Table of Contents:
1) Announcements
2) Great American Smokeout Reports
3) Gay American Smokeout Reports
4) Statewide Meeting Recap
5) Statewide Awards
6) Adult Prevalence for 2004

1. Announcements

Andrew Epstein has joined the Multnomah County Tobacco Prevention Program as the interim program coordinator, filling in for Kylie Meiner while she is out on maternity leave through May 2006. Andrew can be reached at 503-988-3674 X29356 or andrew.d.epstein@co.multnomah.or.us.

2. Great American Smokeout Reports

A. The Coquille Indian Tribe held their first Great American Smoke Out event at the Mill Casino in Coos Bay. The event did not turn out exactly as planned—Connie Barton, the Program Coordinator of the Coquille Tribe Community Health Department, had to set up her information table in the employee lounge rather than in a public area. However, she was able to provide information to most of the more than 500 employees and the Casino management has already invited her back for next year. For more information, contact Connie Barton at connieb@uci.net or Sabrina Freewynn at Sabrina.L.Freewynn@state.or.us.

B. Great American Smoke Out (GASO) was another great success for Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino and Cow Creek Health and Wellness. The event included tables with educational materials, risk assessments, carbon monoxide testing and blood pressure screening. Two organizations offered cessation resources. Attendees who filled out “Quit for the Day” pledge sheets received a package of Umpqua Indian Foods Jerky.

Cow Creek Health & Wellness has always put this event on with the support of the casino. But this year, the casino actively partnered with us. We recruited casino employees to work GASO in three-hour shifts and they did a great job. The casino offered prizes to attendees including brunch for two and a free night at the hotel. The casino was excited to be included and we intend to continue this partnership.

The main attraction was a display on the history of casino successes in creating smokefree areas. The casino opened in 1992 with no non-smoking areas. Since then, the casino and hotel have gradually become 75% smokefree. For more information, contact Andrea Davis at adavis@cowcreek.com.

C. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Indian Reservation held their Smoke Out Day. Thirty-four people attended the lunchtime function which began with a prayer offered by a community member. They discussed current and past tobacco issues, participants were encouraged to share their opinions on tobacco, and they all listened to a healing song to close the event. For more information contact Joyce Oberly at joberly@wstribes.org.

3. Gay American Smokeout Reports

Gay American Smokeout in Corvallis went very well! The Peer Health Advocates from OSU's Student Health Services partnered with the Pride Center in promoting the event in the Memorial Union Quad. Many people visited the Peer Health booth and took materials related to smoking, picked up free mint snuff or gum and guessed how many cigarette butts were in a jar. The contents had been collected on campus over the prior weekend. Attendees played Tobacco Jeopardy and received information about the Oregon Quit Line and local cessation resources.

A number of people visited the Pride Center table who were not aware of the tobacco industry targeting of the LGBTQ community. The Pride Center related this important information to attendees and handed out LGBTQ-relevant material related to tobacco. For more information contact Stacey Edwards at Stacey.Edwards@co.benton.or.us.

4. Statewide Meeting Recap

Thank you to all of you who attended and participated in the Annual Tobacco Prevention and Education Meeting on November 3 and 4. The meeting was very well attended and well received by attendees. The keynote speaker, Dr. Michael Cummings of Roswell Park Cancer Institute, presented a powerful review of the dangers of secondhand smoke and tobacco industry attempts to cover up the science. Carlos Velazquez of the Praxis Project treated the group to a presentation that discussed approaching tobacco control through a social justice framework. For more information about the meeting, contact Jill Thompson at jill.thompson@state.or.us.

5. Statewide Awards

At times, those of us working in the tobacco control movement feel a bit downhearted due to reduced budgets, preemption and the struggles we endure in our quest for smokefree air. Therefore, it is especially important to take a step back, look around us and recognize the incredible people we work with day after day and acknowledge the success we have achieved – at great odds – while working together.

This year, we started a new tradition of informal recognition called “You Done Good!” The grammar is terrible but the idea is great. Attendees filled out slips of paper with comments to let their colleagues know they were appreciated. At each plenary, the emcee read a couple of “You Done Goods” and we had the opportunity to appreciate each other in a fun, new way. Please consider carrying this tradition on throughout the year. Let your colleagues know how great it is to be working on a shared mission with such dedicated, knowledgeable people!

Our more formal, statewide awards are another way to pat each other on the back for a job well done. The awards for 2005 are:
The Joe Weller Guardian Award: Craig Mosbaek
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Tobacco Control: Patrick Pine
Outstanding Achievement by a Business or Organization: Tri-Met
Outstanding Career Achievement: Bob Becker

For more information about the awards, please contact Cathryn Cushing at cathryn.s.cushing@state.or.us

6) Adult Prevalence for 2004

In 2004, fewer than one in five adult Oregonians was a smoker -- an estimated 19.9% -- for the first time since local data collection began. This is exciting, and we will be interested to see if prevalence continues to decrease in the coming years. Even more compelling is the 42% reduction of annual cigarette sales in Oregon since 1996. We view this dramatic decline as testament to the hard work that all of you are doing statewide on tobacco prevention and education! For more information on data issues, contact Stacey Schubert at stacey.s.schubert@state.or.us.

That’s it for this month. Thanks again for reading and for letting us know what you think of TPEP News. Feel free to pass this information along and please, give us your feedback. Let us know of topics you would like to see covered in future e-mails or anything else that would make this update more useful to you.
Sincerely,
TPEP Staff

Tobacco Prevention and Education Program
Oregon Department of Human Services
800 NE Oregon St., Suite 730
Portland, OR 97232
971-673-0984
971-673-0994 (fax)
tobacco.ohd@state.or.us
www.oshd.org/tobacco