PACT Notes

The American Lung Association expressed concern about the possible health consequences of e-cigarettes and lack of government oversight of the products. Joining Smart Talk on Wednesday to discuss e-cigarette use among youth and the public was Erika Sward, assistant vice president of national advocacy for the American Lung Association, Jennifer Hobbs Folkenroth, national senior director, tobacco, American Lung Association, Dr. Jonathan Foulds, professor of public health sciences and psychiatry at Penn State College of Medicine, and Dionne Baylor, supervisor and prevention specialist with Dauphin County Department of Drug & Alcohol Services.

In the latest of a series of actions to address the epidemic of youth e-cigarette use, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration launched The Real Cost Youth E-Cigarette Prevention Campaign, a new, comprehensive effort aimed at educating kids about the dangers of e-cigarettes. The campaign targets nearly 10.7 million youth, aged 12-17, who have used e-cigarettes or are open to trying them, and features hard-hitting advertising on digital and social media sites popular among teens, as well as placing posters with e-cigarette prevention messages in high schools across the nation.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars clubhouse in Morningside is one of hundreds of establishments in Allegheny County where state law allows people to smoke inside. Though Pennsylvania passed the Clean Indoor Air Act in 2008, there were thousands of exemptions for establishments in the hospitality industry (mostly bars). On Tuesday, Pennsylvania VFW commander Thomas Hanzes spoke at the Morningside VFW and called on state lawmakers to end the exemptions and ban smoking inside all workplaces. He says VFW members have already voted to support this step and many other posts are joining Morningside.