September 22, 2008
Montana Tobacco Policy Summit is September 24
New science showing that as little as 30 minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke results in damage that increases the risk of a heart attack is just one of the topics to be discussed at the Third Annual Montana Tobacco Policy Summit.
The event will be held Wednesday, September 24, beginning at 9 a.m. at Carroll College.
The summit, sponsored by the Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program (MTUPP) of the Department of Public Health and Human Services, will feature Suzaynn Schick, professor of medicine in the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the University of California – San Francisco.
Schick discovered formerly secret tobacco industry research documents showing that secondhand smoke is two to six times more toxic than smoke inhaled directly from a cigarette. Schick also unearthed documents revealing that secondhand smoke becomes more toxic to the respiratory tract as it ages.
“Montana’s Clean Indoor Air Act recognizes that people have the right to breathe clean air,” says Linda Lee, MTUPP section supervisor. “Schick’s research provides new urgency to protecting everyone from exposure to secondhand smoke.”
The summit will take place in the Campus Center. A complete schedule for the event entitled ‘Expect a Smokefree State: Implementing Policy to Save Lives,’ is listed below:
8:30 – 9:00am Registration, Coffee & Snacks
9:00 – 9:30am Clean Indoor Air in Montana: The Policy
- Linda Lee, Section Supervisor, Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program
Clean Indoor Air in Montana: The Urgency
- Dr. Richard Sargent, Montana Tobacco Prevention Advisory Board Member
Clean Indoor Air in Montana: The Commitment
- Joan Miles, Director, Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services
9:30 – 11:00am Smokefree Air: Why it Matters
Tobacco Smoke and the Heart – New Research, New Urgency
- Suzaynn Schick, PhD, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of California - San Francisco, will discuss the tobacco industry’s own research revealing that secondhand smoke is more toxic than what smokers inhale and increases in toxicity in the respiratory tract as it ages. She will also explain research revealing the immediate damage secondhand smoke brings to the cardiovascular system and why secondhand smoke causes heart attacks.
11:00 – 11:15am BREAK
11:15am – Noon The Navajo Nation Experience with Commercial Tobacco Policy
- Patricia Nez Henderson, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and Vice President for the Black Hills Center for American Indian Health, will discuss recent efforts on the Navajo Reservation to enact a smokefree policy and the tribal council president’s veto of the measure after the tribal council passed it. In addition, she will provide an update on the advocate’s efforts to override the veto.
Noon – 1:00pm LUNCH
1:00 – 2:00pm Statewide Smokefree Policy Implementation
Lessons from Around the Country
- Bronson Frick, Associate Director of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, will provide an overview of the nation’s emerging smokefree laws – how they come about, what it takes to implement them successfully, and why they are creating a new social norm.
- Janna Kowalski, Health Educator, Tobacco Free Larimer County, Colorado, will describe implementation of Colorado’s statewide smokefree law, providing the perspective on how on-the-ground, local organizing, outreach and education work together for success.
2:00 – 3:30pm Expect Smokefree
Making the Case with Effective Messages and Messengers
- Scot Drake, The Arnold Agency, Moderator
- John McLellan, lead singer of Montana’s Clintons, will discuss his experiences as an entertainer who faces secondhand smoke exposure simply by going to work.
- Terrie Price, former casino card dealer and smokefree casino advocate, will tell how a Las Vegas casino fired her after 25 years of service when she objected to continued exposure to secondhand smoke.
- Bronson Frick, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, will explain which smokefree messages resonate and why.
3:30 – 3:45pm BREAK
3:45 – 4:30pm Smokefree Policy Campaigns
Supporting Montana’s Clean Indoor Air Act with Community Policies: A Strategic Look at Tobacco-Free Hospital Campuses
- Clare Lemke, Tobacco Use Prevention Specialist, Park County, will discuss the process of implementing campus-wide smokefree policies at Montana’s hospitals and other medical facilities, and how the work supports the state’s smokefree status.
The conference is free and open to the public, but preregistration is required. Registration information can be found at http://www.umt.edu/ce/cps/MTUPP-PolicySummit.htm.
For more information call Lee at 406-444-9617 or 406-431-4505.
