Advocacy Project: Smoking Fact Find

Smoking Fact Find

Purpose:
The purpose for the activity is to get people aware of the dangers of smoking as well as how it effects other people. Many Americans forget how harmful it is for everyone when they chose to light up a cigerette. Understanding first what smoking does to the smoker will intern help better understand how it effects those around them as well. I also want people to form a better understanding about what can motivate them to quit or never even start smoking. Understanding that there are many reasons out there to stay smoke free may just be the motivation that some people need.

Evidence:
Millions of Americans each year are effected by tobacco use. In Minnesota alone over 630 million family members will continue to smoke each year. Many of these family members will then expose loved ones to many harmful effects of secondhand smoke, including over 4000 chemical compounds, 210 of which are carcinogens. As we all know smoking kills. In fact every 8 seconds someone in the world has died due to tobacco use. This equates to about 5 million deaths per year worldwide. As future Health Educators, we should all be aware of the harmful effects that smoking has on the economy, our loved ones and our bodies.

Instructions:
1) Review the links below.
2) Find 5 things that you didn't know before watching the video or things that really effected you.
3) Post the 5 things you learned. Can you think of any personal reasons why you have chosen not to smoke too? For example, parents would be disappointed, dont want to smell bad, ect. Please provide one reason why you have chosen not to smoke or have quit because of (if you feel comfortable sharing).

We all pay the price - Look around on the entire site. It has a lot of good information if you dig around!
Smoking effects video -watch me
Secondhand smoke video -watch me

Advocacy Project: Letter and Fact Sheet

Ron Kind
131 S. Barstow St. Suite 301
Eau Claire, WI 54701
(715)831-9214

I am writing you to ask that you vote YES on H.R. 4105 Healthy Air for Federal Workers Act.

I feel that you should vote in this manor because smoking is a prevalent issue of health in the United States, and secondhand smoke is a contributing factor. Many Americans are being affected by smoking and secondhand smoke, increasing their risk of disability, illness and death. Smoking has direct links to cancer, heart disease, and death, all while filling the air with powerful toxins that negatively effect those around them. Voting yes on this bill will help insure that American’s working in government settings will not be exposed to these harmful effects. It will also insure that these workers will not be bringing home such toxic chemicals into their homes and sharing them with their families. I believe that for those of us who have chosen the health decision to not smoke should not be subjected to toxic chemicals from those who have made poorer choices regarding their health.

I know that there are some out there who would rather see you vote no. These people are either smokers themselves that want to continue this action or people who support the tobacco industry. To them I say, if it is your decision to smoke that is your prerogative however your “right” should end where my health begins. My health should not be negatively affected by the choices of others.

Below is a fact sheet that I encourage you to read. I feel that if I have not outlined already why we should protect our American task force, perhaps these can aid my reasoning. Again, please VOTE YES on H.R. 4105 Healthy Air for Federal Workers Act.

1 in every 5 deaths in the United States is due to smoking, making it the biggest killer of preventable deaths.

Cigarette smoke contains many harmful and toxic chemicals including tar, carbon monoxide, acetaledehyde, and nitrosamines.

There are around 4,000 chemicals found in secondhand smoke. 200 have been found to be poisonous and 60 are known carcinogens.

Each year, around 3,000 nonsmokers die from lung cancer due to environmental tobacco smoke.

Not only does smoking cost thousands of people their lives each and every year, it has been estimated that tobacco use "accounts for over a $100 billion dollars annually in financial costs to the economy".

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Advocacy Project: Issue Overview

Introduction:

• The issue is that many American's are being affected by smoking and secondhand smoke, increasing their risk of disabilities, illnesses and death.
  
• One piece of legislation that might help a subgroup of individuals is H.R. 4105 Healthy Air for Federal Workers Act.

Who is affected by this issue?

• Anyone who is around smokers or who smokes themselves are affected by this issue.
  
• Ultimately, the tobacco industry is the only one who losses or any company that makes revenue off of the sale of tobacco. They will be losing the profits that they would gain from federal workers smoking on the job.
  
• By passing this legislation government employees will gain basically fresh air, as well as the families that are surrounded by these employees. This newly found fresh air will be free of cigarette smoke that has been known to cause negative health effects.

What are the consequences of this issue?

• Those who are most effected have been seeing rising levels of death and diseases due to this smoke inhalation and secondhand smoke. The consequesnces are simply disease and illness. Passage of this legislation however will mean healthier people with lower rates of illness.
  
• Families are also effected by the smoke that workers bring home on their clothing. This secondhand smoke effects their health as well, also increasing their risk of death and disease from the smoke. The proposed legislation would help these individuals as well.
  
• Society is being affected by smokers. Like the saying goes, if one person smokes, we all smoke. If someone is around an individual who smokes, they are being exposed to secondhand smoke or even third hand smoke! As stated before, this increases risk for many diseases and death. By passing this bill, there would be a decrease in exposure to such smoke inhalation, positively effecting society as a whole.

What is the economic impact of this issue.

• Everyone bears the cost of this issue. There are many costs to this issue, the most saddening is life. According to abovetheinfluence.com, between 1964 and 2004 smoking caused approximately 12 million deaths. Most of these deaths were either from Cardiovascular disease or cancer. In conjucntion to such illnesses, there are also huge financial costs as well. It is estimated that smoking costs society about $100 billion annually.
• There are a few groups of people that benefit from this issue: the tobacco industry and possibly insurance companies with clients that are finding themselves fighting the effects of smoking. Compared to the economic costs of smoking, society does get some money back by the taxation of tobacco products.
  

What are the social impact of this issue?

• Social cost of this issue directly effect the family and friends of smokers and those experiencing secondhand smoke. Often time the cost is life of the loved one. If the individual is lucky, they may only walk away with a illness accosiated to smoking. Often the family is left to care for them, laying a heavy impact on everyone.
  
• It's hard to find something good out of a bad situation. I would say that something positive would be that families may spend more time with the individual effected if they develop disease due to smoking or exposure to smoke. If this legislation does pass however, there will be many social gains. Individuals will lead more productive lives and have more active lifestyles, contributing positively to society.

What are the barriers?

• The barriers for this issue is getting legislation passed. Many individuals feel that it's their "right" to smoke where ever they want. That might be the case if they are not effecting anyone, but the fact that the matter is that their actions have been known to cause cancer! I think that that's when it's more than acceptable to involve the law, however the problem may be that we need to convince more that this is the case.
  
• Perhaps it's my optimism, but I feel that education is the key. We need to educate individuals that 1)smoking kills and 2) smoking negatively effects EVERYONE. No one wants to see their loved ones die, and although many Americans are very intelligent, I think that fear and lack of knowledge cause them to make less than impressive decisions. By educating the public about smoking issues I feel like they would be more inclined to make better decisions about smoking and voting to decrease smoking effects.

What are the resources?

• The best resource we can have for this issue is more legislation to protect those individuals who don't smoke and don't want the harmful effects. Breath-free UMD set a good example being a resource of regulation here at UMD. Another resource is educating individuals not to smoke in the first place. Without smokers, there would be no need for laws on smoking.

• These resources can be tapped by teachers. These are the individuals that have the opportunity to educate students. I also feel that more money is needed for quit smoking commercials to gain awareness. Along with this work site promotion can be tapped, giving employees a places to turn to for support with quitting as well as a place to educate employees.
  

What is the history of the issue?

• History of the and addressing the issue.
• 1492: Columbus discovered tobacco.
• 1683: Massachusetts passes America's first smoking ban. Passed to prevent individuals from smoking outside however. Money made from tickets were then used to buy equipment for fire-fighting.
  
• 1900: Washington, Iowa, Tennesse and North Dakota outlaw cigarette sales.
• 1971: Tobacco commercials are banned from airing on television.
  
• September 30, 2007: Minnesota passes it's smoking ban, outlawing smoking in any public area or place with more than 1 person in it.

• Basically, the results are slow progress. Since tobacco was introduced society has gone from thinking it has no effects, to realizing the effects, to know doing something about it. I think that it will take time, but change is happening.

Allies and opponents:

• Not very many people in America would support the issue of smoke and secondhand smoke causing health issues in American's. I think that the tobacco company is the only one that's going to be disapointed if bill's such as the one I propose or one's similar get passed. An estimated 77% of Minnesotan's favored Minnesota's Smoke-free law in 2008. I think that many American's are on board to a smoke-free future.
  
• According to the statistic above, I feel that a huge majority of the country would be on board with this bill if they knew about it. I think that a majority of the public are opposed to the issue of secondhand smoke and smoke inhalation effecting us. No one wants to breath that kind of air, unless you love dingy festering air.
• I think that just by getting the word out of this bills and one's similar can help this bill gain a lot of momentum. I don't think that there is much to be done with a compromise. I just don't think that as a health education student I would feel good about compromising with a tobacco company. The issue is illness, and there should be no compromise, just doing what is right.

My recommendations:

• I feel that policy makers should vote YES on H.R. 4105 Healthy Air for Federal Workers Act! Prohibit the smoking of tobacco in government locations!
  

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Advocacy Project: My Political Representitive

*All information was retrieved from the linked source!

President: Barack Obama (D)
1600 Pennsylvania Ave Washington, DC 20500
Comments # (202)456-1111

Congressmen: Ron Kind (D)
131 S. Barstow St. Suite 301
Eau Claire, WI 54701
(715)831-9214

Governor: Scott Walker (R)
1233 N. Mayfair Road Suite 301
Wauwatosa, WI 53210
(414)453-2015

Legislator: Ann Hraychuck (D)
Room 6 North
State Capitol P.O. Box 8952
Madison, WI 53708
(608)267-2365

County Board(St. Croix): ????
Didn't seem to have a president, just a group of 7.
Government Center 1101
Carmicheal Road Hudson, WI 54016
(715)381-4302

New Richmond City Mayor: Fred Horne (?)
156 E. 1st Street New Richmond, WI 54017
(715) 246-4268

Welcome to Lovin' Nature With Brier!

Hey Everyone! My name is Brier, and I'm a senior majoring in Community Health Education with a minor in psychology. I will be graduating in the Fall of 2011, and I am very excited about it! This blog is all about nature, and my environmental class.

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