If you live in or near Morgan County, Ind., the event at 6:30 p.m. May 31 in the Monrovia Branch of the Morgan County Public Library, 145 S. Chestnut St., Monrovia, Indiana may be of interest to you and could assist you in preventing the youth around you from taking up smoking or helping them stop if they have already started.
The message below about the event described below iis from Jennifer Walker, executive director of Ready Set Quit Tobacco.
Dear Friend,
Have you ever wondered why youth start smoking, given all the scientific data we know about the harm from tobacco use? Surely, our youth are receiving messages about not using tobacco from their teachers and school administrators, little league teams, scouts and 4-H leaders, right? Indeed, they are!
While no doubt today’s youth are warned about the harm from tobacco use, including smoking cigarettes, chewing tobacco and now electronic cigarettes, we have to wonder, “how do they get started using?”
With all the social issues we face today, why are we concerned about a seemingly insignificant thing like a youth smoking?
Here are a few little-known facts…
o Morgan Co. youth use electronic cigarettes at rates higher than state rates, with increases reported in 2016.
· o Electronic cigarette solutions can have very high concentrations of nicotine leading to impaired adolescent brain development, including susceptibility to addiction.
·o Tobacco use is a gateway drug, much like alcohol and marijuana. It works on the brain receptors of an adolescent’s brain that is not fully developed, leading that youth down the path to addiction, starting with nicotine addiction.
o Reducing tobacco use reduces other substance abuse. Most illicit drug users use tobacco or alcohol prior to illicit drug use. www.nih.gov/…/news…/nih-study-examines-nicotine-gateway-drug.
o Among current smokers in the U.S., 24.1% report illicit drug use compared with 5.4% of nonsmokers. www.in.gov/…/MH_and_Substance_Use_Disorders_October_2015.pdf
o If smoking continues at the current rate among U.S. youth, 5.6 million of today’s Americans younger than 18 years of age are expected to die prematurely from a smoking-related illness. This represents about one in every 13 Americans aged 17 years or younger who are alive today.
You are encouraged to attend a Community Conversation about Tobacco Marketing to Youth
Keynote presenter: Kristinia Love, Executive Director, Morgan County Substance Abuse Council
Moderator: Ronald Hawkins, RDH Great Stories
Panel: Annabelle Hadley, 8th grade Student, Monrovia Middle School
Ted & Shelley Voelz, Co-Directors, St. Thomas More Free Clinic
Tina Jacob, C.H.E.S., Health Education and Volunteer Manager, Little Red Door Cancer Agency
Questions? Call Jennifer Walker at 317-306-1282 or email: Jennifer@readytoquit.org
RDH Great Stories 