PACT Notes

October 26th, 2018

PACT Tobacco 21 Webinar For Pennsylvania Advocates

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!

Tobacco Cessation Policy Resources

American Lung Association has a library of tobacco cessation policy resources to assist those working in the community. This Resource Library is an online depository of materials related to cessation policy and health systems change to serve as a resource for tobacco control and public health professionals and healthcare providers.

Additionally, the Lung Association has a set of tobacco cessation coverage factsheets, to provide guidance on cessation coverage and requirements for each plan:

Tobacco Cessation Coverage in Medicare (Factsheet, American Lung Association)
Tobacco Cessation and Standard Medicaid (Factsheet, American Lung Association)
Tobacco Cessation and Medicaid Expansion (Factsheet, American Lung Association)
Tobacco Cessation and Exchange Plans (Factsheet, American Lung Association)
Tobacco Cessation and Short-Term Limited-Duration Plans (Factsheet, American Lung Association)
Tobacco Cessation and Veterans Health Administration (Factsheet, American Lung Association)

More resources for professionals include a recorded webinar about tobacco cessation and telehealth and complementary materials including:

Telehealth as a Vehicle to Support Tobacco Cessation (Brief, American Lung Association)
Tobacco Cessation and Telehealth: Key State Indicators (Worksheet, American Lung Association)

Altria Will Pull Its E-Cigarette Pods From the Market

Altria Group Inc. said it would pull its e-cigarette pods from the market and discontinue the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes in response to mounting concerns about a surge in underage use of similar products. The move by the maker of Marlboro cigarettes comes after U.S. health officials including the Food and Drug Administration have warned about a public health crisis from widespread use of e-cigarettes by teens and other children. After years of declining U.S. smoking rates, sales of e-cigarettes have jumped in the past year, fueled in part by online startups selling vaporizers and nicotine-laced liquids.

Jennifer Folkenroth: Tailoring Smoking Cessation Care

There is no magic cure for smoking cessation. Though physicians are armed with 7 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved cessation therapies—along with proven practices in psychiatric and behavioral counseling—the variables of health insurance coverage, hard-to-detect symptoms, and patient-centric goals make smoking cessation care a challenging path to follow. In an interview with MD Magazine®, Jennifer Folkenroth, a former tobacco cessation counselor and National Senior Director of Tobacco for the American Lung Association (ALA), detailed the burdens of smoking cessation care, along with the most proven practices.

Webinar: Adding Asthma to School Wellness Policies

The American Lung Association just concluded a five-year cooperative agreement with the CDC on Improving Access to Asthma Medication in Schools. As a result, the Lung Association produced several new resources to improve asthma management among school-aged children. Every school is required to have a School Wellness Policy. School Wellness Policies tend to be narrowly focused on physical activity and nutrition. The Lung Association is providing practical guidance to school to enhance their School Wellness Policy to include asthma-friendly policies. The Lung Association is hosting an upcoming webinar in partnership with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to launch this new resource on Tuesday, October 30 at 3:00 p.m. ET. Register today and share with local asthma coalitions, schools, and other community partners.

PACT Notes

PACT Notes – December 21, 2018

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

PACT Notes – December 14, 2018

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.

PACT Notes – December 7, 2018

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.