Local Tobacco Control Initiatives
Community Initiatives
The community element includes community partners who deliver an array of tobacco use prevention, education, cessation and control activities.
Local Health Departments fund and collaborate with community groups, faith-based institutions, minority and grassroots organizations to provide tobacco control activities and build capacity for sustained tobacco use prevention, cessation and control.
Programmatic efforts:
- Education for the community on the dangers of tobacco use and secondhand
smoke
- Training for community members as smoking cessation facilitators and tobacco
control advocates
- Outreach to ethnic minority and medically underserved populations
Capacity building for local community organizations to conduct tobacco use
prevention and policy initiatives
- Development of culturally sensitive programs and materials
In FY07:
- 101 minority organizations were funded
- 41 faith-based organizations were funded
- 176,470 community members were educated
- 1,882 community leaders were trained
- 105 collaborations with the MOTA program
- 1,458 awareness campaigns conducted in targeted communities.
CRFP Tobacco Coordinator List
Cessation
The cessation element provides smoking cessation services to residents, and trains practitioners and community partners on clinical and community strategies to help people quit smoking. Cessation programs are recommended by CDC’s Best Practices for comprehensive tobacco control programs and the Task Force to End Smoking in Maryland.
Programmatic efforts:
Local health departments are implementing several strategies to help Marylanders quit smoking: group cessation classes, one-on-one counseling sessions, pharmacotherapy (Zyban, nicotine patches, nicotine inhaler, and nicotine lozenges) and support groups.
Training medical practitioners on the clinical guidelines for smoking cessation and protocols to provide cessation classes
Training community partners to be smoking cessation facilitators.
Funding community organizations to develop and implement culturally sensitive Programs
In FY07:
- 1,294 nurses, health care providers, advocates and community leaders were trained on the various cessation models
- 7,169 adults participated in smoking cessation classes
- 5, 245 received nicotine patches or Zyban
- 621 pregnant women participated in smoking cessation classes
Cessation Accomplishments
School-Based Initiatives
School programs are one component of the CDC’s Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs.
The School-based element of the LPHC allows local health departments to fund local school systems, colleges and daycare centers to educate participants and providers on the dangers of tobacco use and provide necessary support services. Within the school-based element, funds are allocated to the following grades: Pre-K, K-12, Colleges.
Programmatic efforts:
K-12 schools are funded to implement research-based curricula, offer school-based cessation programs, train teachers and school personnel and develop peer support programs
Colleges are funded to develop social norm campaigns and provide campus-based counseling services and pharmacotherapy.
In FY07:
- 1,979 teachers trained on curricula
- 331,181 students provided curricula education
- 1,467 students provided smoking cessation services
Enforcement
The enforcement element of the LPHC is an important part of a comprehensive state tobacco control program. The two primary areas of enforcement are restricting minors’ access to tobacco products and restricting smoking in public places. The CDC and the Task Force to End Smoking in Maryland recommends enforcement of existing tobacco laws as Best Practice.
FY08 Changes in Public Policy
Statewide
The fall 2007 Special Session of the Maryland General Assembly increased the excise tax on a pack of cigarettes sold in Maryland from $1.00 to $2.00 per pack effective January 1, 2008.
Effective February 1, 2008, Maryland’s Clean Indoor Air Law went into effect, effectively prohibiting smoking in all Maryland indoor places of employment and indoor public areas.
Jurisdiction Specific Changes
Both the Garrett County and Carroll County delegations sought and received permission to implement civil penalties for the sale of tobacco products to minors and to specify the amount of those penalties. This continues a trend of local jurisdictions opting for a civil framework as opposed to the current statewide framework of solely criminal penalties for such offenses.
Programmatic efforts:
In order to reduce illegal sales of tobacco products to under-age youth, local health departments:
Educate tobacco vendors about Maryland’s tobacco laws and partner with local law enforcement agencies to conduct under-age sales compliance checks and product placement checks
Partner with local law enforcement agencies to issue citations to youth for illegal possession of tobacco products and refer youth to tobacco education or cessation programs
Enforcing tobacco laws deters violators and makes a public statement that community leaders believe in and support tobacco control. In a comprehensive tobacco control program, enforcement supports the other components in creating an environment where tobacco use is not the norm.
In FY07:
- 7,041 under-age compliance checks were completed by law enforcement officers
- 1,035 tobacco retailers were issued citations for under-age sales
- 990 youth were cited for illegal possession of tobacco products
- 204 product placement citations issued
Policy Initiatives
Enforcement Accomplishments
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