Brought to you by The American Lung Association of West Virginia, The WV Bureau for Public Health Division of Tobacco Prevention, The Governors Safe and Drug Free Communities Program and the West Virginia Department of Education

Upcoming N-O-T Training:

Dec. 8, 2004, RESA III, Dunbar

Jan. 26, 2005 RESA VII Clarksburg

I would like to congratulate the following facilitators for providing the N-O-T & ATS programs in their schools.

Not On Tobacco Clinics
Location	Point of Contact
Cabell-Midland High School	Victoria Carovillano
Ripley Middle School	Lisa Moles
Wayne High School	Stephanie May
Scott High School	Kevin Graley
Fayetteville High School	Beverly Hall
Fayetteville High School	John Mark Kincaid
Jefferson High School	Mary Ann Jenkins
Greenbrier East High School	Chris Hall
Ripley Middle School	Amy Haskins
Belington Middle School	Jackie Simmons
Jefferson High School	Linda Lawson
Oak Hill High School	Michelle Wolfe

Alternative to Suspension Clinics
Location	Point of Contact
Madison Middle School	Terry Clay
Sherman Junior High	Caroline Hatfield
Ripley High School	Kelley Spencer Adcock
South Charleston High School	Cil Payne
Nitro High School	Denise Ohlsen Koster
Oak Hill High School	Marian Richardson
Montgomery Middle School	Dale Fox
East Bank Middle School	Lynn Wise
Braxton Middle School	Mary Talbott
Scott High School	Kevin Graley

Programs save $680 million in health care costs

West Virginia's tobacco prevention and control program has produced dramatic results in its first five years. According to the West Virginia Center for Health Statistics, today West Virginia has 37,779 fewer youth who smoke than in 1999. There also are fewer youth who are trying tobacco in West Virginia.

Smoking prevalence among high school students in West Virginia decreased from 42 percent in 1999 to 28 percent in 2003, a decline of 32 percent. This decline will save an estimated $680 million in lifetime health care costs, according to the American Lung Association of West Virginia ®. Counter-marketing, school education and grassroots education, funded with money from the Master Settlement Agreement, plus higher tobacco taxes, have helped to reduce the West Virginia youth smoking rate.

“The American Lung Association of West Virginia’s highly successful Not On Tobacco (N-O-T) program helped 84 students break their addiction to tobacco last year, this translates to a potential health care cost savings of $1.5 million last school year alone,” reports Tony Richards, Program Manager for N-O-T. Programs like Raze and Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU) another program of the American Lung Association of West Virginia, are being implemented by many schools across the state. TATU reached hundreds of youth this year with educational messages delivered by teens to younger children.

"These results should be a wake-up call to state legislators and our Governor about the need to keep the tobacco prevention funding in place and continue to address the tobacco epidemic," said Sara Crickenberger, president of the American Lung Association of West Virginia. "Several other states in the U.S. are turning their backs on the intent of the tobacco settlement and engaging in fiscal malpractice by squandering these funds. They are raiding tobacco funds to cover budget shortfalls and denying their citizens a sound investment in better health."

Strong tobacco prevention and control programs not only save lives but save money. The West Virginia Department Of Health and Human Resources reports in it’s 2004 West Virginia Tobacco Prevention Progress Report that $1.8 billion a year is spent on health care costs related to smoking in West Virginia. “On average, a tobacco user will have lifetime medical bills $18,000 higher than a nonuser,” said Public Employees Insurance Agency Director, Tom Susman in an interview.

Smoking related diseases take an enormous cut of the state's budget. The Centers for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) reports that, “for every dollar spent on school health programs addressing tobacco, drug and alcohol and sexuality education, fourteen dollars are saved in avoided health care costs.”

"Our state's comprehensive tobacco control and prevention efforts are working. Youth smoking is down dramatically and that has enormous budget impacts for the state and taxpayers. Every young person we keep from smoking is money back into taxpayer’s pockets," said Ed Doyle, Chairman of the American Lung Association of West Virginia Board of Directors.

The American Lung Association of West Virginia, which started in 1907, fights tobacco use, bad air and the asthma epidemic. For more information about the American Lung Association of West Virginia's tobacco prevention, asthma, and air quality programs or special events, call 1-800-LUNG-USA or visit our website at www.alawv.org.

REMINDERS

Don’t forget to order your student journals at least one week before your clinic is scheduled to start. You can place your journal order online at the same time you request your $50 mini-grant!

Another way of getting incentives is community donations. Explain to local businesses that you are trying to help teens stop smoking, and you will get anything from pizza to sodas donated. This is an excellent way of forming education/community partnerships.

STIPENDS

The West Virginia Department of Education’s continued support of the N-O-T program is allowing us to once again provide the $250 stipend for N-O-T classes and $100 stipends for ATS classes. Please remember that stipends are only awarded after all evaluation materials have been returned, unlike the $50 mini-grants that are provided before you begin your sessions.

Fundraising Opportunity

The American Lung Association of West Virginia has purchased some adorable miniature plush stuffed bears. Some of you have seen the bears at various events and we have been using them as door prizes, etc. Our Chief Executive Officer Sara Crickenberger is making them available to you as a possible fundraising vehicle for your groups. Your cost for the bears will be $4 each. We have five different colors blue, green, orange, purple and red. You may set any price on them you think is fair. Bottom line is that anything you make over $4 is your profit.

Incentives

Mini-Grants

$50 mini-grants are available to get your groups started. The mini-grant can be used to purchase pencils, stress balls and most importantly, food! We have heard many times, “If you feed them, they will come!” Applying for the mini-grant is easy click HERE.

N-O-T Stipends

Another positive incentive are the $250 stipends, which are available for facilitators after all evaluation materials have been returned to ALAWV.

Student Journals

Program expenses are kept to a minimum since we provide all required handouts for students in this “journal.” Blank pages are provided for the students to write in.

ATS Stipends

Thanks to a generous grant from the Department of Education Office Of Healthy schools we now have $100 stipends available for facilitators who use the ATS program in their schools.

You can find all these resources and more at our web site click here à N-O-T

Free Technical Assistance! Points of contacts are:

N-O-T Program Manager Tony Richards, American Lung Association of WV tony@alawv.org ; www.alawv.org, (304) 342-6600 or 1-800-LUNG-USA

Regional Tobacco Prevention Specialists

If you know of something happening with the N-O-T program that you feel other facilitators would benefit from, please call Tony (304)342-6600 or email tony@alawv.org. The newsletter will be published once a month.

If you are interested in our programs and would like more information, or would like to schedule a visit, please call our office.