Sue Scheff: Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) - Time to Quit Smoking

Although we hear it a lot, smoking is bad for you, there are still many adults and kids that continue to smoke cigarettes. Parents will say that we need to pick and choose our issues with our teens, which is correct, however we cannot stop talking about the dangers of smoking tobacco.

In Florida, Tobacco Free Florida and Florida's Quitline are two organization directed at helping you and your loved ones quit smoking.

Unveiled in 2008 under the direction of the Florida Department of Health, the Tobacco Free Florida campaign seeks to decrease the number of tobacco users in the state of Florida through efforts aimed at both preventing nonusers from starting to use tobacco and encouraging current users to quit. These efforts are funded by money derived from court settlements against major tobacco companies, and include executions in the realm of Advertising, Public Relations, Interactive, Guerilla Media, Event Media, Sponsored Promotions and more.

It is their hope that one day every Floridian might be free of the hazards of tobacco, and that we all may eventually live in the paradise that our name implies- a truly Tobacco Free Florida.


Join Tobacco Free Florida on Facebook and stay up to date with events and information to educate you on the hazards of smoking.

Tobacco Free Florida Week runs March 21st-28th and all week long we're asking Floridians to help protect themselves and their loved ones from secondhand smoke (SHS) by asking the smokers in their life to, "Be Free For Me."

SWAT is Florida's statewide youth organization working to mobilize, educate and equip Florida youth to revolt against and de-glamorize Big Tobacco. They are a united movement of empowered youth working towards a tobacco free future.

You can join a lot of different groups in high school. This video shows why SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco) may be the most important. Read more.

Be an educated parent, you will have safer and healthier teens.

Sue Scheff: Teenage Smoking - Help them Quit

New Year brings a new law in Florida. A new "fire-safe" cigarette law requires cigarettes to burn out when not in active use. Fires started by cigarettes kill more than 700 people and injure another 3,000 each year.

If you are a parent of a teenager, or younger child, that you suspect is smoking, you may want them to be aware of the new Florida law. This may be a way to open the lines of communication with your kids about smoking and the dangers of it. If you are a parent or an adult that smokes, of course, the new law applies to everyone.

Why do teens smoke? There are a variety of reasons:

• Fit in with a peer group
• Peer pressure
• It's cool
• You like it
• Everyone is doing it
• It calms you down
• Etc.....

No matter what the reason is, the fact still remains it is bad for you. Once you have started, quitting becomes very difficult. The good news is, you can quit. Smoking, like many addictions, are not easy to give up.

Quitting Smoking:

Quitting smoking is possible. Every year, 2 million Americans stop smoking. But it's not easy. It requires motivation from the smoker and may take several attempts before success is permanent. The average number of attempts is believed to be three.

There is no right way to quit. Many smokers report they can quit abruptly--better known as "cold turkey." Others report quitting gradually by decreasing the number of cigarettes smoked each day. Those who are interested in quitting can talk with their health care provider or, in the United States, call the American Cancer Society at (800) 227-2345 or the American Lung Association at (800) 586-4872 for useful information on how to quit.


If you are thinking about smoking, the only way to avoid getting hooked on cigarettes is never to start in the first place. And with the price of cigarettes as high as they are today, you will have all that extra money if you stop smoking. Yes, you can do it!


Reference: LIVESTRONG.com

Be an educated parent, you will have safer and healthier teens.

Also on Examiner.

Sue Scheff: Can Internet Advocacy Help Teen Quit Smoking?

Source: BodyMojo

Can Internet Advocacy Help Teens Quit Smoking?

By Teen Contributor

By Aseem Mehta

Although the risks are well documented, and teens are more aware of the risks of smoking, lighting up continues to be a major problem among people my age. There is no doubt that health classes, advocacy campaigns like TRUTH, and, of course, common knowledge, have made the negative impact of smoking well-known to older teens like me, those in high school and college.

Yet somehow, we don’t seem to be getting the message: Young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have the highest rates of smoking compared to any other age group, but they have among the lowest rates of quitting. With conventional methods of awareness and treatment clearly failing to impact teenage decisions with regards to smoking, it is clear that a new approach is necessary.

That is why I’m enthralled by a new research study commissioned by the National Cancer Institute aimed at increasing demand for Internet based smoking treatment, specifically for individuals in my age group. The $2.9 million study is a new approach to an old problem, but one that is dynamic and innovative. It seeks to harness the connective networking power of outlets like Facebook and Twitter, with the interactive components of YouTube. This new proposal for online media announcements and treatments for teens is important. The result seems to be promising: a new tool which teens can relate to and better comprehend to find their way out of a sticky situation: nicotine addiction.

Psychologist Robin Mermelstein, on of the researchers, says, “Even though many young adults think about quitting and actually want to stop smoking, they tend not to use what we know works — evidence-based approaches to quitting.” Thus, making such information easily accessible and user-friendly for young adults to tap into is a mandate, and one that hopefully this new project will fulfill. However, it is not enough to just make the site and let it sit on the web.
The research teams collaborating on the project need to develop a way to actively recruit young adult smokers and show them a positive message about kicking the habit, and encourage them to stick with it.

Quitting smoking is a difficult task. Just look at President Obama, who promised his family to quit once he entered the White House but has had trouble doing so. This new project cannot be solely Internet based, but must also demonstrate to young smokers that seeking advice and help from health professionals is also an important step in moving forward.

Every day during the school year, I would walk down the ramp that separated the school itself from the off-campus parking lot, only to find myself enveloped in a plume of cigarette smoke from students trying to get their daily fix. Their smoking was not only damaging to their own health, but to the streams of high schoolers who walked by them each day and inhaled their fumes. There is no doubt that smoking in teens is unhealthy. The question is how can teens stop – and will this new effort be the answer?

Aseem Mehta is a high school senior who is interested in studying about public health and economics. In his spare time he loves to discuss (and debate) politics and current events, and of course, sleep.