A program in the Omaha Public Schools seeks to keep young people from smoking through outreach by their peers, as reported by KIOS. 

Four times during the school year, students in three grades meet to discuss real-world strategies for drug prevention. The program's goal is for students to go back to their respective schools with ideas for preventing or reducing the use of tobacco.

"We know that there are teens that are using, we know that the average age that children try a drug now is 11 and a half, Toni Hernandez, Drug Prevention Specialist for the Omaha Public Schools, told KIOS. "So that's pretty scary. So by sixth grade it could be too late to prevent the use for some students."

Cigarette Tax Bill Stalls in Revenue Committee
A proposal to raise Nebraska’s cigarette taxes failed Wednesday to advance from a state legislative committee.

LB436 would increase the tax on cigarettes from 64 cents per pack to $1.99 per pack, and would increase the tax on other tobacco products from 20 percent of wholesale to 65 percent of wholesale. Last week, the Revenue Committee considered raising the cigarette tax from 64 cents per pack to $1.28 per pack. A motion to advance that proposal from the Legislature’s Revenue Committee failed to get a second.

That makes it doubtful that the cigarette tax increase will be considered this year, according to the Omaha World Herald. Revenue Committee chairwoman Sen. Abbie Cornett of Bellevue, who chairs that committee, told the paper it would be difficult to advance such a tax hike this year even if it were smaller.

If the cigarette tax increase is advanced out of committee, however, it could be attached to another bill, Revenue Chairwoman Abbie Cornett told the Lincoln Journal Star.

The bill continues to generate discussion in Nebraska newspapers.

"Legislative Bill 436 (increasing the cigarette tax) would not save lives," according to Omaha World Herald letter writer Steven Durant. "People are going to smoke and drink regardless of cost and consequences. Alcohol and tobacco are the true gateway drugs in our society and are both socially acceptable."

"Education, not legislation, is the answer," he said.

"I sometimes wish I were a kid again so my only worry was if I was caught smoking. When you find tobacco in every cupboard or refrigerator like you do booze, then it’s time to raise the cigarette tax," said Kearney Hub letter writer Roger Mattson of Courtland, Kan., formerly of Kearney.

Bill to Collect Tribal Tobacco Payments Forwarded to Full Nebraska Legislature
A bill that would create a process for the state of Nebraska to collect revenue from tribes for tobacco sales was forwarded out of the Revenue Committee Wednesday.

Winnebago tribal leader Lance Morgan, CEO of Ho-Chunk Inc., his tribe's economic arm, told the Lincoln Journal Star that his tribe doesn't fully support changes made in the bill, some of which were negotiated with the tribe, but also wouldn't oppose the bill. The tribe had opposed the bill prior to amendments when it was heard in March by the Revenue Committee.

The bill (LB590), introduced by Sen. Mike Gloor of Grand Island, would allow state officials to negotiate compacts with tribes to collect revenue from tribal tobacco sales.

Nebraska is seeking to collect tribal tobacco payments in order to continue receiving millions of dollars each year through a national settlement agreement that was reached with the four largest tobacco companies in 1998. The tribe doesn't share with the state any of the nearly $250,000 it collects each year in taxes on cigarette sales, nor does it get payments from the tobacco settlement.

Homeless Shelter's Plans to Build Smoking Room Questioned
"Did I understand the March 16 Hub’s 'Crossroads to try again' to say that their plans for building a homeless shelter include providing a 'smoking room?'"

That's the question posed by Kearney Hub letter writer Mary Cocetti of Kearney. 


"Having been in buildings where smokers were to isolate themselves from nonsmokers, I know that it just isn’t possible," she said. "Smoke permeates the air. Moreover, it contaminates hair, skin and clothing, which then inflicts it upon nonsmokers — many of them children — in the living, dining and bedroom areas."


The Kearney Hub reported March 16 that plans for a homeless shelter in Kearney include 16 bedrooms, a kitchen and dining area, meeting rooms, five living areas, a patio and a smoking room. It reported March 18 that the City Planning Commission has approved those plans. The proposal is subject to final approval of the Kearney City Council. 

Nebraska's smoke-free air law requires that indoor worksites be smokefree. The law provides exceptions for businesses designated as cigar bars, tobacco-only retailers, a percentage of hotel rooms, facilities researching health effects of smoking and private residences, except when a residence is being used as a licensed child care program.

Local Health Department Names Smoking as a Top Health Priority
Smoking is one of six top public health priorities in Nebraska, according to Dr. David Lindley, West Central District Health Department medical director and board president.

Obesity, coronary artery disease, diabetes, poor nutrition, lack of exercise and smoking are the top public health priorities in Nebraska, he told the North Platte Telegraph. These priorities are about the same in every state, he said.

The WCDHD stressed the importance of "the silent branch of medicine" as part of National Public Health Week, which ran April 4 through April 10.

Public health has had a number of successes, according to Dr. Lindley. Among them are tobacco-use related successes.

"Clean air to breathe, healthy water to drink and safe food to eat are a given in our society....," Dr. Lindley said. "(W)e have had a reduction in heart disease, which is a leading cause of death."

Youth Congress Focuses on Preventing Smoking, Tobacco Use
A program in the Omaha Public Schools seeks to keep young people from smoking through outreach by their peers, according to a story this morning on KIOS.

Four times during the school year, students in three grades meet in Youth Congress to discuss real-world strategies for drug prevention.

Toni Hernandez, Drug Prevention Specialist for the Omaha Public Schools, told KIOS that minors who smoke are beginning that habit at a younger age.

"We know that there are teens that are using. We know that the average age that children try a drug now is 11 and a half. So that's pretty scary. So by sixth grade it could be too late to prevent the use for some students."

Youth Involvement in Preventing Tobacco Use Applauded
Three students from West Point-Beemer High School took a stand against smoking and visited their state senator in March. 

State Sen. Lydia Brasch of Bancroft applauded them for their efforts in her legislative update published last week in the Norfolk Daily News and elsewhere.

"It’s good to see our youth involved and making wise choices," said Sen. Brasch.

TriValley Health System Partners to Offer Smoking Cessation, Healthy Living Options
TriValley Health System, which operates clinics in Arapahoe, Cambridge and Indianola, is partnering with Wellness Partners to expand offerings for healthy living, including smoking cessation. The goal is to promote healthier people in Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas, according to an article in the McCook Gazette.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States; cancer the second leading cause; and stroke the third leading cause, according to the article. Smoking is a major contributor to heart disease and stroke, according to the article. It also contributes to lung cancer, and increases the risk for a variety of other cancers, according to the American Cancer Society.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched a new campaign to  educate retailers and raise awareness about tobacco product regulations. 

Break the Chain is designed to protect kids from the dangers of tobacco use and its negative health impacts.

According to Tobacco Free Nebraska's Data and Trends on Tobacco Use in Nebraska (April 2010), 45.1 percent of youth have ever tried smoking or cigarettes, even one puff. Each year in Nebraska, 2,200 kids younger than 18 are new daily smokers each year. Almost 80 percent of all adult smokers first become regular smokers before the age of 18. In fact, 90 percent do so before leaving their teens. That's according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

As part of the FDA's campaign, it has produced posters, flyers, bilingual bookmarks, mirror and window clings, stickers, toolkits and self mailers.

These materials are available for order to help promote tobacco free kids.

Every day in the United States, almost 4,000 kids younger than 18 try their first cigarette and 1,000 kids younger than 18 become daily smokers. In Nebraska, 2,200 kids younger than 18 will become new daily smokers each year.

Many of these kids will become addicted before they are old enough to understand the risks and will ultimately die too young of tobacco-related diseases. 

In response to the problem of tobacco use and as a result of Congressional Legislation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  is working to protect the health of America’s children and ultimately reduce the burden of illness and death caused by tobacco use.

To protect kids from becoming addicted to tobacco products and suffering the deadly effects of tobacco, the FDA Center for Tobacco Products issued a rule limiting the sale, distribution, and marketing of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.

Requirements Relating to Sale and Distribution

• Prohibits the sale of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco to people younger than 18.
• Prohibits the sale of cigarette packages with fewer than 20 cigarettes.
• Prohibits the sale of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in vending machines, self-service displays, or other impersonal modes of sales, except in very limited situations.
• Prohibits free samples of cigarettes and limits distribution of smokeless tobacco products.

Requirements Relating to Marketing (Labeling, Advertising, and Promotion)

• Prohibits tobacco brand name sponsorship of any athletic, musical, or other social or cultural event, or any team or entry in those events.
• Prohibits gifts or other items in exchange for buying cigarettes or smokeless tobacco products.
• Requires that audio ads use only words with no music or sound effects.
• Prohibits the sale or distribution of items, such as hats and tee shirts, with tobacco brands or logos.

More information about the FDA's efforts to reduce tobacco use among kids is available at the "Protecting Kids from Tobacco Use" website.

“I personally believe that smokeless tobacco should be banned at the Major League level.”

That's according a letter the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids received Thursday -- opening day for the 2011 baseball season -- from Major League Baseball (MLB) Commissioner Bud Selig.

Does this Mean Major League Baseball is Now Set to be Tobacco Free?
No. Commissioner Selig correctly points out that this is a negotiating issue between MLB and the players’ union. That means it's our turn to make our voices heard for kids. Do so today by asking your favorite team(s) to support the ban.

Why is it Important for Major League Baseball to be Tobacco Free?
Tobacco was banned in the minor leagues 18 years ago. The National Collegiate Athletic Association and the National Hockey League have already banned it.

In Thursday's New York Times, Bobby Valentine, ESPN commentator and former NY Mets coach, talked about why a ban on tobacco use in Major League Baseball 
is important.

"True, some players say tobacco use is nobody’s business—that tobacco is legal, that they are adults and chewing tobacco is a personal choice. But they are public figures and role models for kids, and need to recognize the added responsibility that the limelight brings. And they would still be free to use tobacco on their own time, just not while playing baseball."

Join Bobby Valentine, 15 top health officials from MLB cities, and 10 major public health groups by standing up for kids today. Send a message to your favorite team(s) calling on them to support a ban on all tobacco use on the field and in the dugout!

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.

"The number of cigarette packs that we sell in this state is enough to build a sidewalk of cigarette packs from the Missouri River to Wyoming," according to Sen. Mike Gloor of Grand Island, in his comments about what drove him to sponsor legislation that would increase the taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Gloor, who is the retired CEO of St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island, told the Nebraska Revenue Committee Friday that working in a hospital setting where he saw first-hand the problems of tobacco use lead him to want to help reduce tobacco use, and that's why he's sponsoring LB436.

"We're trying to get people to stop smoking," he said.

LB436 would increase the tax on cigarettes from 64 cents per pack to $1.99 per pack, and would increase the tax on other tobacco products from 20 percent of wholesale to 65 percent of wholesale.

According to Sen. Gloor, if the Nebraska Legislature passes LB436, 20,000 kids won't start smoking. He said that Nebraska's cigarette tax rate of 64 cents per pack places Nebraska at a rank of 38, at bottom third of states.

With the $1.35 proposed increase, he said Nebraska would rank at the bottom of the top third of states, and will start dropping in ranking immediately, given the likelihood that other states will be increasing their cigarette tax rates as well.

Sen. Gloor said that the price of tobacco products needs to be increased by at least 10 to 15 percent to reduce smoking.

Dr. Alan Thorson, immediate Past President of the National Board of the American Cancer Society said that battling tobacco is the single most beneficial way to impact health. He said that 30 percent of all cancer deaths, and 87 percent of all lung cancer deaths are related to tobacco. 

Kim Russel, President and CEO of Bryan LGH, who also spoke on behalf of the Nebraska Hospital Association, said that one of the key benefits of increasing the cigarette tax is deterring young smokers.

The measure wouldn't be good for retailers, according to Mark Whitehead, president and co-owner of Whitehead Oil, and Vice Chairman of the Nebraska Petroleum and Convenience Store Association.

Increasing the tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products wouldn't have positive impact on consumption that proponents say, according to Whitehead. Convenience stores have problems with theft of the product, he said.

The bill would hurt small businesses, hurts jobs, increase illegal activity, and increase border bleed -- sales of tobacco products to Nebraska customers out of state, according to Ted Stessman, President of the Nebraska Candy & Tobacco Association. Stessman said that they had collected 5,000 signatures on a petition from smokers who oppose LB436. 

The Revenue Committee took no action on the bill Friday. The committee may vote to send the bill to general file with or without amendments, indefinitely postpone the bill, or take no action on it.

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.

Steady declines in cigarette smoking appear to have stalled in eighth, tenth and twelfth grades after several years of improvement on most measures, according to the latest Monitoring the Future study.

Teen smoking had shown important declines in the mid-1990s. In Nebraska, teen smoking rates experienced a sharp decline between 1997 (39.2 percent) and 2009 (18.4 percent). The figure  shown here shows the trend in youth smoking rates from 1991 to 2009. This figure is from the Data and Trends on Tobacco Use in Nebraska 2010 report.

The 2010 Monitoring the Future study shows that the declines in teen smoking shown nationwide have come to a halt among younger teens in the United States. The study also shows some evidence of a possible increase in their smoking.

While the increase is not yet large enough to reach statistical significance, an increasing proportion of both 8th and 10th grade students this year said they smoked in the past 30 days or smoked daily in that period.

“Smoking is a habit that tends to stay with people for a long time, leading to ongoing differences between different graduating classes of students that persist into adulthood,” according to Lloyd Johnston, the study’s principal investigator. The Monitoring the Future study, which has been tracking teen smoking in the United States for the past 36 years, reports that past 30-day smoking among 8th graders increased from 6.5 in 2009 to 7.1 percent in 2010; among 10th graders it rose from 13.1 percent to 13.6 percent.

The study looks at about 46,000 students in nearly 400 secondary schools each year. The study is directed by a team of research professors at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. It is funded by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse—one of the National Institutes of Health.

Steady declines in cigarette smoking appear to have stalled in eighth, tenth and twelfth grades after several years of improvement on most measures, according to the latest Monitoring the Future study.

Teen smoking had shown important declines in the mid-1990s. In Nebraska, teen smoking rates experienced a sharp decline between 1997 (39.2 percent) and 2009 (18.4 percent.) The figure shown here shows the trend in youth smoking rates from 1991 to 2009.  This figure is from the Data and Trends on Tobacco Use in Nebraska 2010 report.

The 2010 Monitoring the Future study shows that the declines in teen smoking shown nationwide have come to a halt among younger teens in the United States. The study also shows some evidence of a possible increase in their smoking.

While the increase is not yet large enough to reach statistical significance, an increasing proportion of both 8th and 10th grade students this year said they smoked in the past 30 days or smoked daily in that period.

“Smoking is a habit that tends to stay with people for a long time, leading to ongoing differences between different graduating classes of students that persist into adulthood,” according to Lloyd Johnston, the study’s principal investigator. The Monitoring the Future study, which has been tracking teen smoking in the United States for the past 36 years, reports that past 30-day smoking among 8th graders increased from 6.5 in 2009 to 7.1 percent in 2010; among 10th graders it rose from 13.1 percent to 13.6 percent. 

The study looks at about 46,000 students in nearly 400 secondary schools each year. The study is directed by a team of research professors at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. It is funded by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse—one of the National Institutes of Health.

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.