Diego, and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The group based its findings on data from the US Census Bureau, which surveyed residents on their smoking habits in partnership with the National Cancer Institute.

A new video from  truth®, the nation’s largest smoking prevention campaign for youth presents the shocking truth of tobacco use: Six real people suffering from tobacco-related disabilities that visibly show the realities of the harms of tobacco use addiction.

According to Tobacco Free Nebraska's "Data and Trends on Tobacco Use in Nebraska," a larger proportion of Nebraskans died from tobacco-related cancer (39.2 percent) than from tobacco-related cardiovascular disease (24.7 percent) and respiratory diseases (36.1 percent). These deaths bring devastation to Nebraskans and their families. 

At the same time, many Nebraskans live with the health impact of tobacco use. 

In fact, about 8.6 million people in the United States are living with serious illnesses attributed to smoking. For many, it means suffering on a daily basis, and drastic changes from their pre-disease lifestyles.

“Unsweetened truth” highlights the devastation of living with tobacco-related health problems. In the spot, six real people suffering from tobacco-related disabilities are featured on a parade float. As the float travels along, spectators can see the obvious physical disabilities each person is living with. They can also hear the half-dozen participants “singing” a tune about the many different flavors used to enhance tobacco products. 

The spot highlights a new fact: Tobacco companies can’t sell candy-flavored cigarettes, but they still sell other tobacco products in over 45 candy flavors.Living with tobacco-related diseases can mean living with the effects of cancers of the mouth, throat and neck; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; emphysema; and loss of voice. Anyone who uses tobacco has the potential to develop such diseases.

Watch the video here. 

Nebraska Teens to Take on Tobacco
Amanda Mortensen, project coordinator of No Limits Nebraska, told 10/11 News this week that about 90 percent of adult daily smokers started smoking when they were teenagers, and that tobacco industry marketing appeals to teens. That's why No Limits Nebraska is planning a day at the capitol March 23, she said. The story was also reported in the Deshler Rustler, the Hickman Voice News and other Nebraska news media this week.

Quitting Smoking Good for the Heart
Smokers have a higher risk of developing many chronic disorders, including atherosclerosis — the buildup of fatty substances in the arteries — which can lead to coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke. That's according to the Ralston Recorder, one of several news outlets reporting this week on American Heart month.

Smokeless Tobacco Ban in Major League Baseball Supported
The effort of two U.S. Senators who have called on major league baseball to ban smokeless tobacco use ought to be supported, according to an article printed this week. "Spit tobacco out of majors and do it soon," according to the Columbus Telegram headline.

Nebraskans Encouraged to Quit SmokeLess Tobacco
While the possibility of a ban on smokeless tobacco in major league baseball was making national headlines, a week focusing on encouraging Nebraskans to quit using smokeless tobacco made headlines in several Nebraska news outlets. "Smokeless tobacco is not a safe alternative to smoking and is even more habit forming because it contains a higher concentration of nicotine than cigarettes," Tabi Prochazka, environmental coordinator with Panhandle Public Health District, told the Alliance Times-Herald.

Movies are a powerful way to attract new youth smokers and to increase cravings among adult smokers, according to a national organization dedicated to help all young people reject tobacco. 

Research studies in the last 10 years have shown that on-screen smoking influences young people to light up, according to Cheryl Healton, President of the American Legacy Foundation.

In Nebraska each year, 2,200 Nebraska youth take up smoking, and, coincidentally, 2,200 Nebraskans die each year as a result of smoking-related disease. This research shows that smoking on-screen contributes to encouraging those young smokers to start, and making it more difficult for adult smokers to quit.

"Film is better than any commercial that has been run on television or in any magazine, because the audience is totally unaware of the sponsor involvement." 

That's according to what a film industry representative told a tobacco company as far back as 1972, Healton reports.

A study released in January in The Journal of Neuroscience looks at the responses in smokers’ when exposed to tobacco images on screen. Compared to nonsmokers, when smokers saw characters smoke on screen, the areas of the brain associated with planning and simulating hand gestures showed greater activity. For smokers, simply watching someone smoking triggered brain responses of planning to make that movement too. 

The evidence seems clear: Movies are among the long list of triggers that perpetuate nicotine addiction.

Nebraska Hospital Association Supports Cigarette Tax Measure
In a letter to the Lincoln Journal Star, the Nebraska Hospital Association announced its support of a measure to raise the cigarette tax from 64 cents per pack to $1.99 per pack. The Hospital Association calls LB436 a "bold stride toward reducing smoking in Nebraska."

National News Highlights Possibility of Smoke-Free Nebraska Hotels
The possibility that Nebraska might be the next state to have smoke-free hotels made national news this week. The story highlighted the growing trend nationally toward smoke-free hotels. The USA Today noted that if the Nebraska Supreme Court upholds a ruling by a Lancaster County District Court that struck down exemptions to Nebraska's smoke-free worksites law for tobacco stores, cigar bars and hotels, Nebraska would be the third state to have smoke-free hotels, joining Michigan and Wisconsin.

Nebraskans to Recognize Through with Chew Week
News stories throughout Nebraska highlighted that beginning Sunday, February 20, Nebraskans will recognize Through With Chew Week. The week, which runs through February 26, is designed to call attention to smokeless tobacco use in Nebraska and to encourage users to quit.

"Smokeless tobacco is not a safe alternative to smoking and is even more habit forming because it contains a higher concentration of nicotine than cigarettes," Tim Zeleski of Tobacco Free Hall County told the Grand Island Independent.

According to the 2009 Nebraska Youth Risk Behavior Survey of ninth- through 12th-graders, 19.7 percent of Nebraska high school males used smokeless tobacco within the past 30 days. The national average for high school males is 15 percent. Nebraska's combined total (male and female) is 10.9 percent. The national combined total is 8.9 percent.

Nebraska Youth to Rally to Prevent Tobacco Use
A youth rally is planned to promote tobacco prevention, according to the Fairbury Journal News, the Lincoln Journal Star and others.

A statewide student-led anti-tobacco group will hold a youth rally and march for "empowerment and activism" March 23 at the state Capitol. The rally and other events are planned across the country as part of Kick Butts Day organized by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids to encourage young people to stand up and speak out against the tobacco industry.

Quitting Smoking Good for the Heart
The link between cigarette smoking and heart disease was highlighted in stories in the Falls City Journal, the Geneva Nebraska Signal, the Columbus Telegram and others in recognition of American Heart Month. A major benefit to quitting
smoking is that the risk of heart disease is reduced by almost half, according to the York News Times.

Compliance Checks
Two businesses of 72 checked sold tobacco to minors in a recent Sarpy County effort to reduce tobacco sales to minors, according to a Gretna Breeze article. That resulted in a 2.7 percent failure rate.

A webinar scheduled for Friday, February 18, will highlight new findings from research in the February 2011 Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine that show that substantial amounts of tobacco images are present in television programming popular among youth. 

Webinar presenters will talk about why images of smoking in movies, media and television have a profound effect on youth smoking initiation. 

The webinar, presented by the American Legacy Foundation, will discuss what public health, policy leaders and the entertainment industry can do together to avert tobacco-related disease and death through responsible depictions of smoking in media.

Speakers  will include Ursula Bauer, Ph.D., MPH, Director, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC; Colin Crowell, Crowell Strategies – Telecommunications, Technology Policy Expert, formerly with the Federal Communications Commission and Congressman Edward Markey; and Cicely Gilkey, Producer, AMC’s Mad Men Season 3 DVD documentary Clearing the Air: The History of Cigarette Advertising.

The webinar is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. central time, Friday, February 18.

It will be moderated by David Dobbins, Chief Operating Officer of the American Legacy Foundation.

Click this link the day of the even to learn the impact of smoking on American's youth will be available at this link on the day of the event. 
No call-in or password will be necessary.