Tobacco.org

Tobacco Ban at MSU Effective Today  

Tobacco is now banned at Minot State University.

Chewing tobacco and cigarettes were banned with the beginning of the new year.

The new ban includes vehicles parked on university grounds.

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Bismarck school junior will have tobacco policy voice 

When former Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp was helping to draft a ballot measure to increase state support for anti-tobacco projects, she insisted someone younger than 21 be included on the initiative’s oversight board.

That person is Nathan Marion, a junior at Bismarck St. Mary’s High School, who is one of nine people whom Gov. John Hoeven named to a state tobacco prevention advisory panel created when North Dakotans OK’d Measure 3 last month.

“I have a lot of time that I can invest in this. It’s something that I feel passionate about,” Marion said. “As much as I can do, I’m going to.”

The board will be responsible for developing a comprehensive statewide plan to cut tobacco use in North Dakota. It will be financed by part of the state’s income from a 1998 lawsuit settlement against the nation’s largest tobacco companies.

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MSU to extend tobacco ban 

Chewing tobacco as well as cigarettes will now be off limits on the Minot State University campus, said public information director Mark Lyman.

The university grounds will become a tobacco-free campus beginning Jan. 1. The change was approved by both the faculty and student senates and has been under discussion for about two months, said Lyman. It's part of the guidelines to become a "CEO Cancer Gold Standard Institution." Those recommendations were developed by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer and include reducing the risk of cancer through lifestyle changes by addressing tobacco use, diet and nutrition and physical activity.

Cigarette smoking was banned on the campus three years ago. Lyman said chewing tobacco was still allowed, though it was "frowned upon."

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2007 survey: 22 percent smoke in North Dakota's grades 9-12 ($$) 

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MSU Goes Tobacco Free  

Minot State University is going from a smoke-free campus to a tobacco-free campus.

Starting on January 1st, Minot State University will become completely free of tobacco. The effort is supported across all departments, senates and groups on campus. The change goes hand in hand with the desire to become a "CEO Cancer Gold Standard Institution." This recognition is based on a series of cancer-related recommendations, developed by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, to fight cancer.

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LETTER: Tobacco efforts will take time 

I was happy to see the Nov. 21 Tribune editorial "Smoking a Nasty Cycle." I am writing to add some comments about Measure No. 3, and to clarify one expectation of the new program.

North Dakotans voted to approve Measure No. 3 to fund tobacco control programs to CDC-recommended levels. The initiative includes establishing a committee dedicated to developing a plan to implement comprehensive, evidence-based tobacco control programming that meets the recommendations from the CDC Best Practice Guidelines. . . .

It is important to realize that it will take more than a few months of concentrated effort to "undo" the complicated network of tobacco-accepting social norms that the tobacco companies have spent 90 years or more to create. Also, since this is a brand-new initiative, it is possible the advisory committee's implementation of programs may just be getting started by the end of 2009.

What can you look for in the state of North Dakota? First, look for increased availability of free cessation medications and cessation programs. Look for increasing awareness that smoking is not the cool, sexy thing the tobacco companies make it out to be. Then, look for increased quit rates among all North Dakotans and fewer young people taking up the habit.

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Tobacco plan begins Dec. 4 

The tobacco prevention measure North Dakotans approved on Election Day takes effect Dec. 4, and that will be the same day Gov. John Hoeven gets the names of nominees for the advisory committee that will run the program.

Known as Measure 3, it passed with 54 percent of the vote.

The nine people Hoeven picks will be known as the Tobacco Prevention and Control Advisory Committee. They will write a plan, get an appropriation from lawmakers and spend up to $9.3 million a year in attempts to prevent young North Dakotans from starting to smoke and to get smokers to quit.

The committee’s money comes from bonus funds the state is starting to receive from a national tobacco settlement.

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N.D. tobacco prevention measure takes effect Dec. 4  

The tobacco prevention measure North Dakotans approved Election Day takes effect Dec. 4, when Gov. John Hoeven gets the names of nominees for the advisory panel that will run the program. Known as Measure 3, it passed with 54 percent of the vote.

The nine people Hoeven picks will be known as the Tobacco Prevention and Control Advisory Committee. They will write a plan, get an appropriation from lawmakers and spend as much as

$9.3 million a year in attempts to prevent young North Dakotans from starting to smoke and get current smokers to quit.

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Tobacco Survey  

A NEW NORTH DAKOTA YOUTH TOBACCO SURVEY SAYS TEENAGERS KNOW CIGARETTES ARE DANGEROUS, BUT MORE THAN A FIFTH OF THEM SMOKE ANYWAY.

STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY THEY'RE DISAPPOINTED THAT THE LATEST STATE SURVEY ON YOUTH TOBACCO USE FOUND ONLY A SLIGHT DECLINE IN STUDENT SMOKING.

THE RESULTS FROM A SURVEY TAKEN LAST YEAR SHOW 22 PERCENT OF THE STUDENTS IN GRADES NINE THROUGH 12 SMOKE CIGARETTES. THAT COMPARES WITH 26.3 PERCENT IN 2003 AND 27.5 PERCENT IN 2005. . . .

THE SURVEY ALSO FOUND NEARLY ALL STUDENTS THINK SMOKING CIGARETTES EVERY DAY IS HARMFUL, AND MORE THAN 78 PERCENT OF THE STUDENTS WOULD PREFER TO DATE A NONSMOKER.

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UPDATES: Tobacco compliance...award winners...faculty lecture...landfill open house  

Tobacco compliance: Three of 26 businesses sold tobacco products to minors during a tobacco compliance check Tuesday, according to Grand Forks police.

Officer Brian Robbins said one of the three cited is a repeat offender. He said the names of the businesses won’t be released until their court date.

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Voters reject oil, tax options  

Measure 3, which passed by a margin of 54 percent to 46 percent, or 157,579 votes to 133,666, will create a tobacco control commission to earmark money for tobacco prevention and education programs.

“We’re just enormously gratified,” said Heidi Heitkamp, former North Dakota attorney general and a leading proponent of Measure 3. “We know that in five years we can reduce the number of kids smoking by almost 13 percent,” she said. “We know we can prevent cancer deaths.”

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North Dakota Votes to Keep Promise to Kids by Fully Funding Tobacco Prevention 

North Dakota voters on Tuesday delivered a victory for the state's kids and health by approving Measure 3, a state ballot initiative that will reduce smoking, save lives and lower health care costs by increasing funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

Measure 3 will ensure that North Dakota keeps the promise of the 1998 state tobacco settlement to protect kids from tobacco addiction and reduce tobacco's enormous health and financial toll on the state. It will use new funds provided under the original settlement to create a comprehensive statewide program to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. The program will be funded at levels recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) utilizing revenue North Dakota is receiving under a special "bonus payment" provision in the tobacco settlement. No taxpayer money will be used to fund the new program.

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ND voters pass measures on smoking, workers comp; reject tax changes  

North Dakota voters agreed to use money from a tobacco lawsuit on anti-smoking programs and change the way the state manages its workers compensation agency. Two other ballot measures that would affect state tax collections were soundly defeated.

The question on tobacco money, Measure 3, passed Tuesday with 54 percent of the vote, unofficial returns showed. It will set aside more than $9 million a year from a North Dakota lawsuit settlement against tobacco companies to pay for smoking prevention and cessation.

Heidi Heitkamp, who negotiated the settlement when she was North Dakota's attorney general, said the money will reduce the number of young people who become addicted to smoking, and save millions in health care costs.

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North Dakota Votes to Keep Promise to Kids by Fully Funding Tobacco Prevention 

North Dakota voters on Tuesday delivered a victory for the state's kids and health by approving Measure 3, a state ballot initiative that will reduce smoking, save lives and lower health care costs by increasing funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080918/CFTFKLOGO)

Measure 3 will ensure that North Dakota keeps the promise of the 1998 state tobacco settlement to protect kids from tobacco addiction and reduce tobacco's enormous health and financial toll on the state. It will use new funds provided under the original settlement to create a comprehensive statewide program to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. The program will be funded at levels recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) utilizing revenue North Dakota is receiving under a special "bonus payment" provision in the tobacco settlement.

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North Dakotans approve more money for tobacco fight 

North Dakota voters have approved a proposal to spend more money on anti-smoking programs.

With 86 percent of the precincts reporting Tuesday, 54 percent of the voters supported the proposed law, while 46 percent opposed it.

Former Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp was chairwoman of the voter initiative.

It sought to earmark a share of money from a lawsuit settlement against the nation’s largest tobacco companies to fight smoking and smokeless tobacco use.

The money is now divided among funds that benefit education, water projects and community health programs.

Heitkamp helped to negotiate the settlement. She says more of its earnings should be used to fight tobacco use.

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