Personal Ambition, Tobacco Prevention in Arkansas

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.  I started trying to find out WTF was going on within Arkansas Department of Health TPCP issues.  Long time advocates were being edged out.  Given the revolving door for ADH employees and community grantees the institutional memory of tobacco prevention was being put at serious risk.

Snot the first time.  

Years ago functionaries within the Arkansas Cancer Society and the Arkansas Heart Association did their royal best to wrest ADH funding from the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas.  I recall former CTFA Chair, Dr.Caesar Compadre, laughingly talk about his first issue w CTFA was a motion to dissolve the coalition. Fortunately this bizarre coup was thwarted.

Unfortunately, the pettiness of some individuals involved, at w least tobacco, still seems the take away. Recently the bureaucracy within ADH has gone out of their way to alienate and de-fund the two statewide coalitions, the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas and the Youth Extinguishing Smoking Teams.  Both CTFA and the fiduciary for YES teams have declined to re-apply for restrictive and micro managed grant opportunities. Couple this w an ADH request for proposals for a statewide coalition that both CTFA and the YES people have been encouraged to ignore and one can see a very focused attack on the two most effective coalitions, and individuals, in the state.

A sincere tobacco free advocate has to ask, “Why?”

In 2003 the very first real lesson tobacco free advocates in Arkansas learned was that there must be a distinct separation between the tobacco free lobbyist and the tobacco free advocate.  At one level this is a matter of simple semantics. At another it is bureaucratic and ineffectual neurosis.

There is bullshit going on within the Arkansas Department of Health and those ostensibly working as public health advocates that truly stinks of pettiness, ambition, and personal gratification. Unfortunately, this comes at an inopportune time for  tobacco free advocates. We should not be fighting among ourselves now. We should be educating policy makers up and down a legislature dominated by right wing de-regulation anti public health zealots.

Funny how long time tobacco (free) lobbyists do so little of that.

I am always open for queries and conversation.

Maybe there's a reason ADH has tobacco prevention in the basement.

I really don’t keep up w too much of ADH politics for a couple of reasons.  One is because I no longer volunteer for a local community tobacco prevention coalition.  The other is because it fairly typically makes me ill.

Such is the case learning that the 2015 RFPs for tobacco prevention have tweaked themselves to not only demand ownership of all work product and materials, (That really grates on an unpaid media volunteer) but also has dismissed the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas and the youth YES teams to find some party they can control as one entity. 

First, for as long as I have had any understanding of the MSA funding for which pittance is still left for actual tobacco prevention there has been a need for a distinct legal separation between lobbying and advocacy. It has always been the tactic, in Arkansas since ethics complaints in Fayetteville in 2004, for pro- tobacco forces to claim state funds were used to lobby for policy change.  Since then tobacco free challenges have made great effort to distance advocacy from lobbying.  I was there in Fayetteville when Dr. David Bourne suggested that advocates abridge their freedom to speak when Huckabee was threatening to pull ADH funding for tobacco prevention. This is the point of having a statewide coalition keeping accounting that distinguish lobbying efforts from any ADH funding. That degree of separation is integral to making policy change efforts immune to industry, and significantly legislative complaints, that public money was used to lobby. Policy change is essential to actual population based measured tobacco free change.

Like I said, I dunno what is going on within TPCP but it does not portend much tobacco free success and has the potential of discarding years of sincere educated and sophisticated advocacy protecting Arkansas’ dedication of MSA dollars. Micro managing organizations that have worked hand in glove with previous TPCP bureacrats neglects a tremendous learning curve that the tobacco industry depends on.

We expect more from the Arkansas Department of Health than petty politics but unfortunately, at least when it concerns tobacco, that has not been the case.

The Right Message

Here is the link to the previously mentioned presentation: The Right Message. Why not, Why, and How.  I was encouraged reading in the new 2014 Best Practices for Tobacco Control the emphasis on Mass Reach health Communication.  The tobacco industry is pretty clear in their goal of selling a profitable product.  Public health on the other hand has been divided in its efforts and less than honest about actually saying what it should be doing is making that product unprofitable.  This is one reason I tend to try and recognize tobacco free space as not merely the clean indoor air but also the parking lot free of signage or the counter top free of product.  It is not merely that tobacco is a health risk.  The tobacco industry is a health risk.

Anyway, here is the link to the video again.

CTFA Holds Successful 10th Anniversary Conference

Handsel Art

16 September 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

contact J.R. Few

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or 870-427-1365

CTFA Holds Successful 10th Anniversary Conference

Dr. Stanton Glantz

Over 160 advocates from around the state celebrating public health successes from the past decade gathered for the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas’ 10th annual Striking Out Tobacco in Arkansas conference in North Little Rock September 13th, 2012.  Attendees were treated with presentations from some of the most distinguished tobacco control authorities in the nation.

Dr. Greg Connelly, from the Harvard School of Public Health, was influential in getting the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act passed in 2009. This law gave limited authority over cigarettes to the Food and Drug Administration. An original member of the FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, Connolly has since resigned and had little to recommend about the law today. He encouraged the audience to put pressure on the FDA to act more quickly regarding a decision about menthol.  The original bill banned characterizing fruit and candy flavors in cigarettes but neglected to include menthol in these restrictions.  The Committee concluded that menthol in cigarettes made initiation of nicotine addiction easier and quitting more difficult. Their March 23rd 2011 report stated, “removal of menthol cigarettes from the marketplace would benefit public health in the United States”.  The FDA’s final decision was due 90 days after the submission of the report but has not acted.  80% of African American smokers consume menthol cigarettes.

Keynote speaker, Dr. Stanton Glantz, a founding member of the group Americans for Non Smokers’ Rights and Director of the Center for Tobacco Control and Research at the University of California at San Francisco, recounted how the tobacco free movement had evolved in California.  He called attention to the statewide media campaign emphasizing that nicotine was addictive, secondhand smoke will kill you, and the tobacco industry lies. He noted that focusing on a corrupt industry creates a ‘social un-acceptability‘ quotient  that could be as effective as tobacco taxes in decreasing use.

Glantz pointed out that he and Dr. Connolly had been on opposite sides of the law giving the FDA authority over cigarettes. Noting that the industry was now offering soluble nicotine products to sidestep smoke free laws and keep people addicted he added, “One thing I think we should be pressing for at the FDA,  if they should ever grow a back bone, which is unlikely, but if they should they should prohibit co-branding of these non cigarette products, so they can’t say Use Marlboro snus on the plane and smoke Marlboro cigarettes when you can.” 

He concluded that tobacco control efforts really do work.  Over 15 years the California  tobacco control program cost $1.4 billion.  But health care costs from an almost immediate reduction of heart disease deaths and asthma attacks, and 14% decreased incidence of lung cancers over a decade, saved the state $86 billion.  “So when politicians say we don’t have enough money for tobacco control, everything they cut from that, they are paying over and above that in health care costs and it’s not 20 years from now.”

Recognizing  Arkansas’ deeply flawed clean indoor air law, Glantz suggested that activists work locally to rectify exemptions.  He complimented advocates for a 30% drop over the last 3 years in cigarette sales in Arkansas.  “You’ve got to realize that every little success you have is dollars out of a multi national corporation’s pocket, and they don’t like that,  and are going to do everything in their power to stop that.”

Additional speakers included representatives from the National Latino Tobacco Control Network, the American Lung Association, and the University of Wisconsin. “CTFA always does a great job addressing disparities,” says Julie Andersen from Marion County.   “This year was no different with speakers focusing on Latinos, the LGBT community, and nicotine dependence among those living with a mental illness. Excellent conference!”

The Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas is a statewide network of organizations with a shared mission to challenge the tobacco industry.  More information can be found at www.arfreshair.com 

Renowned Speakers to Address CTFA Conference

Handsel Art

19 August 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

contact J.R. Few

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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.

Dr. Philip Gardiner Addresses CTFA Conference

Handsel Art

13 September 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

contact J.R. Few

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or 870-427-1365

Authority Discusses Menthol in Tobacco

“Young Blacks have found their thing, it’s menthol in general and KOOL in particular.” Philip Morris Tobacco Company, 1974

Recently Arkansans were fortunate to have Dr. Philip Gardiner speak at the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas’ annual Striking Out Tobacco in Arkansas conference. Dr. Gardiner is a public health activist concerned with issues ranging from racial disparities in health care, AIDS and cancer, to the effect of menthol in tobacco and the African American community. The National African American Tobacco Prevention Network estimates that 82% of African Americans smoke menthols. The tobacco industry has a history of advertising, discounting, and promoting menthol cigarettes most heavily in African American communities.

In 2009 Congress passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act giving limited authority to the FDA over tobacco. The Act prohibited tobacco companies from using fruit and candy flavors in tobacco in an effort to curb youth smoking but failed to eliminate the most common flavoring, menthol.

Gardiner’s presentation noted the CDC estimates smoking rates in the African American community at 22.4%. A more detailed study shows smoking rates closer to 38%. African Americans start smoking later in life, generally smoke fewer cigarettes, smoke cigarettes with a higher nicotine content compared to other ethnic groups, and are more likely to smoke menthol cigarettes. They also suffer disproportionately from tobacco related disease and death.

The FDA Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Panel is currently studying the effect of menthol in tobacco. Menthol is used in many different products and is generally considered harmless. Dr. Gardiner’s emphasis was to broaden the concept of harm in cigarettes because it makes smoking more palatable, harder to quit, and “makes the poison go down easier.” It is the “ultimate candy flavoring”, he said.

CTFA state conference

Not a bad way to spend a day listening to the likes of former Justice Department attorney Sharon Eubanks talk about how the Bush administration thwarted efforts at a RICO conviction for big tobacco.

Another note; if you ever get a chance to hear Ms. LaTanisha Wright speak, run, do not walk, to see her presentation. She is a former Brown and Williamson employee and now a member of the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network. She is a sharp, effective speaker.

Handsel Art

19 September 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

contact J.R. Few

handselart@marioncounty.com

or 870-427-1365

Advocates Hold State Conference

Advocates from across Arkansas gathered to challenge the tobacco industry at the 7th annual Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas’ Striking Out Tobacco in Arkansas Conference at the Wyndham-Riverfront Hotel in North Little Rock September 17th.

After a welcome from CTFA Executive Director Katherine Donald And CTFA Board Chair Carla Sparks, the audience enjoyed a panel discussion: The Past Present and Future of Tobacco Control in Arkansas. Panelists ranged from attorney Tim Gauger, who worked with then Attorney General Winston Bryant to secure Arkansas’ Master Settlement funds in the late 90s, to the current Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Branch Chief for the Arkansas’ Department of Health, Dr Carolyn Dresler. Speaking for the American Heart Association, Barbara Kumpe reminded that Arkansas’s distinctive use of MSA dollars for health related issues was the result of a 64% voter mandate in 2000.

Former Department of Justice attorney Sharon Eubanks gave the Luncheon Plenary as an overview of her successful prosecution of the tobacco industry as lead attorney for racketeering and fraud charges in 2006. A career government lawyer, Eubanks recounted how Bush Administration appointees, when it became apparent the case would succeed, directed her to drop a $130 billion remedy that included a national tobacco cessation program and even attempted to get witnesses to change their testimony just days before the final hearing. She resigned from the Justice Department as the result of this politically motivated interference. An appellate court upheld the racketeering decision earlier this year.

Briefing the audience on the recent law giving the FDA limited authority over tobacco, she noted that this bill was written 10 years ago. “And we have learned much more about the industry and tobacco since then.” She went on to suggest that certain commercial speech restrictions may not stand the scrutiny of litigation.

Mr. Joe Arnold was recognized with the Trail Blazer Award for his persistent and successful efforts to enact a tobacco free policy for all Little Rock city parks, including Riverfront Park.

Conference participants were given a wide choice of workshop topics including tobacco in the gay and lesbian community, tobacco in the Coordinated School Health programs, recent laws in Arkansas involving tobacco, and a media and counter-marketing workshop by local activist J.R. Few.

Perhaps the highpoint of the day was the closing presentation by La Tanisha Wright with the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network. A former Brown and Williamson employee, Ms. Wright gave an eloquent, informative, and emotional insider’s overview of the history of tobacco and slavery and how marketing tactics continue to target and enslave African Americans today.

Local advocates Harry Meyer and his daughter Ida attended the CTFA event. “Ida talked about the last speaker all the way home and is still talking about it,” says Meyer. “That woman made a huge impression on her, me too for that matter. The conference was a tremendous learning opportunity for anyone.”

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