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Printer friendly version Where
can I get anti-smoking posters You may print out FREE posters and art from our web page, Tobaccofree.org/photos. Scroll down the page for posters; it's actually our online press kit. For schools or non-profit community groups, FREE brochures and posters may be available from your local branch of the American Lung Association, American Cancer Society or American Heart Association. Or try searching on Google. In addition, your local County Department of Health may have FREE anti-smoking ads and posters. At all these organizations, always ask to speak to the tobacco control officer when you call them -- and propose that they bring Patrick Reynolds in for a live talk at a local school. Please give them our web url, Tobaccofree.org. Mr. Reynolds also gives talks to adults on hospital campuses or at universities. If you wish to propose this to a local hospital, making one call will only take five minutes, and getting sponsorship is much easier than you think. Propose that they sponsor one or more talks by Mr. Reynolds at high or middle schools in your community, and let them know the press coverage of his talks will build goodwill for them. The following web page suggests a few talking points to use when you call the Marketing or Community Relations Director at a local hospital: www.tobaccofree.org/volunteer Tell the executive you call that information on Mr. Reynolds' live talks to youth or adults may be found at www.tobaccofree.org/patrick For information on our educational video, please check out www.tobaccofree.org/videotruth.htm
At this time, we do not have staff available to answer your questions personally. We are now working to become better funded, and ask for your patience. In the meantime, here are three useful ways to get the specific info you seek: 1. For questions you have about tobacco issues, try searching the www.tobacco.org Daily News archives. You can also subscribe to Tobacco.org's free Daily News, if the topic is of ongoing interest to you. This is a data base of over 100,000 news articles concerning tobacco; it is compiled daily from four major US newspapers. You can also sign up to get free daily tobacco news summaries sent to you. But do search the database for your topic of interest. 2. We invite middle and high school students to go to our Message to Youth page. Scroll down and scan the sub-titles -- chances are very good that you will find the answer to your question, or at least find info on your topic of interest. Do the work! Read and you will find the answers! 3. We also encourage students to print out pages directly from our website. Before printing, be sure to first click on the Printer friendly version link at the top of most pages. Take a little time to study the pages at www.notobacco.org, our cool site for youth. And this site's links page offers descriptions and links to plenty of other great anti-smoking sites for youth. Check it and see!
Get
the Daily Anti-Tobacco News Subscribe to your topic of interest: second hand smoke, teen smoking, quitting, news by State, etc. Subscribers can receive a free daily email with 5 to 10 top news stories on tobacco, or you have the option to receive just the area of the Daily News that interests you -- teen smoking, second hand smoke, quitting smoking, the tobacco lawsuits, and so on. You can also limit the news to issues within your own State, or you can get it all! We recommend that you subscribe to just the top news stories, unless you enjoy lots of reading. There is a great deal of tobacco news every day. To subscribe, go to www.tobacco.org. In the left column, under Tobacco News, click Subscribe. You can easily unsubscribe at any time. Above all, the Foundation for a Smokefree America needs volunteers to send in donations, so that we may hire a professional grant proposal writer and build our endowment. In turn, this will lead to the excellent programs we now have planned. We're a tax-exempt, non-profit 501-C3 organization. If you wish to donate time or services, we recommend volunteering for your local tobaccofree coalition, or for your local branch of the American Lung Association, American Cancer Society or American Heart Association. Any of the latter groups should be able to tell you the phone number of your local tobaccofree coalition. Most cities have one, even in rural areas, and they are much in need of volunteers and concerned community members to join them. Those who wish to speak to youth at schools should work through the local branches of the above groups. It's also important to video your live talks, so that your current video may later be previewed by schools. Great material for a live talk will be found on our Message to Youth page. One
of our Foundation's planned programs is to create a speakers
bureau for speakers specializing in tobacco education. We are
now working within our movement for more of this important form
of education.
Live
motivational talks Tobaccofree.org will be pleased to respond to inquiries about Patrick Reynolds' live talks or his educational video for grades 7-12. The local hospital's Marketing Director or Community Relations director will often fund his live talk at a middle or high school, as these usually get good press coverage, which is a community goodwill booster for the sponsoring hospital. View the Five Minute Plan and make one local call to see. Please include your daytime phone number or email. The website for information about live talks and also the educational video is TobaccoFree.org. If you would like printed information mailed to you about Mr. Reynolds' live talks or educational video, we ask that you instead support us by printing out the information packages on these from the url www.tobaccofree.org/infopack.htm. You may also email us at letters --a--- anti-smoking --dot--- org or call us, but please contact us only with regard to the video or live talks. Please include your phone number. Otherwise, we are understaffed at this time, are not yet funded to answer general questions. In the future, we hope to be able to welcome all questions.
If you are quitting smoking, or know someone who would like to, please print out or forward them our Quitting Tips page. And our Quitlinks page lists the top Internet resources for quitting, including several teen stop smoking sites.
Asking a smoker to go outside If a person smokes near you in the public place where smoking is banned, smile, give them an honest complement. Get them on your side, for openers. Then, in your nicest tone of voice, still smiling kindly, express your discomfort, and ask them if they would mind smoking outside. Don't nag a loved one to quit -- ask no more than three times a year -- but you may be a pest every day about second hand smoke, as that hurts you, and is very much your business.
What
to do when smoking is banned, Here's a suggestion, if smoke troubles you in a public place where the law bans smoking. First, if there is a specific smoker near you whose smoke is particularly bothering you, as described just above, put on a warm smile and give them the smoker an honest complement. After they respond, nicely ask them if they would mind smoking outside. If the smoker persists in smoking, ask any employee who the manager is. Talk to the manager about your discomfort. If they refuse to intervene, let the manager know that you will report his or her establishment to the health department, and that it's possible they will send someone there to issue a substantial fine. Ask them for their name, and for the name of their boss. Let them know that repeated fines for such offenses in some areas may result in a suspension of their license to do business. Perhaps the manager will help you then, and will ask the smokers violating the ban to go outside. The groups listed just below may also be helpful to you, but remember, due to funding cuts, most are struggling at this time -- and donations, large or small, are always welcome!
Links to groups fighting to ban smoking, to protect nonsmokers
A new website listing smokefree apartment buildings is www.smokefreeapartments.org, sponsored by the LA group, Smokefree Air for Everyone. Some common-sense advice: we suggest you begin by having a friendly conversation -- and also sending a warm letter -- to your neighbor about your discomfort. Open a file, and keep a copy of your letter to document your efforts to resolve the problem. Sadly, no one we know refers people to attorneys on this issue.
You should know that we do not accept ideas from the public! We presently have no funding to produce them or get them on TV. Sometimes we get inundated with them. Please refrain from sending them to us, unless you work in a professional advertising agency. Who does have the funding for anti-smoking TV ads? States with tobacco lawsuit settlement dollars or cigarette tax money appropriated by the State Legislature for TV, radio, print and billboard ads. (To see which States have the funding, see the next FAQ, below.) Here's how the ads get on TV: the Tobacco Control office in the Public Health Department of each State's capitol usually holds a competition among top regionally based advertising agencies, and they decide which one will land the prized State account to create the anti-tobacco ads for that State's ad campaign. These advertising agencies almost never accept creative ideas from the public. The largest such ad account is awarded by the American Legacy Foundation in Washington DC. Legacy is the national anti-tobacco foundation created with $1.45 billion from settlement funds resulting from the States' lawsuits against Big Tobacco. The $1.5 billion set aside to create Legacy amounts to less than 1% of the States' total $240 billion tobacco settlement. Because ad agencies do not accept outside creative ideas, contacting them is very likely a waste of your time. If you have a degree in advertising and marketing, and are persistent enough to get employed by one of the agencies handling a tobacco education account, then you may find an ear at the advertising agency! Instead, we recommend you try to get your ad idea produced at the local level, perhaps through your local tobaccofree coalition. Ask the nearest branch of the American Cancer Society for their number; they may also have some ideas for you. Contact your local Public Access cable channel to see whether it could be aired at the local level. You might also be able to enlist your local radio DJ to produce. Schoolwide poster contests among students are a great idea. Radio
spots are also an excellent way to go, as they are cheap and
easy to produce. After you make one, try getting some local radio
stations to air your ad, as a public service announcement. Radio
stations are often responsive to local community members. ACTION
STEP: Write a script for a radio ad, submit it to local radio
stations and with luck and perseverance, the radio station may
produce and air it for you.
How
much funding does my State To find out , simply visit www.tobaccofree.kids.org/reports/settlements Sadly, only a few States have allocated even the minimum funding receded by the CDC for an effective tobacco education program. While many States have cut or eliminated their tobacco education programs in 2003, 17 other States increased funding for theirs. Overall there was a net decline in funding. The url above will give you the up-to-date scoop. You will first get an overview, including a color coded map of the US showing States that have funding. You may also click on a drop down menu of the States to see which ones have the most funding for tobacco control.
Your
potential lawsuit
against the tobacco industry Potential plaintiffs may contact the Tobacco Trial Lawyers Association, which has a national network of lawyers who represent plaintiffs in tobacco litigation. Their website is www.ttlaonline.com. Another
resource is the Tobacco Control Resource Center (TCRC), located
in Massachusetts, 617-373-2026. This center has a litigation
referral section that specializes in linking plaintiffs with
tobacco law attorneys, based on location and other needs. The
litigation section on TCRC's website is www.tobacco.neu.edu/litigation/referrals.htm.
Also see our links page for additional resources.
Learn more about Smokefree America Learn more about Smokefree America, our mission, new programs and how to donate at www.anti-smoking.org/info.
Smokefree America's plans for the future The Foundation for a Smokefree America anticipates that we will receive grants and endowment to add staff, and that we will eventually be able to respond personally to emails from students and the public. Our future plans include several wonderful programs which will make a difference. Our heartfelt thanks to you for your caring about the problem of tobacco use. Working together, we will succeed in bringing about a Smokefree America. We
hope our websites are helpful to you.
Patrick Reynolds President.
Smokefree America & Tobaccofree.org Our websites As
of September, 2004, we get a Live
motivational talks and educational video
Smokefree
America Quitting
Smoking
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