HANCOCK COUNTY — Think twice before reaching that pack of cigarettes, vape pen or tobacco tin.
Today just might be the day to quit.
Today is the 45th annual Great American Smokeout sponsored by the American Cancer Society, which encourages tobacco users to commit to quit the third Thursday of each November.
Tobacco use statewide continues to be a public health problem. Indiana ranks in the top 10 nationally in tobacco use, according to a 2018 report by the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation and the Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University. Approximately 11,100 Hoosiers die prematurely each year from cigarette smoking, according to data cited in the report.
Tobacco use also carries a large financial burden, estimated at $3.3 billion in 2017 in Indiana, the report said.
Hancock County’s smoking rate is lower than the state as a whole, thanks in part to stop-smoking initiatives whose messages are now being presented in a series of videos and promoted on social media by Hancock Health.
“We were limited in what we could do as far as events this year out of respect for social distancing, so we had to get creative by running a robust virtual social media campaign,” said Brandee Bastin, Tobacco Initiative coordinator of the Hancock County Tobacco Free Coalition, a component of Hancock Health.
The videos share information about the dangers of tobacco use along with plenty of encouragement to quit.
To that end, the coalition is also promoting a poster campaign in which more than 70 people across Hancock County have written encouraging messages to those who want to make the Great American Smokeout their Day 1 to kick the habit for good.
One message was written by a local man who quit 16 years ago, and never once regretted the decision.
The push to help others commit to quit is also being felt at local schools today, whether through messages shared at school or online for those studying from home.
While tobacco use continues to be a top community health concern, Bastin is encouraged by a growing number of workplaces that are going tobacco free.
“Greenfield Banking Company actually went to a tobacco-free campus and workplace on Nov. 1, and the Town of New Palestine also did so back in September,” said Bastin, who is thrilled by the county’s progress toward becoming tobacco free community.
She’s especially proud of the local youths who are passionate about encouraging their peers to quit their tobacco use, or simply not get started in the first place.
“Our high school VOICE youth advocates have worked very hard to put together an awareness video about the youth vaping epidemic and what young people need to be made aware of — the truth about tobacco and vaping products and where young people can go to get help with quitting,” Bastin said.
Lainie Lawrence, a senior at Eastern Hancock High School, has gotten so involved with her school’s anti-tobacco club that she was chosen to be a state intern for VOICE Indiana, a statewide youth empowerment brand whose initiative is to engage, educate and empower teens to celebrate a tobacco-free lifestyle.
“We’re a peer advocate group fighting against tobacco use in teens,” said Lainie, 17, who isn’t shy about sharing the dangers of tobacco use with her peers.
The allure of tobacco use is commonplace in small communities, she said.
“People in our community think it’s normal to chew tobacco in the fields, or to vape in the school bathroom, but it’s not normal and it’s not OK,” said Lawrence, who wants to make teens aware of tobacco’s harmful health effects in any form.
Many teens don’t believe that vaping is all that harmful, she said, but it is.
“I want to show people that there’s a lot of research that shows it’s the same, almost even worse than smoking cigarettes. There are a lot of facts that show it can lead to cancer and can cause lifelong consequences that you’ll have to live with, all from a stupid decision you made as a teenager,” she said.
“While it might seem fun to give in to peer pressure and smoke with your friends, it can lead to lifelong addiction and lifelong consequences. Big tobacco targets us as their next generation of addicted customers, and we don’t want to give them that power, to put our lives in their hands,” Lainie said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”At a glance” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Today is the 45th annual Great American Smokeout, which encourages tobacco users to make it Day 1 of kicking the habit for good.
The Hancock County Tobacco Free Coalition is promoting the message through a series of locally-made videos that are being broadcast across various forms of social media today.
Follow the Hancock County Tobacco Free Coalition on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The following resources are also recommended for those who want to commit to quit:
BE TOBACCO FREE
A federal government website managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Information: betobaccofree.hhs.gov
HEALTHY365
Find resources, tips and support from Healthy365, a division of Hancock Health.
behealthy365.org/resources/live365/quit-smoking
INDIANA TOBACCO QUIT LINE
1-800-QUIT-NOW
This is Quitting is a free mobile program from Truth Initiative designed to help young people quit vaping. The first-of-its-kind text messaging program incorporates messages from other young people like them who have attempted to, or successfully quit, e-cigarettes.
To enroll in This is Quitting, Indiana teens and young adults can text INDIANA to 88709.
Information: in.gov/quitline
SMOKEFREE.GOV
The National Cancer Institute created Smokefree.gov to help you or someone you care about quit smoking. Smokefree.gov is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ efforts to reduce smoking rates in the United States, particularly among certain populations. Questions
Information: smokefree.gov
[sc:pullout-text-end]
