Renowned Speakers to Address CTFA Conference

Handsel Art

19 August 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

contact J.R. Few

handselart@gmail.com

or 870-427-1365

Renowned Speakers to Address CTFA Conference

In 2003, when the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas (CTFA) held the first Striking Out Tobacco in Arkansas conference, it was for many of the statewide group of advocates their first opportunity for tobacco prevention education.  While the conference is only a facet of the advocacy CTFA offers, the 2012 event, September 13th at the Wyndham Riverfront in North Little Rock, will include a collection of some of the most respected tobacco control advocates ever gathered in Arkansas.  Featured speakers include two of the most influential tobacco free advocates in the world, Dr. Stanton Glantz and Dr. Gregory Connolly.

Glantz, Director of the Center for Tobacco Control and Research at the University  of California at San Francisco, has been involved in tobacco control since 1978.  A founding member for the advocacy group, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, he has been a leader in helping establish the most effective means to challenge the industry at all levels of policy. His research covers a wide range of issues including the effects of secondhand smoke on the cardiovascular system and the public health benefits of smoke free legislation.  Additionally, Glantz has been instrumental in establishing the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library making 50 million pages of previously secret industry documents available to the public. 

Dr. Connolly is the Director of the Center for Global Tobacco Control at the Harvard School of Public Health.  Originally trained as a dentist, Connolly is an appointee to the World Health Organization’s panel on Smoking and Health and led the highly successful Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program for nearly 2 decades  His work in tobacco control is internationally recognized and has included research on tobacco product design, reduced risk products, tobacco interventions and prevention of tobacco related disease.

These speakers alone would be significant for any conference.  However, CTFA has also secured Dr. Bruce Christiansen from the University of Wisconsin, an authority on treating tobacco dependence,  National Director of the National Latino Tobacco Control Network,  Dr. Jeanette Noltenius,  and Linda Cullers, Senior Director of Health Promotions, American Lung Association for the Plains-Gulf Region. 

Katherine Donald, Executive Director for CTFA says, “Tobacco free advocates know that education is one of our greatest assets.  This promises to be a tremendous opportunity for public health advocates, activists, teachers, parents, policy makers, or anyone concerned with tobacco prevention in Arkansas.”

Tobacco continues to be the leading cause of death in Arkansas, and secondhand smoke, the third leading preventable cause, kills over 500 of our neighbors annually. Unfortunately, prevention funding is at a 10 year low while the tobacco industry spends $129.5 million marketing each year in Arkansas alone.

Registration is $50 per person. Forms and information are available at www.arfreshair.com .  As a special incentive, registration fees will be waved for any policy maker or candidate for public office.  This is one event you do not want to miss.

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Dr. Stanton Glantz, the American Legacy Foundation Distinguished Professor of Tobacco Control at the University of California, San Francisco will be one of several prestigious speakers at the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas’ Striking out Tobacco in Arkansas conference at the Wyndham Riverfront in North Little Rock September 13.