Please join the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin, as well as health experts and advocates from throughout the Pacific Northwest and around the country, for our HHS Region X Youth and Tobacco Town Hall Meeting! The morning part of the day-long program will be webcast on June 14, 2012, from 9:00AM – 11:45AM PST, from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.

· To participate via live Web streaming, select this link at the time of the webcast: http://www.uwtv.org/webcast/youthandtobacco/

· We also invite you to provide comments via Twitter, using the hashtag: #PNWtobacco.

Complete information about the full day’s program and agenda is at https://www.meetinglink.org/youthtobaccotownhall/. The program will feature:

· Dr. Regina Benjamin, Surgeon General of the United States

· Dr. Lawrence Deyton, Director, FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products

· Dr. Timothy McAfee, Director, CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health

· Youth from the Northwest Talking with the Surgeon General on How to Reduce Tobacco Use Among Young People

· Panels on Tobacco-Free Campuses, American Indian/Alaska Native Youth and Commercial Tobacco Use, and Alternative Forms of Tobacco Use

Our goals for the HHS Region X Youth and Town Hall Meeting are to:

· Help spread the word about the Surgeon General’s Report, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults;

· Learn about new initiatives at FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products to reduce the public health burden of tobacco products;

· Increase the already-considerable regional energy around efforts to prevent tobacco initiation and reduce tobacco use among young people in the Pacific Northwest; and

· Provide an opportunity for advocates and experts working in this field to share experiences, solutions, and ideas for further reducing tobacco initiation and use among young people.

The HHS Region X Youth and Tobacco Town Hall Meeting is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, and FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products and was developed through a vibrant partnership with:

The Washington State Department of Health

The Oregon Health Authority

The Alaska Department of Health and Welfare

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare

The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services

The American Indian Health Commission of Washington State

The Portland Area Indian Health Board

Public Health Seattle and King County

The University of Washington, School of Public Health

The University of Oregon

The American Institutes for Research