PACT Notes

November 2nd, 2018
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! You can visit the new website here.
Single-use plastic straws, bags, and coffee pods have captured the attention of the public and legislatures looking to ban products that wind up littering the landscape. But at the same time, e-cigarettes have begun to show up on streets and shores, catching officials off-guard and presenting the challenge of how to deal with litter that is part recyclable and part hazardous waste. Unlike the typical tobacco cigarette, which is made of paper, tobacco, and a filter, each e-cigarette has five components — residual nicotine, plastic, lithium batteries, aluminum, and fabric — each of which has to be disassembled and recycled separately. Learn more here.
 A Truth Initiative study found that the younger teenagers are, the more likely they are to use JUUL. The study revealed that 15- to 17-year-olds have over 16 times greater odds to be current JUUL users compared to those aged 25-34. Frequency of use patterns suggest that youth may not be merely experimenting with JUUL, but using it regularly. E-cigarettes, such as JUUL and vape pens like the KandyPens Rubi and Suorin Drop, are now the most popular tobacco product among youth, with JUUL owning more than 72 percent of the e-cigarette market share. JUUL’s high nicotine content, combined with its highly youth appealing flavors such as mango and fruit medley, are particularly worrisome — especially given that the device delivers nicotine up to 2.7 times faster than other e-cigarettes, increasing the potential for addiction.
A new study showed that pictorial warnings like images of diseased body parts and testimonials from real people were the most effective features at getting smokers to quit. To analyze the various features used in pictorial warning labels, the researchers collected more than 300 warning labels from multiple sources. The researchers identified 48 objective features that could be present in the ads, including factors like image color, prototype, the presence of male or female characters, the presence of medical equipment and argument type. They then recruited nearly 1,400 current smokers to view the ads and answer questions about how the ads affected them.
Join us as we walk together to raise awareness and funds to defeat lung cancer and raise our voices for lung health. LUNG FORCE Walks are a time to laugh, learn and imagine a world free of lung disease. Our walks promote fitness and help forge lasting connections between participants. Your support saves lives by funding key lung cancer research and providing people who are impacted by lung cancer with invaluable resources, assistance and information. Get involved today by forming a team, registering as an individual or participating virtually.
Don’t forget to vote!
Double check that your registration is still active
Find your polling place
Voters guide to the 2018 general election
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month!
#ShareYourVoice and help us raise awareness about this devas

PACT Notes

PACT Notes – December 21, 2018

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

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

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.