Tobacco-Free College Campus Initiative Launched on September 12!

Tobacco-Free College Campus Initiative Launched on September 12!

Contact:

Delmonte Jefferson, Executive Director

National African American Tobacco Prevention Network

919-680-4000

djefferson@naatpn.org

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Last week the Assistant Secretary for Healthof the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Howard Koh, M.D., M.P.H.,launched the Tobacco-Free College Campus Initiative to encourage college campuses across the nation to adopt tobacco-free policies. He was joined at the Michigan School of Public Health by University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman, fellow educational leaders and tobacco policy experts throughout the region. In addition to the live event, hundreds, including NAATPN joined in via the live web broadcast and lent their support for this outstanding effort. On the registration page for this event was a document prepared by the Americans for Non-Smokers' Rights Foundation (ANRF) in July 2012, which listed the number of colleges and universities in the U.S. with smoke-free and tobacco-free policies. Even though there are more than 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in this country, only 10 of the 774 campuses listed in the ANFR report were HBCUs that had adopted tobacco-free policies.

Recent studies have shown that cigarette and cigar use, including flavored cigars, cigarillos and little cigars, is on the rise and is highest among African American and Latino youth and young adults. These numbers include a significant amount of college students at HBCUs which make the push for the Tobacco-Free College Campus Initiative a must for local organizations, government agencies, communities and individual citizens concerned about the plight of our youth. Even the 2012 Surgeon General's Report indicates that the majority of smokers first try tobacco in high school (before age 18) and get hooked in college (before age 26). As a collective, we must find constructive and creative ways to help HBCUs and the communities they represent become inclusive in the nationwide tobacco-free campus agenda.

As supporters of the Tobacco-Free College Campus Initiative launched last week, NAATPN and its partners fully intend to align ourselves as a resource to HBCUs and their communities to further this national effort. We will expand the discussion to include cessation as well as policy initiatives. We will also work with our newest partner, Promotus Advertising, to develop creative approaches to address the predatory marketing of tobacco in HBCU communities and to promote the key messages of this initiative as well as messages from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) national media campaigns. NAATPN applauds the efforts of the Tobacco-Free Campus Initiative and offer our full support in helping to make all HBCU college campuses tobacco free.

Please visit the NAATPN website at www.naatpn.org for more information on our national network.

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