PACT Notes

A new study found that increases in adolescent vaping from 2017 to 2018 were the largest ever recorded in the past 43 years for any adolescent substance use outcome in the U.S.

In just one year e-cigarette use among youth has skyrocketed, increasing by:
90% among 12th graders
96% among 10th graders
74% among 8th graders

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the landmark 1998 legal settlement between the states and the tobacco companies, which required the companies to pay more than $200 billion over time as compensation for tobacco-related health care costs.

The report challenges states to do more to fight tobacco use – the nation’s No. 1 preventable cause of death – and to confront the growing epidemic of youth e-cigarette use in America. In Pennsylvania, 8.7 percent of high school students smoke cigarettes, while 11.3 percent use e-cigarettes. Tobacco use claims 22,000 Pennsylvania lives and costs the state $6.3 billion in health care bills annually.

This week Senator Mario Scavello (PA-40) released a co-sponsorship memo for Tobacco 21. He is actively looking for support in the Senate and plans to introduce legislation in the session starting in the new year. While PACT is still advising that advocates wait until the new year to start their legislative visits, if you have any connections with Senators you think might be interested in support please reach out to PACT and we are happy to connect them with Senator Scavello’s Office.

The CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health released an article in the Journal, Nicotine & Tobacco Research. Their study found that people living with mental health conditions are more likely to smoke cigarettes than people without these conditions, and are also likely to smoke more often, be more dependent on nicotine, have stronger withdrawal symptoms when trying to quit, and be overall less successful in quitting. This study shows that cigarette smokers with mental health conditions had increased quit attempts after reporting having seen the TV ad featuring Tips participant Rebecca, a former smoker living with depression.

The Pennsylvania Tobacco Prevention and Control Program has released is MPOWER Annual Summary Report for State Fiscal year 2017/2018. This report contains information on the worksite tobacco policy initiative, multi-unit housing, young lungs at play, regional cessation, PA Free Quitline, PACT, enforcement checks, and much more!

CDC and FDA analyzed data from the 2011–2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey, to determine the prevalence of current use (>1 day in past 30 days) of e-cigarettes, current use of any tobacco product, frequency (number of days during the preceding 30 days) of e-cigarette use, and current use (any time during the preceding 30 days) of any flavored e-cigarettes among U.S. middle school (grades 6–8) and high school (grades 9–12) students.

To assess estimates of tobacco product use among U.S. adults 18 years or older, CDC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) analyzed data from the 2017 National Health Interview Survey. In 2017, approximately 47 million (1 in 5) U.S. adults currently used any tobacco product, and an estimated 14 percent of adults were current cigarette smokers, down from 15.5 percent in 2016. Among current tobacco product users, about 87 percent (41 million) smoked combustible tobacco products, and 19 percent (9 million) used two or more tobacco products.

The American Lung Association has a new Tobacco 21 resource for youth advocates! UpTheAge.com is filled with a multitude of helpful materials to help these teens in their advocacy efforts. From a Tobacco 21 Toolkit filled with downloadable facts and activities to a Tobacco 21 Petition, there are a variety of resources available. In addition to linking to local resources such as the TRU website, there is also a link for them to locate and contact their local legislators. Feel free to explore and take a look at the downloadable fact sheets, uprising activities (such as the “21 Reasons Why” social media video), and even the Tobacco 21 Petition. Please share this with your TRU members and get them involved!

This is a reminder to mark your calendars for the Pennsylvania Tobacco 21 Campaign Training webinar, scheduled for November 1st, 2018 at 10:00am! This training will officially roll out this year’s campaign, providing updates on current legislation, an overview of PACT’s advocacy strategy, TRU engagement, Tobacco 21 resources for advocates, and more. PACT will have a Tobacco 21 toolkit of advocacy resources available to provide comprehensive and up-to-date information for educating the public and legislators on this important issue. Be on the lookout for the announcement of the Toolkit in November!