Do you remember walking into your favorite restaurant and being asked, “smoking or non-smoking?” Just a decade ago you could still hear that familiar phrase as smoking in a restaurant or bar was legal. Those smoking sections did little to protect non-smokers from the dangers of secondhand smoke. Voters passed the Smoke-Free Arizona Act in [...]
In preparation for National Kick Butts Day on March 15—a national day when youth speak up and take action against tobacco use—the Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids offers mini grants to support groups across the U.S. that demonstrate creativity, youth leadership, and careful planning to reach the media and public. This year we're excited to announce [...]
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy published a report last week on the emerging public health threat related to the e-cigarette/vape use among youth. While this report is the 33rd Surgeon General's report in 53 years to address the impact of tobacco on health, it's important to note that it is the first to focus on e-cigarettes. [...]
The successful smoke-free programs we have been working on in Arizona for people living in multi-unit housing have been expanded nationwide. Over the last several years, three Arizona organizations, the Arizona Smoke-Free Living Coalition, American Lung Association in Arizona, and the Arizona Multihousing Association, under the leadership of our Bureau of Tobacco and Chronic Disease, [...]
This week we launched a new public awareness campaign called “Vape is a Lie” teaches youth about the dangers of nicotine and e-cigarettes. Vape is a Lie features a series of three public service announcements and a website, Vapeisalie.org, where Arizona youth can learn more about the dangerous chemicals often found in e-cigarettes, commonly [...]
Public health efforts continue to move the needle on reducing smoking rates among youth. And that’s important since 90 percent of adult tobacco users report using tobacco in their teen years. Tobacco use among Arizona youth is at an all-time low of 10 percent , which is a decrease of over 40 percent in the [...]
Arizona has been among the nation’s leaders in helping its residents quit using tobacco, and even better, never start using tobacco. Thanks to our dedicated staff in the Bureau of Tobacco and Chronic Disease and countless partners in communities throughout Arizona, I’m pleased to report that our commitment to success has only intensified. In the past two [...]
The Arizona Youth Risk Behavior Survey has some good news for the tobacco prevalence rate among high school aged youth. According to the new data, we saw a drop of almost 30 percent between 2013 and 2015. The percentage of youth using tobacco in our state dropped from 14.1 percent in 2013 to 10.1 percent [...]
Strokes can cause long-term health problems and death. The good news is that strokes can be prevented by understanding the risk factors (which are similar to heart disease) like high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, and tobacco. To find out more about your risk for a stroke, you can talk with your physician and [...]
The Top 5 things that kill people in the US are: heart disease, cancer, lung disease such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis, stroke and injuries. In fact- these 5 conditions cause 63% of all deaths in the US — which is nearly 18,000 people each year in AZ (about 50 people/day in AZ). This week [...]
