Not-On-Tobacco Program designated as a Model Program by the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration.

 

The American Lung Association’s “Not On Tobacco (N-O-T)” Program has become the first smoking cessation intervention for youth to be designated as a Model Program by the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMSHA).

 

Developed for the American Lung Association at the West Virginia University Prevention Research Center; the N-O-T program is research and evaluation based. The program has four objectives including helping teens stop smoking, reduce the number of cigarettes they smoke, increase healthy life-styles and improve life management skills.

 

To earn a SAMHSA model program designation the program must first be rigorously tested and researched in community schools, social service organizations and work places across the country. The program must provide solid proof that it has prevented or reduced substance abuse and other related high risk behaviors and must be reviewed by the SAMHSA National Registry of effective programs.

 

Text Box: When You Can’t Breathe, Nothing Else Matters®   415 Dickinson Street P.O. Box 3980 Charleston, WV 25339 Phone: 304-342-6600 Or  1-800-LUNG-USA Fax: 304-342-6096 www.alawv.org www.lungusa.org     West Virginia has a highly successful collaborative that has been providing the N-O-T program through out the state for the last five years. The American Lung Association’s Not On Tobacco and Teens Against Tobacco Use (T.A.T.U.) programs, have helped decrease teen smoking from 42 percent in 1999 to 28.5 percent in 2003. This translates to approximately 13,290 fewer teenagers using tobacco in West Virginia today.

 

“We’re very excited about this new designation” said Tony Richards, West Virginia’s Program Manager for the N-O-T program, “We have known that N-O-T is very effective for years and it’s wonderful to have SAMSHA’s endorsement.