The Partnership for a Tobacco Free Cerro Gordo County is a positive, unique community partnership that includes a mix
of area youth and adults who work together as a team to reduce tobacco use in Cerro Gordo County. The partnership
relies on a state grant (from tobacco settlement money) to reduce youth tobacco use in Cerro Gordo County.

What has the Partnership done so far?
The Partnership has organized two JEL Rallies: "Just Eliminate Lies" from Big Tobacco. The rallies drew hundreds
of youth from many communities. They were designed to educate youth and get them excited about PREVENTION.
Prevention is the key to avoiding future health problems (and death!) that are a result of tobacco use.

What is the next exciting step?
The Partnership continues to move forward by challenging all youth groups in Cerro Gordo County
to become JEL "Communities in Action." This new JEL C.I.A. is another way for youth and adults to work together
to prevent youth tobacco use.

What else does the Partnership do?
The Partnership also provides tobacco prevention education to all 6th grade students in Cerro Gordo County.
Tammy Bryant, Health Education and Promotion service manager at the Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health,
travels to all 6th grade classrooms with an exciting, energetic program about the dangers of using tobacco products.
Below are some excerpts from the classrooms she visits ...

2003 -04 School Year:

Read what 6th grade students are saying at ....

Ventura Middle School

Clear Lake Middle School

Roosevelt Middle School

2002-03 School Year:

John Adams Middle School

Meservey-Thornton

Rockwell-Swaledale

Ventura

On this web page you will also find the following tobacco education information:

What is the Partnership for a Tobacco Free Cerro Gordo County

Tobacco Facts

Second Hand Smoke

Things to Do Instead of Using Tobacco

Effects of Using Tobacco

Tips on How to Quit

For Additional Information

In the fall of 1999, the Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health had the opportunity to apply for grant funding through the Iowa Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control. Funding was to be used in developing and implementing a comprehensive community-based counter-tobacco strategy. Jaci Santee, Health Planner for the Cerro Gordo Health Department, invited Regan Banks, Teen Leader of the Mason City YMCA Teen Leadership Group, and the Youth Leadership Group members to work with the Health Department in this anti-tobacco program. Teen Leadership Group members (at that time, a group of over 150 youth between the ages of 10 and 15 years) have been active in many community service projects and show particular enthusiasm in sharing their message of saying "no to substance abuse". And so the Partnership for a Tobacco Free Cerro Gordo County was formed.

Through a series of meetings, the Partnership for a Tobacco Free Cerro Gordo County has analyzed various tobacco issues and problems associated with tobacco use and developed a multi-media counter-tobacco campaign. Components of this marketing campaign include TV and radio commercials, billboard displays, advertisement to be displayed on local movie theater screens before the main feature, and finally, the webpage you are currently reading. Recognizing that no one is safe from the hazards associated with tobacco use, members of the Youth Leadership Group recognized the need to target both youth and adults with their important message.

Today, the Partnership for a Tobacco Free Cerro Gordo County includes a varity of adults and youth who work to reduce tobacco use in Cerro Gordo County. The partnership is currently organizing the 2nd Annual JEL Youth Rally, which will be held Saturday, April 20th from 1-4 p.m. at Southbridge Mall in Mason City.

Look at what we have been doing!

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Tobacco Facts
 

	Use of tobacco remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States causing more than 400,000 deaths each year and resulting in an annual cost of more than $50 billion in direct medical costs. Each year smoking kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, drug abuse, car crashes, murders, suicides, and fires---combined!
	Scientists estimate that there are more than 4,000 different chemical compounds in the smoke of one cigarette. There are 401 poisons and 43 carcinogens (substances that are known to cause cancer in humans and animals) in every cigarette. Smokeless tobacco contains high concentrations of cancer-causing chemicals called nitrosamines, plus at least a half dozen other chemicals that cause cancer.
	Most smokers start smoking before the age of 18. Each day 6,000 young people will take their first puff on a cigarette and 3,000 will become regular smokers. That is more than a million new smokers each year. One out of three of these youth will die from a disease caused by their smoking.
	All tobacco products contain nicotine—a highly addictive drug that causes blood vessels to narrow and makes your heart work harder. Cigars and smokeless tobacco are NOT safe alternatives. One "dip" of smokeless tobacco can deliver as much nicotine as several cigarettes.
	Although nearly 2/3 of youth smokers would like to quit, 75% of teens who smoke daily say they keep smoking because it's too hard to quit. Ad did you know that teens who smoke are more likely to participate in risk-taking behaviors like heavy drinking or using illegal drugs such as marijuana and cocaine.
	Cigarettes are not environmentally friendly either. Cigarette butts litter beaches and the countryside. Nearly 12.5 million acres of forest are destroyed each year for cigarettes. Not to mention the fact that tobacco smoke fills the air with many of the same poisons found in the air around toxic waste dumps.

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Second-Hand Smoke
 

	Secondhand smoke (also know as environmental tobacco smoke or ETS) is the name for the sickening, poisonous smoke given off by a burning cigarette, cigar, or pipe. It contains more than 4,000 chemicals. Of these chemicals, 43 are known to cause cancer in humans or animals. Secondhand smoke makes clothes and hair stink and it wrecks the smell and taste of food.
	The health of nonsmokers is adversely affected by secondhand smoke. Many nonsmokers experience reddening, itching, and watering of the eyes, wheezing, coughing, colds, and/or earaches when exposed to tobacco smoke. Evidence indicates that exposure to secondhand smoke increases the risk of coronary heart disease and aggravates asthmatic conditions. In addition, it has been estimated that exposure to secondhand smoke causes the lung cancer deaths of 3,000 nonsmoking Americans each year.
	Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home are more likely to have middle ear-infections and reduced lung function. Secondhand smoke causes up to 300,000 lung infections (such as pneumonia and bronchitis) in infants and young children each year resulting in 7,500 to 15,000 hospitalizations annually.
	Mothers who smoke during pregnancy are at greater risk of having a child with a low birth weight than mothers who do not smoke during pregnancy.
	Infants are three times more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) if their mothers smoke during and after pregnancy.
	According to the Centers for Disease Control, restaurants that allow smoking can have 6 times the pollution of a busy highway. A 1993 survey by the National Restaurant Association found that more than half of all Americans choose to eat in smoke-free restaurants rather than in restaurants that allow smoking.
	Simply separating smokers from non-smokers within the same airspace may reduce but cannot eliminate the exposure of non-smokers to secondhand smoke.
	Workers exposed to secondhand smoke on the job are 34% more likely to get lung cancer. Waiters and waitresses have a 50-90% increased risk of developing lung cancer. Research has shown, though, that after just one month of working in a smoke-free environment, bartenders have fewer problems with cough and other respiratory symptoms.

 

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What's Your Anti-Drug?
An anti-drug is something you do instead of drugs ...
 

Call A Friend	Baby-sit
Play A Game	Join The Teen Leadership Group
Ride A Bike	Listen To Music
Play Video Games (Play Station)	Get A Haircut
Paint A House	Go To The YMCA
Read Books	Do Homework
Go On A Date	Surf The Internet
Jogging	Go To A Movie
Go To The Mall	Mow The Lawn
Shovel The Sidewalk	Go Swimming
Color	Sleep
Practice Your Fave Football Plays	Pick The Top 10 Nascar Winners
Sledding	Walk The Dog
Bake Cookies	Bathe The Cat
Look At Cool Magazines	Read Goosebumps
Watch Scary Videos	Shave The Fish
Cook Your Fave Meal	Design A New Sundae
Go Fishing	Shoot Hoops
Practice Your Fave Basketball Plays	Pick Your Nose  (Anything's Better Than Smoking)

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Effects of Using Tobacco

It has been documented that smoking can cause chronic lung disease, coronary heart disease, and stroke, as well as cancer of the lung, larynx, esophagus, mouth, and bladder. In addition, smoking is known to contribute to cancer of the cervix, pancreas, and kidney.

Use of smokeless tobacco (chew) is not a safe alternative. Cancer of the mouth--including lip, tongue, and cheek--and the throat are associated with use of smokeless tobacco. Cancers usually occur at the spot in the mouth where the tobacco is held. When you hold tobacco in one place in your mouth, the tobacco juice irritates your mouth. This causes a white, leather-like patch called leukiplakia to form. These patches vary in size, shape, and appearance but they are considered precancerous. The surgery for cancer of the mouth could lead to removal of parts of your face, tongue, cheek, or lip.

	Smoking cuts down on physical fitness by affecting the heart, the circulatory system, and the lungs, reducing oxygen available for muscles used during physical activity. When compared with nonsmokers, smokers typically experience a faster heart beat, reduced lung function and shortness of breath.
	Tobacco users are at greater risk for cardiovascular conditions like high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke.
	Chronic coughing, increased phlegm, emphysema, and bronchitis have been well-established health effects of smoking. Smokers are also more susceptible to influenza and are more likely to experience severe symptoms when they develop influenza.

Individuals who use tobacco products have bad breath and discolored teeth. Tobacco users are more likely to suffer from mouth conditions like periodontal disease, which can lead to tooth loss.

Smokeless tobacco users risk the embarrassment of getting tobacco stuck in their teeth and they must constantly spit to get rid of the tobacco and excess saliva from their mouth. Smokeless tobacco can cause cracked lips and bleeding gums after only a short time of use. In addition, smokeless tobacco contains sugars/sweeteners, which eat away at tooth enamel causing cavities and chronic painful sores.

Recent evidence shows that smoking doubles a person's risk of dementia and Alzheimer's.

Cigarette smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with hearing loss and vision problems like cataracts and blindness.

	Exposure to tobacco smoke causes the skin to dry and makes an individual more likely to develop wrinkles. Smoking has also been associated with prematurely gray hair and hair loss.
	Smokers often have yellowed stains on the fingers they use to hold their cigarette.

	Smoking and nicotine have also been associated with increased headache activity.
	Cigarette smoking increases both the risk and the severity of rheumatoid arthritis.
	Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for osteoporosis—a condition in which the bone become brittle and more susceptible to fractures. If a smoker breaks a bone or needs any kind of surgery, his or her smoking can interfere with the healing process.
	Smoking can cause the early onset of menopause among women, incontinence, and reduced fertility; and it may reduce fertility among men.

	Within two days of quitting smoking, the sense of taste and smell are often noticeably improved. Levels of carbon monoxide and nicotine in the body go down quickly. Damage repair to the heart and lungs beings and breathing will become easier. That nasty smoker's cough will begin to disappear while energy levels begin to increase.
	Some may be reluctant to quit smoking for fear of gaining weight. Research has shown, though, that the average weight gain after quitting is only five pounds—an amount that can be controlled by diet and exercise.
	Think about why you want to stop using tobacco products:
		Are you tired of having bad breath?
		Maybe you have noticed that your teeth do not seem as white as they once were.
		Are you concerned about your risk of developing cancer?
		Maybe you do not like being addicted to nicotine.
		Do you want to start leading a healthier life?
		Do the people around you tell you that they find your tobacco habits disgusting and offensive?
		Do you worry that your tobacco use is affecting the health of children with whom you spend time or possibly, that your actions will influence decisions they make in the future?
		Perhaps you have decided there are better ways to spend your money.
	Pick a date to quit and throw away all of your tobacco products.
	Tell the people you spend time with on a regular basis. Your friends, family, teachers, and coaches can help you kick the habit by giving you support and encouragement.
	Talk to your health care provider about tobacco-quitting programs like nicotine chewing gum, a nicotine patch you wear on your arm, or special support groups.
	Find alternatives to using tobacco like sugarless gum, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, or apple slices.
	Become involved in activities that will help you keep your mind off tobacco. Some examples include working on a hobby, exercise, talk to a friend, or listen to music. Regular exercise will also help relieve stress that you may experience while you are quitting.
	Everyone is different, so develop a plan and realistic goals that work best for you.
	Reward yourself as you begin to achieve the goals you set for yourself.

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For Additional Information

To learn more about the Partnership for a Tobacco Free Cerro Gordo County contact: Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health
Attention: Health Planner
22 North Georgia Avenue, Suite 300
Mason City, Iowa 50401
Phone: (515) 421-9300
Email: infotech@cghealth.com To learn more about the Mason City YMCA's Youth Leadership Program contact: Regan Banks, Teen Leader
Mason City YMCA
15 North Pennsylvania Avenue
Mason City, Iowa 50401
Phone: (515) 423-5526 Back to top