In order to assist merchants in knowing the laws, they provided free signs and decals with the message that tobacco will not be sold to minors. Many of today’s fathers started smoking when they were young teens. Wake TRU advocates know that educating merchants about tobacco sale laws and advocating for a significant cigarette tax increase can prevent minors from accessing tobacco though local stores, resulting in many lives being saved. Unfortunately, tobacco use among men remains a serious problem; 23% of U.S. men currently smoke. More than 269,000 U.S. men die each year from smoking. According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (TFK), more than 6,400 North Carolina youth have already lost their dads to smoking. This number increases by 910 each year. TFK estimates that N.C. pays $54.6 million annually in Supplemental Security Income to support children who have lost their fathers to smoking. “Increasing the price of cigarettes is one of the most effective ways to encourage anyone to quit smoking or discourage them from starting,” said Jahan Paleja a Wake TRU Program Associate “Many states have done this by increasing the cigarette tax.” The N.C. Institute of Medicine recommends increasing N.C.’s 45-cent per pack cigarette tax to the national average (now $1.34) and increasing taxes on other tobacco products to match it. Another proven way to promote smoking cessation is to pass laws that do not allow smoking in public places. North Carolina law removes smoking from restaurants and bars and allows local governments to do more. “We’re celebrating all fathers who encourage their teens not to smoke and protect them from secondhand smoke,” said Selena Hernandez a high school student at Wake Early College (WECHS)“We hope dads who do smoke will try to quit, for the sake of their health and their children.” Wake TRU is part of the TRU (Tobacco.Reality.Unfiltered.) movement, a teen tobacco prevention effort funded by the NC Health and Wellness Trust Fund. This youth tobacco prevention and cessation initiative includes grants to community organizations, including the grant to the Poe Center for Health Education. Anyone who needs help to quit smoking can call QuitlineNC at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669). Quit coaches are available 8 a.m. until 3 a.m. daily.
Calls are free and confidential.
The Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education is a nonprofit organization dedicated to positively impacting the lives of North Carolina youth through health education. Since opening in Raleigh in 1991, the Poe Center has educated over 750,000 participants from 73 counties using innovative teaching theaters, exhibits and community programs. By engaging in fun, highly interactive lessons, preschoolers through twelfth graders receive information that follows the NC DPI Healthful Living Standard Course of Study on a variety of health topics; including nutrition, dental health, general health, reproductive health and safety and drug education. For more information, or to schedule a program, visit www.poehealth.org or call 919-231-4006.
The NC Health and Wellness Trust Fund makes North Carolina stronger, both physically and economically, by funding programs that promote preventive health. Created by the General Assembly in 2000 to allocate a portion of North Carolina’s share of the national tobacco settlement, HWTF has invested $199 million to support preventive health initiatives and $102 million to fund prescription drug assistance programs. For more information, please visit www.HealthWellNC.com.
Tobacco. Reality. Unfiltered., commonly known as TRU, uses testimonials of real North Carolina teens as well as hard-hitting facts to dissuade teens from using tobacco. Funded at $65 million from the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund, this grassroots initiative includes the TRU media campaign, as well as grant programs to organizations working in all 100 counties to reduce teen tobacco use. To find out more about TRU, please visit www.realityunfiltered.com.
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