Making Berkeley County a Tobacco-Free Community

By Dana M. DeJarnett

Smoking is the most preventable cause of premature death in our society.  In 2006, The US Surgeon General’s office issued a report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, that concluded (1) secondhand smoke exposure causes disease and premature death in children and adults who do not smoke; (2) exposure of adults to secondhand smoke has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and causes coronary heart disease and lung cancer; (3) there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke; and (4) establishing smoke-free workplaces is the only effective way to ensure that secondhand smoke exposure does not occur in the workplace.

Breathing the smoke from the tip of someone else’s cigarette or exhaled by a smoker, has the same harmful, cancer-causing parts of the smoke inhaled by smokers.  Nonsmokers are put at the same risk of smokers when exposed to this secondhand smoke.  Breathing secondhand smoke is a cause of disease in healthy nonsmokers, including heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and lung cancer.  In WV, secondhand smoke is responsible for 290 to 510 deaths a year and $38.3 million in heathcare expenditures.  All due to the involuntary exposure to secondhand smoke.

WV has the second highest rate of smoking in the nation at 25.4% of adults, and 3,900 adults die each year from smoking.  Direct medical costs of smoking-related illnesses in 2004 were between $846 million and $1.1 billion.  Smoking caused $1 billion in lost productivity.  The costs of tobacco use can take a toll on individuals, their families, businesses and the community as a whole.

A Tobacco Awareness Coalition (ATAC) was formed in February 2011 as a community effort to raise awareness of the short and long term effects of tobacco exposure of all types.  A tobacco-free community is the vision of ATAC.  ATAC’s mission is to advocate for the creation and adoption of policies for tobacco-free indoor and outdoor environments, to raise awareness and provide education about the health hazards associated with tobacco, to promote tobacco cessation and prevention programs and to support all efforts to create and support a tobacco-free community.

ATAC will be hosting “Making Berkeley County a Tobacco-Free Community” on Wednesday, September 26, 2012, from 12noon – 2:30pm in the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center on the campus of City Hospital.  A light lunch will be served.

Be a part of the movement to make Berkeley County a healthier place to live, work and play.  Learn more about ATAC and how you can become a part of the coalition to achieve the vision of a tobacco-free community through awareness, education and policy change.  The program includes a guest speaker from the Breathe Easy Alliance of Morgantown.

Pre-registration is required.  Please call 304-267-5032 to reserve your spot today.