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August
2011
In
This Issue:
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New
Research Reveals Public Misperceptions about
Smoking Cessation Treatments
Overall,
smokers who want to quit are much more likely to
succeed if they use nicotine replacement therapy
(NRT) as part of a comprehensive quit plan. Yet,
few smokers use NRT when making a quit attempt.
Findings from a study published in the July issue
of the journal Addictive Behaviors show
that there are widely held misperceptions about
the health effects of using NRT. According to the
study:
- Nearly
all smokers (93 percent) did not know that
smoking while wearing the nicotine patch does
not cause heart attacks
- Only 32 percent of
respondents knew the nicotine patch, gum and
lozenge do not cause cancer;About 76 percent of
smokers did not know that the nicotine patch,
gum and lozenge are not as addictive as
cigarettes; and
- About
69 percent of smokers did not know NRT
products are not as harmful as
cigarettes.
The
study which was fielded in partnership by
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSK), and
Legacy suggests that, if the public health
community can communicate more effectively with
smokers about the safety of NRT, it may be able to
increase NRT use and-as a result-the number of
people who successfully quit
smoking.
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A Summer
of truth®
truth,
the nation's largest smoking prevention campaign
for youth, continues to tap into teen culture with
new initiatives aimed at reaching teens at three
popular summer hangouts: skate parks, movie
theaters and sporting events.
This
August in skate parks across the country, truth is delivering a
thought provoking and potentially life-saving
message about tobacco through interactive
graffiti-like murals. Teens can scan a QR code in
the mural with their mobile phones that will then
take them to a mobile version of thetruth.com (a
WAP page). Visitors can then see time-lapse videos
chronicling the behind-the-scenes creation of two
of the murals - BOOM and 1in3 - or they can
download truth's new mobile game, "Night of
the Gummies," from the "Gummy" mural. The game
challenges users to protect their houses from an
attack of "zombie-like" gummy bears. The game was
inspired by a tobacco related fact: In 1997, a
tobacco executive said he believed cigarettes are
addictive like gummy bears. A "Night of the
Gummies" cinema spot will also be appearing before
more trailers and on hallway and entrance monitors
in theaters across the country, while life-size
cutouts and movie posters will been seen at
theater entrances. To view the "Night of the
Gummies" trailer, check out truth's YouTube
page.
In
August, the truth tour moves into its
second phase, traveling with the Quiksilver
presents Birdhouse Skateboards MIAtoNYC Tour
powered by Teck Deck skating tour. The tour
features skateboarding legends Tony Hawk, Kevin
Staab and Willy Santos along with Birdhouse team
amateurs Aaron "Jaws" Homoki, Riley Hawk, Shawn
Hale, Clint Walker, David Loy and Shaun
Gregoire.
To
learn more about these elements of the campaign,
read the full press release here.
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What
Does America Look Like "After Tobacco"?
Over
the last ten years, policymakers and public health
advocates have taken great measures to help fight
the tobacco epidemic by raising cigarette taxes,
expanding clean air laws, and implementing smoking
cessation and prevention campaigns and programs,
among other efforts. These policies have been
controversial but, until now, however, no study
has responded to these concerns by capturing the
impact of tobacco control across the nation.
A new book released this month from
Columbia University Press asks"What
would happen if Americans stopped
smoking?"
 After Tobacco: What Would
Happen if Americans Stopped
Smoking?
considers the consequences of tobacco control
policies for a wide range of stakeholders, from
tobacco farmers to
cigarette-factory workers; from the southeastern
regional economy to state governments and tobacco
retailers; to the hospitality industry and
nonprofit organizations that might benefit from
the industry's philanthropy. It also measures the
effect of smoking reduction on mortality rates,
medical costs, and Social
Security.
Commissioned
by Legacy and Columbia University's Institute for
Social and Economic Research and Policy, the
authors used simulation models to consider four
scenarios that would reduce smoking in the United
States, which is a national public health
goal:
- A
baseline model or status quo where no policy
changes were implemented
- One
with interventions as recommended by the
Institute of Medicine such as increasing excise
taxes to $2 per pack
- A
stricter scenario that includes mandates such as
nicotine reduction in cigarettes
- A
"100 percent" scenario, which assumes that
smoking ceased in 2006
The
authors also note the implications of stricter
tobacco control policy on law enforcement, as well
as smokers who face social stigma, the mentally
ill who may use tobacco as a coping mechanism, and
disparities in health by race, social class and
gender.
To
find out more about this work or to order a copy
of the book, click here.
Customers in North America can purchase After
Tobacco at a 30% discount by entering in the promo
code AFTBE at checkout at this site
only.
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Cowboys &
Aliens Fails
to Shoot Straight on Smoking
While
many movie companies have made significant
progress in addressing the public health issue of
smoking in youth-rated films, the lack of a
uniform policy for studios means that youth around
the country will continue to see images of smoking
in movies. Cowboys & Aliens, released last
month, features a cowboy hero who smokes in key
scenes; this kind of exposure influences youth to
light up for the first time. Previous research has already
confirmed a link between smoking images in movies
and youth smoking initiation.
The
PG-13 blockbuster was released by Universal
Studios, a company that was included one month ago
in a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) report as one of three movie
companies that pared down smoking in movies rated
for youth by 96 percent between 2005 and 2010. In
a statement, Legacy called on the Motion Picture
Association of America to take leadership on this
issue and adopt a comprehensive policy that would
be mandatory for all studios and would thus
significantly reduce youth exposure to tobacco
imagery.
To
read the full statement from Legacy, click here.
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Call
for Nominations: 2011 Community Activist
Award
Each
year, Legacy presents the Community Activist Award
to honor an exceptional individual who has
demonstrated extraordinary commitment to creating
a tobacco-free world in his or her community. The
award is presented to a proven community leader
with experience spearheading innovative and
influential tobacco control projects, especially
those that reflect Legacy's mission to build a
world where young people reject tobacco and anyone
can quit.
The
winner will receive an honorarium of $2,500 which
recognizes an individual's outstanding
contribution to tobacco prevention and cessation
at the community level. To submit a nomination,
visit http://www.legacyforhealth.org/caa.
Nominations will be accepted through Friday,
September 16, 2011.
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Federal
Employees Make a Difference through the Combined
Federal Campaign
Now celebrating its
50th year anniversary, the
Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is
the largest workplace charity campaign, raising
funds for charity through the generous support of
Federal civilian, postal and military donors.
Legacy is a national charity of the CFC.
This year's campaign kicks off September 1, 2011
and runs through December 15, 2011.
If you are a Federal employee, in
the military, or work for the U.S. Postal Service,
please support Legacy's work as generously as you
can with your donation. Legacy can be found listed
among the national/international independent
agencies under charity #19203 (American Legacy
Foundation). Every cent goes towards our mission
to build a world where young people reject tobacco
and anyone can quit.
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