Updated Legislative Forms Needed

Don't forget to email me your updated legislative contact form by Tuesday, December 1st. You should identify the State Delegate and State Senator for each of your program locations and include their Richmond office addresses.

Thanks!

Tues Dec 1st - Celebrate Smoke Free Restaurants!

Join me in DINING OUT on Tuesday, December 1st in honor of Virginia's landmark smoke-free restaurant legislation! Yes that's right, all restaurants in the Commonwealth will now be smoke-free (unless they choose to consturct a separately ventilated area for smokers). See the link to a letter from the State Health Commissioner asking you to dine out on December 1st to support the new law.
http://www.healthyyouthva.org/documents/announcements/Commonwealth_Challenge_smoke_free_dining.pdf

So go on - grab your friends and family and find your favorite eatery on Tuesday night (I'm sure you're tired of turkey by now anyway). Then take a deep breath of fresh air and know that I, and many others are celebrating this historic day too!

Have You Seen Flavored Tobacco Products for Sale?

On September 22, 2009, the FDA ban on clove, candy and fruit-flavored cigarettes went into effect. This ban was mandated by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that created the new FDA Center on Tobacco Products, and is a long overdue step to end the tobacco industry’s recruitment of youth as “replacement smokers” by appealing to them with flavored products. It makes it illegal to manufacture, distribute, sell or import any cigarette (including roll-your-own tobacco and rolling papers) containing herb, spice or fruit flavors. The only flavors still allowed for cigarettes are menthol and tobacco.

The ban of flavored cigarettes is an important opportunity for you to provide timely and useful information to the FDA. Reporting violations of the law is crucial and will allow FDA to successfully enforce the Act. In addition, any information you provide regarding other flavored tobacco products will assist FDA as it examines options for regulating these products. A collection of sample images of what you can look for is available at: http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/campaign/flavoredcigaretteban_reference_112009.pdf.

Some tobacco companies are attempting to get around the ban by selling flavored cigarettes but labeling them as “little cigars.” These “little cigars” are really cigarettes in disguise and are also subject to the flavor ban.

In addition, the FDA is empowered by the new law to take action on flavored tobacco products other than cigarettes, such as flavored cigars and flavored smokeless tobacco, but it needs proof of how these products are appealing to youth in order to assert that authority.

If you are aware of continued sales of flavored cigarettes and/or roll-your-own tobacco and rolling papers, it is important to let the FDA know! Call or email me to get the reporting information that is required to document such sales.

Or you can contact the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids directly via Victoria Almquist at valmquist@tobaccofreekids.org.

Incidentally, this would be a great topic for discussion/activity with your youth. They usually love "enforcement" type projects!

Bring on those fruits and veggies

About 100,500 new cases of cancer are caused by obesity every year, according to the most comprehensive attempt ever to estimate the cancers attributed to extra weight. The analysis, released recently by the American Institute for Cancer Research, is based on updated cancer data and a report released earlier this year by a panel of experts.

The types of cancer most strongly linked to excess body fat include breast cancer, endometrial, kidney, colorectal, pancreas, esophagus, and gall bladder. For the full story click here:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2009-11-05-obesity_N.htm

Delegate Ware visits Westside Elementary

Kudos to Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare for arranging a legislative visit with Delegate Onzlee Ware of Roanoke. Delegate Ware joined the Magic Place kids at Westside Elementary last Wednesday to learn more about the Too Good for Drugs program. Sheila Lythgoe, Prevention Specialist with BRBH is pictured here providing the lesson for some very eager participants!

Delegate Crockett-Stark visits Bland Elem

On Wednesday, October 28 I had the pleasure of visiting Bland Elementary School along with Delegate "Annie B" Crockett-Stark and Richard Foster the VFHY Public Affairs Coordinator. We joined Brooke Bates from Mount Rogers Community Services and sat in on a wonderful group of fourth graders learning about the Life Skills Training program.

Brooke pulled out all of the bells and whistles for us....using the LST cd-rom and Smart Board! The kids were engaged, we loved it and Delgate Crockett-Stark was wowed for sure. Another fantastic legislative visit by another outstanding grantee.

Senator Reynolds visits Floyd High

Thanks to New River Valley Community Services for arranging a legislative visit from state Senator Roscoe Reynolds to the Toward No Drug Use program at Floyd High School. Check out these fabulous eighth grade program participants along with the adults (from L to R): their classroom teacher Mrs. Sue Banks, Senator Reynolds, Dr. Colleen Kraft-Carilion pediatrician, Mrs. Linda Vaught-NRVCS Prevention Specialist who teaches TND, and Dr. Terry Arbogast-Superintendent of Floyd County Schools. Great program, great contact with a legislator, great fall colors in our photo....what could be better?

More Conference Photos!

Her Glass is Half Full!

Sometimes don't you wonder if it all boils down to your perspective on things? You know "Are you a glass half full or glass half empty type of person?" As many of you know, there were plenty of things that weren't exactly perfect about our grantee conference this year. As is evident here, I'm trying to maintain a sense of humor about most of them and know that there are always lessons to be learned for next time.

Well here's one thing I know for sure: Jeanette Phillips with Mountain View Youth and Family Services is definitely a glass half full kind of gal! Bless her heart, Jeanette does a bang up job with her grant funded program in Carroll County, reaching every 6th and 7th grader with the LST program.

She also has been a great resource at our conferences the past two years - speaking at a "Spice Up Your Programs" break out session in 2008 and providing a grantee exhibit in 2009. Evidently Jeanette has a good deal of patience too. Miss Jeanette came home with conference stories of her own including room service that runs an hour late and water glasses with cracks and lipstick imprints on them. YIKES!


All I can say is "Thanks for enduring, Jeanette!" And yes, we'll probably know which evaluation form is yours when we read it. :)


Thoughts? Similar conference nightmare stories? Photos? Send 'em on or comment here!

Grantee Conference Wrap Up

It was great seeing all of you wonderful SW grantees in Richmond earlier this week! I hope your travels home were safe and that you gained some new information and resources as a result of our event. I definitely learned a few things at the 2009 VTSF Grantee Conference and I couldn't wait to post at least a few of them here:

10. If ever you are asked to serve on the Audio/Visual Set Up Team for a conference of 200+ of your favorite colleagues and esteemed co-workers, be sure to smile politely, say no thanks and RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN in the opposite direction!

9. If you actually end up serving on said Team, be sure to wear sensible shoes.

8. If you are a die-hard Coke drinker and stay at the Downtown Marriott in Richmond, you should probably plan to pack a cooler or be ready to spend much of your time tracking down vending machines on Broad Street.

7. If you ever find yourself working on AV and trying to track down a Diet Coke simultaneously, keep up with your wallet.

6. Cold tortellini in alfredo sauce is not all that tasty.

5. Prevention conferences are always made more interesting when elderly folks from a neighboring meeting room (can anyone say Family Reunion?) wander into break out sessions and offer their assistance.

4. When hosting a tobacco use prevention event that also includes obesity information, it is just plain TORTUOUS to be meeting near groups that have candy bars and cheesecake offered during breaks.

3. Consult your hotel floor plan promptly upon arrival. Otherwise you could be schlepping A LOT of AV equipment A LONG WAY in very uncomfortable shoes.

2. Even the brightest of yellow folders, can and do end up MIA sometimes.

1. Despite the ups and downs of conference planning, a few logistical nightmares and some just plain blonde moments, this week was a good one and I'm thankful for the fine folks I work with (and especially thankful for their patience with me)!

Have a great story you'd like to share from our conference this year? Leave a comment or email me.

"Hit the Road TXT L8R Campaign"

Elle magazine and clothing retailer Express have teamed up for a new print campaign and online PSA to create awareness about the dangers of texting while driving. Check out the August issue of Elle magazine or visit http://www.express.com/content.jsp?pageName=RADD to see the video.


Just recently, Virginia Tech issued a new study highlighting the increased collision risk when drivers text. You can see the entire article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/technology/28texting.html?_r=1

A great reminder for our teenage program participants, our own kids
and well yes, some of us too.

Register Now!

The 2009 VTSF Grantee Training Conference registration is now open!
VTSF marks its 10 year anniversary this year and we look forward to
"Celebrating the Past, Embracing the Present and Envisioning the Future"
with you on October 7-8 in Richmond.


You should have received this information via email but here's a link to
take you to the online registration page.


http://www.healthyyouthva.org/training/registration-form.asp?regfrm=102-ce

It's shaping up to be a great conference and I'm looking forward to seeing
all of your SMILING SOUTHWEST faces there! :)

Deciphering the new FDA legislation

Interested in learning more about the new FDA regulation of tobacco products? The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium recently issued two new publications to help us all break down the details of the legislation and its impact on state and local authority. Click on over today!

http://www.tclconline.org/Tclc.asp

Smoke vs. Smokeless?

The public health debate continues about the advantages and disadvantages of promoting smokeless tobacco products as a safer alternative to cigarettes. No one can deny that the smokeless tobacco market is changing and growing at a rapid pace. Check out this article about smokeless tobacco sales from a Convenience Store publication. http://www.csdecisions.com/article/6206




Note that in response to this article Bill Godshall, Executive Director of Smoke-Free Pennsylvania and outspoken 'harm reduction' advocate said "The quote attributed to Stan Glantz (in this article) is inaccurate, and the quote attributed to Timothy O'Leary at the WHO (in the second article) is deceiving. Both statements intentionally mislead the public to believe that smokefree tobacco/nicotine products are as hazardous as cigarettes, which encourages smokers to continue smoking cigarettes (instead of switching to less hazardous smokefree alternatives) and encourages smokefree users to switch to far more hazardous cigarettes. Smokers have a right to be truthfully informed about the comparable health risks of different tobacco/nicotine products, and public health agencies and professionals have an ethical duty to truthfully inform cigarette smokers about less hazardous smokefree alternatives."

That's a lot of food for thought. How do you weigh in? Research the info out there on smoking vs. smokeless tobacco and leave a comment here!

New N-O-T website for teens

The American Lung Association in Virginia is pleased to announce a new and exciting website for teens – http://www.vanot.org/. This is a great resource where teens can begin to find out how, and why, they should stay away from cigarettes. By exploring some of the posted hard facts and other useful links, young people are exposed to an abundance of valuable information. In addition to this, teens can find out what the Not On Tobacco program is all about and where it is being offered throughout the state. Check it out today!

Welcome 09-10 Grantees!

Congratulations to the following one year and three year VTSF grantees!

WELCOME ABOARD!

American Lung Association of Virginia - Southwest

Bland County Schools

Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare

Bristol Youth Services

Church of New Beginnings

Community Youth Program at St. John's

Cumberland Mountain Community Services

Dickenson County Behavioral Health

Family Services of Roanoke Valley

Franklin County Schools

Galax City Schools

Giles County Schools

Grayson County Schools

Henry County Schools

Highlands Community Services

Mount Rogers Community Services Board

Mountain View Youth and Family Services

New River Valley Community Services

Piedmont Community Services

Pittsylvania County Community Action

Planning District One Behavioral Health Services

Pulaski County Schools

Radford City Schools

Rooftop of VA CAP

Saint John Neumann Academy

Scott County Schools

Smyth County Schools

STEP Inc.

Virginia Wilderness Institute