GOAL IV: PUBLIC POLICY
Texans will enact public and worksite policies that create tobacco-free
environments where spit tobacco use is viewed as an unhealthy and socially
unacceptable behavior.
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Objective
A: Increase the number of legislated and enforced public
policies aimed at reducing youth access to spit tobacco products.
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Spit tobacco use among youth is a growing problem. Between 1970 and 1986,
the use of snuff increased 15 times and the use of chewing tobacco
increased four times among adolescents age 17-19.[17] About one-third of
American high school seniors and more than half of male high school
seniors have tried spit tobacco.[18] Among high school seniors who use spit
tobacco, 23% have tried by the sixth grade, 53% by eighth grade, and 73%
by grade nine.[19]
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Desired
Results:
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Reduced percentage of illegal, spit tobacco purchases by youth. |
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Reduced use of spit tobacco by youth. |
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Strategy
1: Develop, implement, and monitor public policies to address
spit tobacco purchase and availability and to restrict illegal sales of
spit tobacco products to minors.
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Since September 1989, Texas law has prohibited the sale of spit tobacco to
persons younger than eighteen years of age. Despite the prohibition,
minors have been able to purchase tobacco products. A January 1993 study
conducted by the Texas Department of Health revealed that out of 71
attempts by minors to purchase spit tobacco in the Austin metropolitan
area, 42 (59.2%) were successful.[20]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has attacked the problem of minor
access to tobacco with new federal regulations. As of February 28, 1997,
retailers must ask for photo identification from any tobacco buyer under
the age of twenty-seven. As of August 28, 1997, tobacco ads and
promotional material are prohibited within 1,000 feet of a school or
public playground. Beyond 1,000 feet, only black and white tobacco ads are
allowed. Despite Texas and federal laws, continued efforts are necessary
to restrict illegal tobacco sales and promote compliance among retailers.
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Strategy
2: Implement activities to monitor and enforce state and federal
law prohibiting the sale and reducing the appeal of spit tobacco products
to minors.
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Strategy
3: Utilize media resources to influence social norms and promote
reduced youth access to spit tobacco products.
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Objective
B: Increase the number of schools, health care facilities,
worksites, and other institutions/organizations that implement and enforce
tobacco-free policies.
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A study at the University of Missouri-Columbia found that a total
workplace ban on smoking may be the most effective and cheapest way to get
people to give up cigarettes. The study indicated that nearly 51% of
employees in hospitals where a total smoking ban had been in effect for
five years had quit smoking.[21] In recent years, the emphasis of tobacco
control has shifted from interventions aimed at individual tobacco users
to changing the social environment in which tobacco use takes root. The
most effective, preventative measures are likely to be universal
interventions that both reduce youth access to tobacco products and
promote a tobacco-free social norm.[22]
In a survey of physicians and dentists who treated adolescent patients,
practitioners positively supported the following tobacco control measures:
higher sales tax, allocating tobacco tax for prevention, banning
advertising from public areas, limited point of sale, no vending machine
sales, and no sponsoring of sporting/cultural events. Practitioners who
had never used tobacco indicated a greater support for tobacco control
measures than practitioners who themselves were users.[13]
In an effort to restrict spit tobacco use in public schools, the Texas
Legislature passed a law in 1995 which prohibits both the possession and
use of tobacco products at all school-related or school-sanctioned
activities, regardless of whether the activities occur on or off of school
property. Although the law mandates that school district boards enforce
these policies, students still admit to having used spit tobacco in school.
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Desired
Results:
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Increased percentage of schools, health care facilities, worksites, and
other institutions/organizations with implemented and enforced
tobacco-free policies.
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Strategy
1: Increase the number of Texas elementary, secondary, trade, and
higher education schools, both public and private, that implement and
enforce a comprehensive tobacco-free policy which prohibits all tobacco
use on school property or at school-sponsored events.
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Strategy
2: Increase the number of Texas health care facilities and health
care provider offices that implement a comprehensive tobacco-free policy
which prohibits the use of tobacco products.
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Strategy
3: Increase the number of Texas worksites that implement a
comprehensive tobacco-free policy which restricts or prohibits the sale
and use of tobacco products.
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Strategy
4: Increase the number of Texas communities and municipalities
that implement a comprehensive tobacco-free policy which affects public
places, sporting arenas, buildings, and transportation.
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Strategy
5: Utilize the media to influence social norms and promote the
implementation and enforcement of tobacco-free policies.
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Objective
C: Increase the number of individuals and organizations that
advocate to restrict or minimize the influence of spit tobacco products,
images, and sponsorships.
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Tobacco products are among the most heavily advertised products in the
United States. Six billion dollars were spent in 1993 alone on tobacco
advertising and promotions. Tobacco company expenditures for specialty
gift items (such as T-shirts, caps, sunglasses, key chains, calendars, and
sporting goods) that bear a tobacco logo increased by 122%, from $340
million in 1992, to $756 million in 1993. Increasingly, tobacco marketing
dollars pay for promotion activities that may have special appeal to young
people, such as sponsoring concerts, sporting events and other public
entertainment, distributing specialty items bearing product names and
logos, and issuing coupons and premiums.[23]
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Desired
Results:
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Increased percentage of individuals and organizations that advocate to
restrict or minimize the influence of spit tobacco products, images, and
sponsorships.
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Strategy
1: Increase the number of health care professional and
educational organizations that adopt formal spit tobacco control positions.
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Strategy
2: Increase the number of state and community organizations that
adopt formal spit tobacco control positions.
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Strategy
3: Utilize media resources to influence social norms and promote
public interest in restricting or minimizing the influence of spit tobacco
products, images, and sponsorships.
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